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Former Glen Ridge star Dave Kennedy, seen here during a mound conference while directing the Johnson High School baseball team, took time out to recall a Greater Newark Tournament championship contest some 25 years ago against Irvington. (Photo by Todd Mundt)

Former Glen Ridge Star Takes A Look Back
At GNT Championship Game 25 Years Ago
By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com

Right now Dave Kennedy is getting his Johnson Crusaders ready for next week’s Central Jersey, Group 2 playoffs. Johnson - sparked by the play of senior center fielder Jeff Siessel, junior pitcher-third baseman John Stauffer and junior third baseman Chris Purcell - earned the ninth seed and will visit eighth-seeded Voorhees Monday in first-round action.

This time 25 years ago Kennedy was getting ready to pitch one of his biggest games. A junior right hander at Group 1 Glen Ridge, Kennedy took the mound for the Ridgers against Group 4 Irvington in the 1987 Greater Newark Tournament championship game at Doc Goeltz Field in Verona.

Glen Ridge head coach Lou Calderone gave Kennedy the ball, hoping he could give a performance that would lead the Ridgers to their first-ever GNT title. The Ridgers previously made it to the 1981, 1982 and 1983 championship games, but lost all three. Kennedy’s older brother Bill was a standout athlete for the Ridgers then, with Glen Ridge capturing Group 1 state championships in 1981 and 1983.

Irvington, which captured the very first GNT title in 1933, was seeking its fifth crown and first since 1947. The Blue Knights – then known as the Campers of Frank H. Morell campus – also won three straight championships from 1938-1940.

“I remember it was played on a Sunday and how hot that game was,” Kennedy recalled. “It was in the 90s and very humid.”

As fans in attendance found ways to deal with the heat that afternoon, Kennedy was cooling down an Irvington team that was ranked among the top five teams in the state at the time.

Kennedy tossed a three-hit shutout in blanking the Blue Knights 3-0 as the Ridgers celebrated the first of their two GNT championships. Glen Ridge won its second GNT crown in 1989.