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Denville
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The staff prides themselves in keeping up with the current trends in baseball. Combine this with many years of playing baseball at the college and semi pro level coupled with an extensive background in coaching experience makes our camps the success they have been for so many years. Talk to a parent or a camper that has attended and they will tell you the camp is fun, educational and competitive, all at the appropriate age level. If success can be measured in return campers each year and players whose fathers have attended the camp and want their children to attend, we are very successful! There are seven primary coaches who teach at our camp each year. All but one is a teacher or coach at Morris Knolls High School. Their backgrounds are very diverse and all have extensive coaching and teaching experience. Following is a "short" background on our coaches: Frank Elias, Camp Director: Frank retired in 2005, after 38 years as a teacher of Physical Education and First Aid at Morris Knolls High School. He earned his Master Degree in Physical Education from Montclair State University. He was a career catcher. He was All State and All County selection in high school and lettered four years at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He also played fifteen years in the Morris Major Baseball League winning the batting, doubles and triples titles during his tenure. He coached thirty years at Morris Knolls, nineteen at the Varsity level. During his varsity tenure, Coach Elias' teams qualified seventeen (17) times for the state play-offs winning two sectional championships, two North Jersey Group 4 championships and two appearances in the group four (4) finals. His teams also won 2 Morris Country Championships and 3 Conference Championships. He was selected four times Morris County Coach of the Year and once Tri State Coach (NJ, Del, and NY) of the Year. Coach Elias has been director of the campsince 1981. Adam Bonfiglio: Adam is presently the Head Coach at Morris Knolls High School where he has coached for the past 20 years, ten as head coach. He is a Knolls graduate and played three years varsity at third base, graduating in 1985. He played four years Varsity baseball at Iona College where he was an outstanding third basemen. He recently retired after playing eighteen seasons in the Morris Majors baseball league as shortstop for Mendham Pastime Club where he led the league in hitting in 1991 and 1992. Adam is a Junior High School teacher of Art in the Dover school district. Kevin Elias: "KC" is the son of Frank and has the distinction of having the longest tenure of all the campers and most of the coaches! He was five years old when he started as a camper and sixteen when he started instructing. He is very adapt at teaching fundamentals and relates extremely well to all age groups. He was a standout shortstop/second baseman for Randolph High School earning three varsity letters. This year he completed his 12th season in the Morris County Major League playing for East Hanover and Denville and is considered one of the best second basemen in the league. He is a graduate of Bloomsburg University and currently in a full time Master's Degree program in Guidance Counseling at Montclair State University. Rich Luttenberger: Rich, a twelve-year veteran of the camp, was an Assistant Varsity coach for ten seasons, nine at Morris Knolls, where he handled the coaching for all of the catchers in the program. He played baseball at Virginia Tech and played many years in the Morris Majors baseball league where he was a standout catcher. An All-Area and All-Iron Conference player in high school, he was the starting catcher for both of the Morris Knolls County Champion teams in 1988 and 1989. You will forever find his name in the MK record books for going errorless behind the plate for two consecutive seasons! "Lutt" has been a middle school teacher and a high school English teacher, but after earning his Master's degree, he became an Educational Media Specialist at Knolls. Craig Miniter: Craig earned his teaching degree from the University of Maryland. A former Knolls graduate, Craig started his career as an English teacher at Morris Knolls and coached the Junior Varsity baseball team for several years. He finished his Master's Degree in Special Education and is now working in the Special Education Department with students who have learning deficiencies. He has the patience of a Saint and along with coach Luttenberger, they combine to head the baseball basics classes. "Mint" was a standout third baseman for the 1989 County Champion Golden Eagles and only committed two errors the entire season! Eric Mindrebo: Eric earned his bachelors degree in Biology from Messiah College and is in the final stages of completing his Masters degree. While at Messiah College, he was voted All Middle Atlantic Conference pitcher of the year and was named to the NCAA Division III Middle Atlantic Region First team. Eric has been at Morris Knolls since 2000 and teaches Biology. He was the Junior Varsity coach for his first two seasons before being elevated to the Pitching Coach on the Varsity level.
We also hire college students who have
worked in the camp previously. These counselors always get priority in
hiring because they have already proved their work ethic and can work very well with the
campers. | |
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Since
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1973