Montclair Softball's Tumble
Included Coaching Turmoil

MONTCLAIR- It was a sunny June day at Toms River North High School in 1996 when Montclair High reached its pinnacle as a softball team with a berth in the Group 4 state final.

That Mounties team, with key players such as pitcher Christine Zarrilli, shortstop Melissa Kern, third baseman Maleka Brown and catcher Kristina Tan had advanced to the championship game after pulling off the greatest upset win in program history when it knocked off No. 1 ranked Clifton, with all-state and All-Century pitcher Laura Tynio, in the Group 4 state semifinals.

Even a loss to a powerful Cherokee team in the overall state final could not dampen the overall positive experience in what remains one of Montclair’s most memorable sports seasons.

Now in the 30th anniversary of that special Mounties team, it doesn’t seem fitting at all that the current softball squad team just experienced arguably the worst season in program history with a 6-18 final record under the guidance of a first-year coach who could ultimately be described as a proverbial ‘Fish out of Water’ who may have meant well, but simply wound up being in the wrong job at the wrong time.

What makes the recently-completed Mounties softball season even more painful is the fact that the team had returned most of the roster from the previous year when MHS finished on a definite high note with a 21-7 record, including a 9-1 mark in winning the Super Essex Conference’s Liberty Division title, an achievement which also earned the team’s ascension up into the loop’s top division, the American, while looking ahead with optimism to the 2026 spring campaign.

The sparkling 2025 Mounties softball season was still very fresh in everyone’s mind when a coaching change was made.

Athletic Director Matt Belford - who was still settling in his new role after taking over as the Mounties’ full-time AD in February of 2025 - was in the process of reshaping a number of coaching positions among the sports programs at MHS sparked in part by resignations or retirements, such as with the departure of longtime field hockey coach Mary Pat Mecuro.

One of his moves that did not involve replacing a coach who had stepped aside on his or her own was the decision not to rehire Mike Goldstein as head softball coach despite the very successful 2025 campaign.

Goldstein, with eight years and seven full seasons as the Mounties’ head coach (the 2020 spring season was canceled due to covid), had the second-longest tenure as a Montclair softball coach topped only by Tony Cedola, who headed the program for part of the 1980s and through much of the 1990s.  

Although he had not been a head high school coach before assuming that role at MHS, Goldstein had grown into the job and had been very familiar with the Montclair softball scene as a longtime resident of the town and veteran coach with town’s youth level-teams. He had also served for a couple of seasons as a varsity assistant at the high school.

While the Montclair program may not have been at the level of a Mount or a Columbia, there was success on the diamond, including a 17-8 record in 2021, a 20-7 mark in 2022 – both while in the SEC-Liberty Division- and a highly-respectable 16-12 overall record in 2024 which had been the last time before this season that the Mounties were in the SEC-American Division.

And in that 2024 season in the SEC’s top division, the Mounties had their share of quality wins, defeating Columbia, West Essex and Caldwell.

Upon not rehiring Goldstein last June, Belford explained the move when asked about what could have been seen as an abrupt decision.

“Mike is a very good person, and I certainly like what the team accomplished this past season,” the Mounties AD said at the time.

"However, we just felt after discussing everything involving the year-round development of the softball program, that it was time to move in another direction.” 

While Goldstein was not a summer club coach, such as with a travel program like NJ Pride or NJ Heist, he did coach many of his players in an Essex County-based summer league and did other work with members of his team after the season was over throughout June, July and August.

The search for Goldstein’s successor would wind up taking several months and the process was not completed until this past January when a well-traveled, multi-sport coach named Mark Griff with Morris County roots was hired to assume the Mounties head softball coaching position.

There is no doubt that Griff had served in a wide variety of roles in terms of guiding different high school and junior college teams, including being the JV softball and freshman boys basketball coach at Newton High School, the JV baseball coach at Hanover Park, the varsity girls soccer coach at East Orange Campus, and the women’s basketball coach at County College of Morris. 

This fall he had been ready to assume the role of head girls soccer coach at Lenape Valley High School in Sussex County.

As far as his new role with Montclair High softball was concerned the 2026 season simply did not go well from the start.

Then, as the season was winding down in its final days Griff was no longer with the team as JV coach Rebecca Ferguson headed the squad in its final couple of games that concluded with a 3-2 first-round defeat at Ridgewood in the North 1, Group 4 state tournament. 

