By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer When Frank “Butch” Servideo became the head baseball coach at his high school alma mater Lyndhurst back in 1986, he never gave a thought to how long of tenure he would enjoy. “I think John Gascione was the winning pitcher for the first one back then, but I [...]

  By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer There’s no question that the Kearny High School baseball team is better than the 5-17 record the Kardinals currently own. “Out of our 17 losses, I’d say four of them we had no part of being in those games,” Kearny head coach Frank Bifulco said. “The rest were [...]

  By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer When James Wenger transferred from Vernon High School in Sussex County to Lyndhurst High two years ago, he didn’t know what sport he would participate in. “I played volleyball at Vernon and I really liked volleyball, but Lyndhurst didn’t have volleyball,” Wenger said. “I always knew that I [...]

  By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer Nick D’Errico had hit the crossroads of his life. After attending Brookdale Community College and playing baseball there, D’Errico walked away from the game he loved. “I stayed away from baseball for two years,” said D’Errico, the Kearny native and Kearny High School grad. “A lot happened to [...]

  By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer John Spina had no idea what to expect from the Belleville High School boys’ volleyball team this season. After all, Spina, a proud alumnus of the school (Class of 1995), was just appointed as the boys’ head coach, adding to the responsibilities he already owned as the girls’ [...]

    By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer The Bergen County Softball Tournament was set to begin last week and Lyndhurst High School senior Casey Zdanek was more than ready for the task at hand. “I was both nervous and excited,” Zdanek said. “It was a pretty big deal for us. I knew we hadn’t [...]

First-year program already making competitive strides By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer     Fabian Cortez loved his experience as a member of the Belleville High School crew team. “I rowed for all four years of high school,” said Cortez, now age 24. “I always wanted to share that experience with others.” Cortez, a teacher [...]

  By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer Throughout his stellar baseball career, growing up in Nutley, then playing for Nutley High School and finally moving on to Seton Hall, a place that has been home for his entire family for ages, Giuseppe Papaccio has always been known as a slick fielding shortstop. Papaccio had no [...]

  By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer Before the current high school baseball season began last month, Lyndhurst High School senior Max Hart was just hoping to have saved his best for last. “I really wanted to do something special, since this is my last year,” said Hart, one of four senior captains on the [...]

      By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer Before the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League Relays Championships were held recently, Kearny head track and field coach Al Perez thought his girls’ squad had a solid chance to come away with the team title – even though Kearny had never won a league title in [...]