As a hall of fame high school and college baseball coach, Jim Muldowney owns a lifetime of accomplishments, none of which may be as impressive as the remarkable turnaround he recently engineered.
During his second year at the helm of a once-dormant Middlesex College softball program, which he built from scratch after the Colts were unable to field a team in 2019, Muldowney guided an undermanned 11-player squad to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III World Series.
Middlesex College, whose Cinderella campaign concluded with a 3-0 loss in Syracuse to Monroe College, finished the 2022 season with a 23-10 record after qualifying for the national tournament for the first time in more than four decades.
“The most amazing part about the journey was the fact that we weren’t even sure we were going to have a team,” said Muldowney, whose Colts ended the year ranked No. 8 in the country. “Me and my assistant coaches went over one or two days to the student center in late February to see if we could get a couple of girls to join the team. It’s a crazy story. It’s unbelievable.”
As the staff was scrambling to fill its roster, Middlesex College players and coaches were hosting a hitting camp for high school student-athletes on consecutive weekends bridging February and March.
Proceeds from the camp, which more than 50 players attended, benefited The Marisa Tufaro Foundation and Teamwork Unlimited Foundation, two Edison-based nonprofits that assist others in need and are close to Muldowney’s heart.
A legendary mentor who previously coached baseball at both Middlesex College and Edison High School, Muldowney posted a combined 416-156 record during a total of 22 seasons at the schools.
After guiding Middlesex College to a 141-81 mark over nine seasons on the baseball diamond, Muldowney took over the baseball program at Edison High School, which he transformed into a perennial state power, posting a 275-75 record in 13 seasons while leading the Eagles to seven Greater Middlesex Conference championships and two NJSIAA Group IV titles.
The sport of softball was not foreign to Muldowney, who for five years coached the travel ball teams of his daughter, Marylynn, a 2017 graduate of the University of Rhode Island, where as a four-year starter she played in every single game.
Muldowney watched close to 200 NCAA Division I softball games, developing an affinity for the sport along the way.
Middlesex College hired Muldowney as its softball coach in March 2019, nine months after he retired following a lengthy career as a teacher, coach, athletics director, and district supervisor of health and physical education with Edison Township Public Schools.
The Colts were unable to field a team in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic cancelled the ensuing season, one filled with promise after Muldowney and his staff recruited a talented squad.
Muldowney finally made his college softball coaching debut in 2021, during which the Colts won 10 of their last 13 games to finish with a 15-16 record and build important momentum for the ensuing campaign.
With less than a month before the start of the 2022 season, however, Middlesex College’s roster had dwindled to just nine players. The Colts added two more members before their March 21 opener.
Middlesex College commenced the year with a four-game winning streak and emerged victorious in 13 of its first 14 contests.
“We seriously didn’t know if we were going to have a season,” Muldowney said. “All the pieces fell into place. We went through the entire season with just 11 players. We had some injuries along the way. They ended up not being serious. We got out of the gate and things started clicking.”
On the way to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Softball World Series, Middlesex College defeated five teams that were nationally ranked or won region titles.
A microcosm of the team’s season came during Middlesex College’s 2-0 victory over Rowan College South Jersey Gloucester in the decisive second game of a best-of-three North Atlantic B District championship series.
With runners on first and second and one away in the home sixth and her team protecting a two-run cushion, outfielder Katelyn Herman made a sensational diving catch, robbing an opposing hitter of an extra-base hit and doubling up the lead runner to preserve the lead.
“They hit a shot to right-center and the girl dives full out, catches the ball and stands up and throws a strike to second base,” said Muldowney, who has witnessed his share of spectacular defensive plays during decades of coaching. “It was a one-in-a-million catch.”
Veteran journalist Keith Sargeant, a Middlesex College alumnus who earlier this year was honored as the National Sports Media Association’s New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year, said the success his alma mater enjoyed on the softball diamond under Muldowney should not necessarily come as a surprise.
“Having followed that program since my days at the school (in the mid ‘90s), covering all the sports programs, including softball, for Quo Vadis, the student newspaper, I understand the history and the challenges that all junior college programs face,” said Sargeant, who writes for NJ Advance Media, the parent company of NJ.com and The Star Ledger.
“I understand some people might have been a little surprised by it,” Saregant said of the program’s success, “but knowing Jim Muldowney and having covered him as a scholastic reporter covering high school baseball, I knew how great a coach he is. Coaching translates. It doesn’t matter if he’s coaching baseball, softball, or the chess team. He’s mentoring, encouraging players, getting the best out of his student-athletes. Those are all traits Jim possesses and he’s better than anyone. So, I wasn’t surprised that they had this success.”
Lack of surprise aside, Sargeant said Middlesex College’s remarkable turnaround from a dormant program in 2019 to a 2022 National Junior College Athletic Association Division III World Series qualifier was “a great story.”
With six starters each playing in all the team’s games, the Colts batted .335 as a team and outscored opponents 225 to 107.
Middlesex College seemingly had a different leader in every offensive category. Jennah Schiraldo (.411 average), Olivia Tirso (42 hits), Abigail Jason (38 runs), Julie Davis (12 doubles), Destiny Gonzalez (nine stolen bases) and Chloe Oblepias (one homer) were among the team’s leaders. Teammates Alyssa Dima, Olivia Vrancia and Hannah Cotayo also contributed.
The Colts success, however, hinged on the left arm of pitcher Kaitlynne McCarthy. The sophomore ended the year among the national leaders in complete games (second), innings pitched (third), and ERA (sixth).
She was named the Region XIX Pitcher of the Year and Muldowney was named Region XIX Coach of the Year, an honor he shares with assistants Matt Mehalick, Anthony Muldowney and Cheryl Kjersgaard.
Mehalick played for Muldowney when he coached baseball at the college. Anthony called every single pitch from the dugout.
“To have that experience with those two made it more special,” Muldowney said of coaching alongside his son and a former player. “When you think of all the things that had to happen for us to get there (to the World Series), it’s an unbelievable story.”
Muldowney said he hopes his players learned some valuable life lessons along the way, including giving back to the community through the funds they raised for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation and Teamwork Unlimited.
Many of Muldowney’s players are familiar with both nonprofits, having played in Teamwork Unlimited Foundation’s Autism Awareness Challenge or having participated in events for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
“We wanted to do a camp to raise money for our own kids and to do it for two good causes,” Muldowney said. “Our girls need to know this (community service) is important.”