Whatever actually ensued leading to Griff not completing his first and only season as the Mounties’ head softball coach has not been made very clear.
The saga of what would wind up being a forgettable Mountie softball season started early this year.

Looking back at last winter when Griff was initially hired, Belford had spoken in glowing terms about the selection of a person who had never before coached varsity softball.

“I like the fact that Mark has gained vast experience while coaching girls in a number of sports and in different communities,” said the MHS AD. “He has a great temperament, and we feel he has what it takes to build a program, while having a great influence at the youth levels in Montclair softball as well, including with winter clinics and summer camps.

“He understands what we have been stressing to our coaches which is that we need them to have a commitment to their athletes for at least 10 of the 12 months during the year.

“He has great energy and vast experience in the coaching profession, and we feel that he is the right person to both build and further develop our Montclair High School softball program over the next 5-to-10 years.”

Unfortunately, for Belford and Griff it all came to a crashing halt in less than six months.

Beyond any personalities involved, the results of the Mounties’ 2026 softball season had their negative aspects beyond just the victories and losses, including the lack of success in winning close games, which are a staple necessity when it comes to success for any softball or baseball team.

While the 2025 MHS team went 8-0 in games decided by 2 runs or less, this season’s Mounties were 2-8 in those games and just 2-11 in games decided by 3 runs or less.    

Then there was the rather abrupt ending to what was ultimately a very brief Griff coaching stint at MHS.

“Mark had personal things at home to deal with,” said Belford when asked about what happened leading to his coach exiting the scene before the season’s final game. “Mark is a good guy who is organized and put in the time, but – unfortunately – the team hasn’t produced the results they were looking for.

“He came here in January and without much time jumped right in while looking to become more familiar with the players and the program, but it may have become a heavy burden on him.”    

 Multiple phone calls to Griff were not returned; however, he did send a text message on Friday, May 22, which read:

“I resigned from the softball position over a week ago. In all my years of coaching high school and college athletics I have never ran into a situation like that.

“The players and parents were not my cup of tea. Thank you and good luck!”

Was 2026 ultimately a wasted season for the Mountie softball players? 

Last year’s team had bid farewell to a 4-year standout in Brooklyn Awad, but this season’s squad added one of Essex County’s more talented, young players in sophomore Glen Ridge transfer Siri Krabbe, while also welcoming in a solid freshman prospect in second baseman Charley Arsenuk.

Among the returning seniors this spring were veteran starting pitcher Marley Kim and hard-hitting right fielder Kaylin Guzman along with steady left fielder Delilah Levy. Top juniors included University of Oregon commit Ella Reynolds, who is a strong hitter and outfielder, and sturdy starting catcher Alex Bischak.

All appeared in place for what should have been another winning season for the Mounties, and perhaps a competitive showing in an SEC-American Division, which was not as typically strong from top to bottom as in past years in a season where Essex County softball as a whole has perhaps been its weakest since the SEC was formed back in 2001.

Mount St. Dominic and Columbia remained Top 20 programs, but both Cedar Grove and Livingston had taken a step back from their high achievement level of many of their previous teams.

As it was, Caldwell and Nutley, who were two teams from the SEC-Liberty Division this season, joined the Mount and Columbia in the Essex County Tournament’s Final 4 at Ivy Hill Park.

And, as a case and point of how the American Division outside of the Mount and Columbia was as weak as it’s ever been this spring, three Liberty Division teams posted ECT wins vs. American Division opponents with Glen Ridge, which had lost to Montclair three times in the 2025 season, defeating the Mounties, 3-1, while Nutley knocked off West Essex and Bloomfield roared past Cedar Grove in first-round action.  

Even if there might have been some debate as to just how strong MHS softball could have been this spring, the anticipation was certainly leaning more towards a winning season than anything near what eventually ensued with such a downward slide while going 2-8 in what was certainly a sub-par year for the SEC-American Division.

Now it’s time for Belford to go back to the drawing board once again and find a softball coach to lead the program into the future.

Repeating the great success of the 1996 Group 4 runner-up squad seems like light years away from happening again at this point and time, but righting the ship now may require some reflection about past decisions before once again seeking to find the right person to help revive a once very promising high school softball program.