Cranston Saves His Best for Last in State Championship Game

Senior pitcher Mike Cranston proved to be a key cog in the Gov. Livingston baseball wheel during one of the greatest seasons in program history.

The night before the final, head coach Chris Roof had to make a tough decision with Saturday's Group 2 championship game weighing heavily on their collective minds. Hand the ball to Cranston or to Joey Graziano, another staff ace who dominated on the hill this season.

Roof went with Cranston, and the decision paid major dividends, when the senior righty showed guts and ability while facing the vaunted West Essex offense -- one that usually doesn't take no for an answer when it comes to scoring runs.

"Going in, coach Roof said we're going to have to score some runs because they have a pretty good offense themselves," noted Cranston. "We just had to have a good approach and we were able to do that into the seventh inning."

Cranston gave up just one run in the first five innings, but with the Highlanders holding a tenuous 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 6th, West Essex tied the game with a home run, testing the mettle of the crafty hurler, who proceeded to retire the side, confident his teammates had the right stuff to get at least one run back.

"We pride ourselves on being able to come back and stay focused. It was still tied, but we had a good feeling going in," said Cranston. "We knew we were going to be able to put up some runs and then hold them to zero, so we had a good thought process going into the final inning."

The Highlanders six-run outburst was more than enough to set the stage for a championship celebration, as Cranston closed the door on the Knights in the 7th frame. The final out -- short to first if you're scoring at home -- set in motion a wild celebration in front of the mound, a celebration they could only dream of before that moment.

Now Cranston and his teammates have a bond that will last forever.

"It's a great feeling, the second time in school history, and doing it with a bunch of kids you grew up with, there's definitely no better feeling and a great way to end a high school career."

"The last out was pretty cool. We've been waiting for that the last couple of years. Coach Roof kept telling us this was going to be a good group and the dream came true for all of us that we were able to get this done."

This was the second state group title in program history -- the last coming in 1999.

Now, Cranston and company will now be able to say they were able to accomplish what so few are able to do.