St. John Vianney coach Mike Morgan envisioned big things for his 2014 senior class from the time they entered the program before the 2011 season and particularly when they became a complete class in 2012 with the transfer of former Holmdel slugger Joe Rotelli. Yet on May 22 of this year, there were the Lancers, winless in their last four NJSIAA tournament games and without any deep runs in either the Shore Conference or Monmouth County Tournaments during the three-plus-year period that the promising class had spent with Morgan.

While the sand in the hourglass ran low on the careers of St. John Vianney’s nine senior starters and 15 total seniors, Morgan had a simple message for his group.

St. John Vianney dethroned four-time champion Gloucester Catholic en rout to its first state championship since 1981. (Photo by Matt Manley)
St. John Vianney dethroned four-time champion Gloucester Catholic en rout to its first state championship since 1981. (Photo by Matt Manley)
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“I told them that this is yours,” Morgan said after beating Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public South A championship game. “This isn’t my championship; it’s your championship and you guys are going to determine how far you take this. Before the state tournament, I just told them that as long as we keep winning, you guys get to keep playing together. If you don’t want it to end, go out and play like it.”

The Lancers responded by playing their best when their high school careers depended on it and those careers ended with St. John Vianney hoisting the NJSIAA Non-Public Group A final for the first time since 1981. In a season in which he won his 100th career game as a head coach and brought St. John Vianney its first state title in more than three decades, Morgan is the Shore Sports Network Baseball Coach of the Year.

“I love this group,” Morgan said following the win over St. Joseph Montvale in the Non-Public A championship game. “There was never a doubt in my mind that they were capable of something like this, and I just hoped for their sake they could get on a run like they got on. It’s satisfying for me because I know how hard these seniors worked for four years and to see it pay off is extremely satisfying.”

Two other Shore Conference teams – Shore Regional in Group I and Jackson Memorial in Group IV – won state titles, but winning a Non-Public A championship is a different animal than the other five championships. In order to win its first state championship in 33 years, St. John Vianney had to beat Bishop Eustace, Christian Brothers Academy, Gloucester Catholic and St. Joseph in consecutive games. Bishop Eustace spent several weeks as the No. 1 team in the state, according to the Newark-Star Ledger; CBA finished as the No. 2 team in the Shore Sports Network Top 10; and Gloucester Catholic was a four-time defending state champion, the last two of which were in Non-Public A.

The championship run began on May 22 with a 13-3 thrashing of Notre Dame, which was the last game the Lancers would play on their home field. They then went on the road and smoked Bishop Eustace, 10-0, outslugged CBA, 13-9, and walked off with a 3-2 win over Gloucester Catholic junior ace and Maryland recruit John Murphy in the South Jersey final at Rowan University.

"When I talked to coach Morgan about possibly coming to play here, he told me, 'We're going to win a championship here whether you come or not,'" said Rotelli, who made the move to Vianney in 2012 after starting as a freshman with the Hornets in 2011. "I knew this was the team that gave me the best chance to (win a championship)."

Prior to the state championship run, not all was lost for the Lancers. Although they lost in the round-of-16 in both the Monmouth County and Shore Conference Tournaments, the Lancers dethroned Red Bank Catholic as the Class A Central division champion by going 12-2 in division play and beating the Caseys twice during the regular season.

The first win over Red Bank Catholic, an 11-5 St. John Vianney win at home on April 5, gave Morgan his 100th career victory in his eighth year as the Vianney head coach. During his high school playing days, Morgan developed his championship pedigree as a member of Manasquan’s back-to-back state championship football teams in 1990 and 1991 under legendary coach Vic Kubu.

"It's different as a coach and you understand having been through it as a player that it ultimately comes down to the players," Morgan said. "But I also understand the impact coach Kubu had and as a coach, you just try to get them pointed in the right direction and give them what they need. I truly believed this group was going to end up where they did, and it's because of how special they are individually and how special they became when they became a team."

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