LOU CAMMISO CLASS OF '73 YEAR OF INDUCTION: 2023 He says there is nothing flashy about his life as an athlete, but we're not so sure that Lou Cammiso is right about that. "There's not much glitz to my short story," he says. "It's pretty simple stuff. I just loved baseball." And baseball loved him right back. He played two years of varsity baseball at Steinert High school. He was an all-county and all-area first team selection by the area newspapers in 1973. On the way to being named Second Team All-State, he posted the lowest single season ERA (0.375) in 1973. The Spartans won the county championship and lost a close game and were eliminated in the state tournament. He went on to star at the then-named Rider College. “He was one of the best pitchers I ever had," said longtime Rider baseball coach Sonny Pittaro. "He was just a bulldog on the mound. I remember he pitched both ends of a doubleheader early on for us. He was a great pitcher and a great competitor." Another person familiar with Rider, Steinert and Cammiso echoed Pittaro's remarks. "He was always competitive," said Rich Giallella, of Cammiso, who still ranks in the Top 3 pitching leaders at Rider with a 25- 10 record he posted in 1977. "He gave you seven or nine innings, whatever you needed. He was talented, he had a good skillset and he was a bulldog and he was fun to watch. I know he helped Sonny in his formative years." Before he got to the varsity at SHS, Cammiso impressed at least one other coach on the way up. "When it came time for Lou to pitch, Lou pitched," said Ken Rauba, Lou's JV coach. "You saved him for the NDs (Notre Dames) and the Hamilton Wests. He was solid as solid can be. Was he a competitor? Of course. Was Louie a Spartan? Of course. He was a winner and would do what it took to win." "Baseball was my life for many years," Cammiso said. "They were good days and I still have lots of memories." He made a lot of friends and memories for others in his "non-glitzy" baseball career. "We always had a pipeline to local kids," Pittaro said. "We recruited him and we really wanted him to come to Rider. We're so happy he did. Not just for his pitching abilities but because he was a terrific person with a great personality and he worked really well with others." "I have known Lou since we were 12 years old and playing on the Nottingham Little League District 12 All-Star Champions," says childhood friend Art Napolitano, who later went on to star in soccer. "At that time we started competing in everything we did, whiffle ball, shooting pool in his basement. His house was like a second home to me. We watched every N.Y. Yankee game together with his parents. We played Babe Ruth All-Stars together as well as American Legion Ball for Post 31 where we were on the All-Star team as well with him at shortstop and pitching and I was on second base and moved to short when Lou pitched. "Lou was an intense competitor and worked very hard at baseball. It was very gratifying to see him succeed in college at Rider and I am very happy to be welcoming him to join me in the SHS Athletic HOF." Cammiso worked for 28 years with American Standard's Trenton Plant and managed it the last seven years “before they closed it and moved everything to Mexico." After that, he spent 12 years with BJ Terroni Company as General Manager and is still there. He lives in Washington Crossing, Pa., with his wife Jayne (a Steinert grad). There are four Cammiso children: Gretchen Cammiso, Lauren Cammiso, Jaclyn Eaton, and Louis Cammiso, and five grandchildren. Photo: Lou Cammiso's daughter Gretchen, center, represented her father at the 2023 Hall of Fame induction ceremony. RETURN TO THE HALL OF FAME MEMBERS PAGE