Mobbed by family, friends, and Midland Park players on his home field, Frank Clark’s eyes fought through the tears of joy on June 5, 2025.
Following a monumental victory, Clark – the head coach – took a step back, scanned the field, and couldn’t believe what he saw. It wasn’t just the people he knew who were jumping and cheering for what his team had accomplished on that day.
It was the entire town.
“It truly is an honor. New Jersey has a tremendous amount of great baseball coaches,” Clark said. “To even be considered among that group means so much to me.”
Clark has coached high school baseball for over 20 years. Starting out at Emerson (Union City) in 2004, Clark was also at the helm at Waldwick for several years before landing at Midland Park.
It felt like home to him, and with a world of experience, there was always some level of faith that he would help Midland Park to their first championship.
“This is a very small town, right? While that can be viewed as a negative sometimes, there is so much to gain from it as well,” Clark said. “These kids love each other. They grew up together. They spend every day together. That connection is not something that every school can cultivate. So for us, it was just about using that to our advantage.”
“Frank is one of the great baseball minds of Bergen County. His teams are always well-coached and they play the game with a great energy and passion,” Rutherford head coach Carmen Spina said. “It’s always an honor competing against him.”
Before the postseason started, the Panthers lost a reliable bat in Ralph Caprio to an injury that would sideline him for the entire season. Caprio was riding a 13-game hitting streak before getting hurt, so to remove a star-level hitter that late in the season could sink a small team.
Midland Park also was without Anthony Carrea on the mound, who was on track for an 80-strikeout campaign. Carrea worked beyond the pain and still played as a designated hitter, but the Panthers lost one of their starting pitchers.
A Group 1 school cannot afford to switch up their lineup and rotation. One reliable player getting injured is like the first domino falling, and the rest would surely follow.
But for Clark and his Panthers, they didn’t panic. They didn’t call off the season. It only fueled them.
“Ralph and Anthony are some of the best kids I have ever coached. It hurt us all when we found out they wouldn’t play in the playoffs,” Clark said.“But they still showed up after the fact. That made the team stronger. We were fighting for them, and we were fighting to prove that we can still play.”
Clark turned to junior Braiden Russell to become a starter, who was normally the team’s closer. A natural leader, Russell held it down, and alongside Detrick, was part of the Panthers’ pitching dominance in the postseason. Clark also elected to start freshman Shane O’Shea at third base, and junior Jason Vivino took on more responsibility as an every day player.
“All those guys stepped up. You could tell they were motivated. Shane made some tremendous heads-up plays. The other guys really took him under their wing,” Clark said.
“Braiden was just spectacular. He is a big-time player. Jason, that kid was clutch on both sides of the ball. They all wanted to win so bad.”
“Those are my guys. They are just as much a part of this coaching staff as I am,” Clark said. “They love this team, and they drove this team to success, too.”
Midland Park, finishing the season with a 21-9-1 record, handed in a respectable effort in the state final against a championship regular in Middlesex.
They fell, 3-2 as part of a game that took two days to finish due to rain. It wasn’t the end result they would have preferred, but Frank Clark and Midland Park continued to live up to the program’s standards of constantly competing, gritting out each game, and never giving up despite the odds that may have been stacked against them.
“I’ve never been around anyone with a bigger heart. I have an immense amount of respect and admiration for him, his staff, and his program. What Frank did this season was so impressive,” Waldwick head coach Dan Freeman said.
Clark finishes the 2025 season with a 367-184-3 career record.
“I just can’t thank everyone in my life enough for helping me get to this point. I am truly grateful,” Clark said.
PJ Potter covers North Jersey and Central Jersey baseball. He can be reached at ppotter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @PJ_Potter
