Post 31’s District 2 state win gives Rick Freeman his 1,000th career victory

Post 31 Coach, Rick Freeman smiles after picking up his 1000th win as a coach.  Photo by Michael A. SAbo

By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

July 17: In 1976, Rick Freeman became an assistant coach under his dad, Ken “Pops” Freeman, with the Hamilton Post 31 baseball team.

Rick became head man nine years later after Rich Giallella had the job for two years. When Freeman sat in the dugout on that early June day in 1985, it’s safe to say he wasn’t thinking about winning 1,000 games.

“You just think about number one when you start, then number two,” Freeman said. “You don’t even think about it.”

Until now.

With Casey Navarro throwing a gem and the offense exploding for 15 hits, Post 31 took a 9-0 win over North Warren in a New Jersey American Legion District 2 elimination game at Mercer County Park Monday. The victory keeps Hamilton alive for a berth in the state’s Final 8 and, oh by the way, was the 1,000th of Freeman’s illustrious career.

Rick, who gained his 800th legion victory earlier this season, now has 820 wins with Hamilton along with 180 in six years at Mercer County Community College. He also served as an assistant under Sonny Pittaro at Rider and Fred Hill at Rutgers, and was mentored by former MCCC coach Butch Davis. He coached for Rich Giallella at Steinert, and Giallella coaches for him now. Freeman calls those four, along with his dad “My Fab Five.”

“Dad taught me his love for baseball,” Freeman said. “I’ve been fortunate to have Richie by my side, I’ve coached for him, he’s coached for me but we’ve had a friendship for 42 years. Butch Miller gave me a chance to go coach. He sent me out there. Sonny Pittaro and Fred Hill have been tremendous for me. And of course, great players and great assistant coaches.”

That is true. But all that greatness has received a boost from Freeman.

Just ask veteran pitcher Dave Stec, who has played for Freeman for three years.

“We’ve had a lot of great players come through here but we couldn’t do it without him,” Stec said. “This is all him.”

Shortstop Joey Sacco, also a three-year man under Freeman, added that “Honestly, it’s unbelievable what he’s able to do for us, his commitment to the team and legion. It’s incredible. He’s a great coach to have. We didn’t even know (about the 1000th). I heard that right after the game. He wanted to keep it low key.”

We here at Fish4scores don’t believe in low keying 1,000 wins, but out of respect to Freeman (and his players) we will report some game information before turning back to his feat.

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Sacco was one of the key figures in the milestone victory. The leadoff hitter doubled to start a three-run first inning, and finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.

“Hitting leadoff is all right,” Sacco said. “I hit second for school; I guess I prefer hitting second, but whatever I gotta do I’ll do.”

C.J. Pittaro chipped in with two hits and two runs scored, Ryan Mostrangeli had a hit, run and RBI, Matt Ricci had two hits and an RBI, Chris Cote had three hits and a run, Alex Coleman had a hit and run scored and Brendan James had a hit and RBI.

And then there’s Jake Beyer, who went 3-or-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. In three District 2 games Beyer has eight hits. That gives him 19 hits in the last six games.

With the offense taken care of, Navarro did his thing. Freeman noted that in four starts this year, Navarro has allowed nary a run. Against North Warren he allowed four hits and three walks while striking out two in six innings. Chris Cote pitched a scoreless seventh. 

“I just keep getting better and better every practice and throwing as best I could every practice,” Navarro said. “I felt in control until the fourth or fifth inning and got a little tired.”  

Asked what he was expecting from his pitcher, Freeman said, “Pretty much that. Casey’s usually pretty consistent. Today was one of the first days he struggled with his command but he was able to make pitches when he had to.”

The victory puts Hamilton in Tuesday’s elimination game at MCP, which will be played shortly after the Brooklawn-Haddon Heights winner’s bracket final at 4 p.m. It will be a township showdown, as Post 31 plays Broad Street Park, a 7-1 winner over Point Pleasant.

Freeman will be going for win number 1,001, but a few people enjoyed talking about his 1,000th today.

“He’s just amazing,” said Bordentown coach Doug Moore, who attended the game. “He sets the precedent for all us other managers. He’s mentored me. I’m proud of him. It kind of shows his age. . .but he’s still a young man. It’s a big accomplishment.”

Pittaro noted that Freeman’s baseball infatuation is such, that when he married his long-time wife, Mary Ann, it was on Babe Ruth’s birthday. They promptly honeymooned in Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“He loves the game,” Pittaro said. “For him to be in this long and devote all that time and energy it’s just remarkable. It’s also remarkable that he’s got a photographic memory. He can remember every game going back 40 years — what happened, what day it was. You ask him to recall and he’ll say ‘Oh yeah, back in 82 we did this, we did that.’ It’s unbelievable.”

“The game is number one to him,” Giallella said. “It’s a pleasure to be in a program that wins all the time and has a great reputation. It takes time sometimes. You look at this year. It took us 12 games to learn how to play. But he molds them and is usually very successful.”

Neither Pittaro or Giallella see many comparisons between father and son, baseball-wise.

“They’re completely different,” Giallella said. “Rick has his own style, it’s unique, but that’s his style. He believes in it, he commits to it and it works.”

“Rick’s so meticulous in what he does,” Pittaro said.

And Pops wasn’t?

“No I don’t think so,” Sonny said with a laugh. “Rick’s a student of the game and works at it. He’s pretty much low key and occasionally he might let off some steam; but very seldom. I think he respects his players and respects the game. You just can’t say enough about what he’s done. He’s just unbelievable.”

And he’s made a bigger impact on more players than he would ever give him credit for.

About The Author


Rich Fisher has been around the Hamilton Township sports scene for so long that he actually got Rich Giallella’s autograph when Giallella was still a player! Proud product of Hamilton YMCA and Lou Gehrig baseball leagues and former teammate of Jim Maher on a very average Barton & Cooney rec basketball team, Fish graduated from Nottingham Junior High and Steinert High school and has covered township sports since 1980. His goal in life is to convince Maria Prato that Jersey tomatoes are at least 100 times better than California tomatoes.