Sports

Raiders JV Baseball Coach Enjoys Aiding Younger Team

John Giunta was an outfielder for the New Providence team that won a Group I state title in 1998.

As Scotch Plains-Fanwood's varsity baseball team prepares for a run at another Union County Tournament, so too does the Raiders' junior varsity squad.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood has finished second the last two years in the county junior varsity tournament, and coach John Giunta is looking to return and add another win. Giunta's team is playing like a contender. The younger Raiders are 13-0.

Last year, the team went 18-1 and two years ago it finished 17-2. Giunta, a 30-year-old native of New Providence, is a physical education teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School. He was an outfielder for the New Providence team that won a Group I state title in 1998, and was assistant coach in 2004 when his alma mater was the state runner-up. He worked with the pitchers that year, including Tony Wargo, who went on to play at Rutgers University.  

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Giunta got his break coaching in Scotch Plains-Fanwood when he and varsity coach Tom Baylock were student teachers together. Baylock mentioned to Giunta that there was a coaching spot open in the program, so he took it.

"I was fortunate," Giunta said. "I actually remember meeting Tommy at a Home Depot and him telling me about it. I got lucky."

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Giunta, a Montclair State University graduate, said he likes being around young athletes. 

The JV team carries 15 players — four juniors, a freshman and 10 sophomores.  Giunta said that most of the players he welcomes to the team have good skill sets.

The team works on nine to 10 drills that range from having their feet in the proper place to what to do in certain situations on the field.

"We keep it simple on the junior varsity level," Giunta said, adding that he does very little coaching during the game since too much is going on. "We don't throw a lot of things at them."

One obstacle the team is working on is improving its composure as the stakes get higher.

"That's been a big issue for us," Giunta said. "How do we get them to play loose in the big games?" 

Overall, Giunta's work with the SP-F JV squad is living out his desires to be a coach, which he said he knew he wanted to do early on.

"We have some talented kids here and they like to listen," he said. "I really think the sky is the limit for them."


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