800 wins and counting: Brookdale baseball coach hits milestone amid 16-0 start

By Jake Matson, Asbury Park Press

On a rigid Monday in Lincroft, it momentarily appeared that Brookdale Community College’s hot start to the 2024 baseball season might have finally cooled off.

Facing Rowan College-Cumberland, the Jersey Blues gave up a triple on the opening at bat of the afternoon. Shortly after that runner scored on a sac fly to give RCSJ-Cumberland the lead, an errant throw to first provided a window for the Dukes to then load the bases with no outs.

Then Colts Neck High School graduate Tyler Spencer got two strikeouts for Brookdale to get out of the jam and end the inning, and the result was never again in doubt as the Jersey Blues did what they usually do under long-time coach Johnny Johnson: They won.

“This was a pretty good team, they swung the bat pretty good,” said Johnson after the victory. “Big conference game, this team won a national championship a couple years ago.”

Brookdale (16-0) remained undefeated with the mercy-rule 25-5 victory over RCSJ-Cumberland (8-6). It was the 807th career win for Johnson, who celebrated his milestone 800th victory 10 days earlier. In his 25 years at the helm, he’s created a high standard for his players. For the most part, they met that standard again Monday.

“I put a lot of pressure on them, and they mostly respond,” added Johnson. “They understand what they’re capable of doing, so I’m not gonna let these guys slack.”

This year’s start is beginning to approach the territory of best in program history, but there is still room for improvement under a coach who knows all too well about what it takes to win.

“The guy’s a legend, Coach Johnny J,” said Brookdale infielder Rocko Brzezniak, a Matawan native who hit two home runs in the win. “They have an old school approach, but hey it’s working.”

‘The results are here, they work hard.’

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, Johnson became laser-focused as his competitive drive was fueled by the frustration of his team’s slow start. As he preached discipline at the plate, the results appeared immediately when Brookdale took a 2-1 lead after a bases-loaded walk and a hit-by-pitch scored in two runs.

“That’s where the sophomore leadership comes in,” said Johnson. “They don’t panic, they hit right through the lineup. It’s a matter of just who gets hot first.”

With two outs and the lead, it was now time for his team to be more aggressive. The Blues executed their coach’s vision with the same laser precision.

They proceeded to score eight consecutive runs, all with two outs. The offensive outburst was punctuated by back-to-back home runs from sophomore outfielder Nick LoVarco (Wall High School) and Brzezniak as Brookdale took a 10-1 lead and the Blues never looked back.

But their coach did. After some sloppy defensive play led to three runs for RCSJ-Cumberland in the top of the third, Johnson huddled his team on the field to hold them accountable. Leading 11-4, Brookdale was not playing to the necessary standard.

“These guys, they buy into it,” said Johnson. “Most of these guys are average baseball players that are playing way above their ability. The results are here, they work hard.”

They added a home run in the bottom half of the inning before retiring the side in the top of the fourth. When Brzezniak hit his second home run, a grand slam bomb that hit the scoreboard in right field, there was finally room for the home dugout to relax.

“Probably the best team chemistry I’ve ever been a part of in my life,” said Brzezniak. “We have a really hard-working group of guys and I love everybody on this team like a brother.”

After the grand slam brought the Blues’ lead to 17-5, they still weren’t finished. A triple by freshman Kensil Flores (North Babylon, New York) cleared the loaded bases, Lovarco hit his own triple on the very next at bat. The runs kept coming until the Blues seemed to decide the cold, and the 20-run margin of victory, was enough. The win tied their largest margin of victory this season.

But even in the midst of an undefeated start, the Blues know the ultimate goal is still looming. And Johnson had a measured response to his team’s early success relative to that goal.

“They’re starting to gain confidence, now they’re believing they could beat anybody,” he said. “They know they’re still not good enough that if they don’t play their game, they can get beat by anybody.”

‘I don’t need the best players ever, I need the best people for my program.’

Since the program’s inception in 1971, all Brookdale baseball has ever done is win. And as a former player for the team in 1982 and only the second ever head coach in the program’s history, Johnson’s detail-oriented precision will not allow the Blues to experience the distaste of defeat.

He took over for his former coach, William P. (Paul) MacLaughlin, in 1999. The legendary MacLaughlin helmed the startup program as a 27-year-old coach in his first season, and took the team to five outright state titles (and a share of a sixth) in his first six seasons while compiling a 107-36 record. From there, the elite standard was set.

Johnson has established his own legacy in his quarter-century leading the Blues. Six times he has been voted as an NJCAA Region Coach of the Year and Garden State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. His career record now stands at 807-346. McLaughlin’s school record of 877 wins is within reach.

Johnson starred as the catcher, hitting .381 with seven home runs, for the 1981 Middletown South High School team – the first team to capture both the Monmouth County and Shore Conference tournaments in the same year during a 24-4 campaign. He played collegiately at Miami Dade Community College and UNLV.

“I don’t need the best players ever, I need the best people for my program,” said Johnson in his office before the game. “I’m a tough coach to play for, I’m gonna demand a lot and expect you to be perfect. And they know that.”

And as far as that 800th win, he deferentially joked that he never hit a baseball or caught a baseball in his 25 years at the helm. He instead credits his assistants for their collaboration in honing the system within the program.

“Eddie Galante, who’s been with me for 15 years. I got two great guys now in Gerry Malanga and Jay Blackwell,” Johnson said.

The system is a continuity of the hard-nosed style of MacLaughlin, and the results from Johnson have lived up to that legacy. He explained that the players develop a maturity and work-ethic from the process that is behind the team’s success in sending players to four-year colleges.

“I coach the way I wanted to be coached,” said Johnson. “I want to be pushed. I want a coach to tell me I’m doing a good job, and I’ll go through a brick wall for him. We just want to prepare our guys to go into a four-year school.”

But before those players move on, there is a hope that this might be a team that’s capable of competing in the NJCAA World Series.

“The goal is to get to the world series this year, to take Johnny J back to the World Series,” said Brzezniak.

The players have earned the optimism of their tough head coach.

“I went to the World Series five times and this team has what it takes to compete at that level,” Johnson said. “And once you get there, everybody’s the same. Anybody can beat anybody.”

For now, Johnson and the Blues are content focusing on the most important win — the next one.

Photos by Tanya Breen, Asbury Park Press

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Brookdale Community College baseball coach Johnny Johnson tops 800 wins