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07/14/2016 12:00 AMThe long, hot days of summer baseball often yield lifelong connections that open opportunities down the road. Such is the case for Madison Senior Legion baseball assistant coach Jason Vitale.
Jason, a Branford resident who competed with the Hornets’ baseball and ice hockey teams, first played for Post 79 Head Coach Jeff Buck on the town’s 19-U AAU club in 2014, when Madison didn’t field an American Legion squad. After growing beyond the age group for summer ball, Jason wanted to stay with his skipper in some capacity and so he became the assistant coach for the Post 79 Senior Legion team. Now in his second season in the dugout, Jason has helped Madison stay right in the thick of the race for a State Tournament spot.
“Our General Manager Rob Corraro used to be my pitching coach, plus I also played for Jeff. I was too old to play, but I wanted to coach with him, and the experience has been going great so far,” says Jason. “Coach Buck was a great coach for me and he does a great job coaching these kids, so I wanted to help out. Rob has also helped me out a lot both as a player and now coach.”
While Jason mostly works with Madison’s pitchers, he also helps Coach Buck with how he maintains a relaxing, upbeat tone in the Post 79 dugout.
“A lot of times, I play off of what Jeff says, but if I see a player having trouble with something, I will always go to help them out,” Jason says. “I usually do most of my coaching with the pitchers in helping them work on their mechanics and with warming up. We both try to keep things mellow and let them have fun in creating that fun atmosphere.”
The American Legion season goes by fast, but Jason makes the most of his time spent with Madison’s athletes by helping them develop as both ballplayers and men at an elite level of play that forces them to approach the game in a big-league fashion.
“It’s been really fun coaching as we’ve been staying in games with really no blowouts this year. It’s also just fun hanging around the guys during the year,” says Jason. “Legion ball is awesome. It’s like the pros with the rules they set. You really get a chance to scout teams by playing them for four-straight games with the series format of scheduling.”
After having coached Jason, Buck is now working alongside him as a fellow coach and feels that Jason embodies all the characteristics he wants to see in Madison’s athletes.
“Jason Vitale is a great coach to have in the coaching staff. He was a fierce competitor and athlete playing for me. He always took pride in doing the small things right and improving as a player day in and day out. He instills this type of behavior and mentality in our players. When Jason reached out to me and asked if he could help out coaching last summer, I instantly agreed to the idea,” says Buck. “Having another competitor in the dugout as a coach fuels the players to play the best possible baseball they can. He brings a vast amount of knowledge of the sport and is a great coach to bounce scenarios off of. The two of our coaching styles feeds off of one another. We have terrific coaching chemistry and always seem to be on the same page with who to put where depending on the situation in the game. Having Jason as an assistant coach has been a privilege.”
The top four clubs from Zone 3 advance to the State Tournament and Post 79 is currently sixth in the zone, meaning that Madison still has a chance to be included in that elite company thanks in large part to several familiar faces returning home.
“We had a tough run last year, but we’ve really picked it up this season with a lot of guys coming back from last summer,” Jason says. “We feel we are able to make that run to get maybe get one of the top seeds for states.”