3-sport athlete’s final play: a state championship win

One way or another, Jack Mustaro was always going to walk off the field a winner.

The Gloucester Catholic High School 2025 graduate, who will go down as one of the best athletes to ever wear Rams’ maroon and gold, played the final game of his high school career June 11 and fittingly walked off the baseball field as state champion in a 7-4 Non-Public B victory over Pope John XXIII.

After his final at-bat – a base hit to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning – Mustaro had a moment to soak it all in as the Lions opted for a pitching change with one out. Mustaro placed his helmet down on first base, took a few steps back and re-lived his high school experience. 

“I knew that was my last high school at-bat ever,” Mustaro said. “I was just really trying to take in every moment, and I was having a few flashbacks of my good moments here at Gloucester Catholic.”

Mustaro had a high school experience unlike many. The three sport-athlete was the quarterback of the Rams football team. He became the school’s all-time leading scorer on the basketball court, breaking a 56-year-old record. He helped the baseball team win its third consecutive championship, batting clean-up and playing first base.

It was almost poetic that the baseball state championship was the 22nd in Gloucester Catholic history. The number 22 holds special meaning in the Mustaro household and has been worn by several of the siblings in the large family – most notably Jack and his older brother, RJ, as well as their younger brother, Brody.

Their mother, Tara Mustaro, found several links to her family and that number. “My dad was born on July 22, and I had a baby girl [Tara Ray] that my husband and I had lost on July 22, 2009. A year later, on July 22, 2010, my youngest son, Brody, was born.”

The number 22 became a rallying point for the Mustaros. RJ grabbed it in 2021 as a sophomore and wore it for three years. A month after RJ graduated in 2023, their father, Raymond, passed away from cancer at the age of 57. Jack Mustaro proudly wore the family number on the baseball field for the last two years and dedicated his athletic career to his dad. 

Mustaro batted .457 this season, which included 37 hits, 27 RBIs and a pair of home runs as Gloucester Catholic went 24-3. He also threw 28 and two-thirds innings, allowed just one earned run (0.24 ERA) and struck out 36 batters. 

“He had a pretty great senior year,” Gloucester Catholic baseball coach Dennis Barth said. “Good player, good athlete, and he did a great job with some senior leadership this year.”

While sports provided the outlet, the students and staff at Gloucester Catholic helped Mustaro excel and through the toughest time of his life. “These past four years have really changed me into the person I am today. I thank God every day for what He blessed me with at Gloucester Catholic.” 

Mustaro will attend Rowan College of South Jersey in Gloucester in the upcoming academic year to study business. Plus, he will be just a short ride away to see Brody play his sophomore season at Gloucester Catholic. Now that the number 22 is available again, there’s a good chance it will end up on Brody’s back.