Although the closing of St. Anthony High School left veteran baseball coach Ron Hayward without a team, it doesn’t mean that Hayward has stopped coaching.
In fact, even an abbreviated and ill-fated stay earlier this year as an assistant with the troubled baseball program at St. Peter’s University couldn’t sway the affable coach, who has battled his personal war with kidney disease over the last few years, requiring daily stints on a personal dialysis machine.
Hayward is still at it, coaching the First Move baseball program in his native Jersey City, giving inner-city kids in Hudson County a chance to play baseball at a higher level.
Hayward’s program features five different teams, 17-and-under, 16U, 14U, 11U and 10U that are all getting top-flight instruction and a chance to play competitively at a higher level.
The name “First Move” stems from the idea that Hayward wants his players to live by.
“First Move describes my life,” said Hayward, who won an NJSIAA Non-Public B state championship at Marist in 2012 before moving on to St. Anthony. “Every move I make in my life is the first move. It describes the way we play, the way we run. Everything we do, it’s the first move, the right move. Instead of hesitating, they have to make the right move.”
Hayward said that the program is built on the fundamentals that were instilled into him at a young age by a local legend.
“It’s like how the immortal Ed Ford [the late baseball legend known to most as ‘The Faa’] would run it,” Hayward said. “Some of my former players now are helping me coach. We all work together. High school coaches now reach out to me to see if I can help their players. I just hope I can keep doing it.”
Hayward’s eldest team, the 17U First Move, just recently won the Perfect Game U17 state championship, earning a berth in the Super 25 National Championships next week in Sanford, Florida.
The Perfect Game nationals serve as a showcase for a lot of these youngsters.
“There are a few of these kids that I coached at St. Anthony,” Hayward said. “I am trying to keep these kids close together and bring the best out of them.”
Hayward said that the parents of the players are footing the bill for the travel and lodging on their own, which can be difficult for some of them who reside in the inner-city.
“My goal is to help these kids out,” Hayward said. “We want to have the best Hudson County travel [baseball] team. I’m not a loser. I don’t like losing. I want to make sure we win.”
Hayward made sure recently at the state tournament, when First Move outscored the opponents, 62-12, in the five games that they played and won.
The team features a deep and talented pitching staff, featuring players who are recent members of the Hudson Reporter All-Area High School Baseball Team or earned such honors in the past.
Justice Ramirez, Bernard Shivers and Hayward’s son Elliott are three such players.
Elliott Hayward, who earned All-Area in 2016 and 2017 while playing for St. Anthony, is the First Move starting centerfielder. He’s currently at Old Bridge High School and could very well hear his name called when the 2019 Major League Baseball Free Agent Amateur Draft is held next June.
But the First Move pitching staff features Shivers, who earned All-Area honors just last week from Snyder High School, and North Bergen product Ramirez, who missed most of this season due to injury, but earned All-Area honors in 2016 and 2017 at St. Anthony.
Shivers enjoyed a phenomenal baseball season for the Tigers and has a bright future in baseball.
Other members of the First Move pitching staff include Roddy Hernandez of St. Peter’s Prep, Dwayne Sims of Marist, Julian Moosh of Bayonne and University Charter High School and Sonny Fauci.
The catchers are Carlos Castillo of Marist and Shane Paradine of Bayonne, who just recently earned Third Team All-State honors from NJ.com. Paradine is another player who just might get selected in the MLB Draft next June.
Jaydem Martinez of Bayonne is the first baseman, with Elacio Olacio, formerly of Hoboken playing second base.
Ramirez and Hernandez are splitting time at shortstop, with Orlando Pena, formerly of Hudson Catholic, playing third base.
Shivers and Sims man left field with Hayward in centerfield and Moosh in right. Miguel Reyes of Memorial is a reserve third baseman and catcher. Rafael Solano of Hudson Catholic is another member of the team, as are Matt Turner and Antonio Canales, another of Hayward’s former St. Anthony players.
Former Marist and Bayonne High ace hurler A.J. Candelario, who earned Hudson Reporter All-Area honors three times as a high school player, is Hayward’s assistant coach with the U17 First Move All-Stars. Candelario is still playing at Miami Dade in Florida, but missed most of the 2018 season due to a shoulder injury.
Needless to say, it’s a talented roster and one that should go a long way on the national level with the other 24 qualifiers next week in Florida.
As for Hayward?
“I’m just living the dream,” said Hayward, who requires nine-to-10 hours of dialysis overnight daily to survive. “Things happen for a reason. Thank God, I’m good. I’m living the life. I get to watch my son play every day.”
If anyone is interested in tryouts for First Move programs or the First Move baseball camps, log on to www.fmbaseball.org.
The Haywards, father and son, were in Georgia for a talent showcase when contacted for this article…
EXTRA INNINGS focuses on the best stories that come from local baseball and softball leagues throughout the area, from Little League action through travel leagues. If you have noteworthy information to contribute, contact Jim Hague by phone at (201) 303-5792 or via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com (e-mail works best). Include a telephone contact name and number in order to gather more information. Also, if you have a picture to be used with the story, that would be a great help….–Jim Hague.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
