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08/10/2017 12:00 AMThroughout the past 11 years, the Morgan baseball team has seen tremendous success on the strength of hard-working kids who put their noses to the grindstone, along with a head coach who fostered that mentality. That coach was renowned Huskies’ skipper John Litevich.
John, a Naugatuck native and Branford resident, transferred to Morgan during his junior year of high school and played baseball there before graduating in 1980. After coaching his kids in Little League, John was introduced to the high school coaching ranks in 2004, when the late George Dummar, Jr., asked him to join the team at Branford High School as a varsity assistant. Following a three-season stint that included a state title in 2006, John came back to Morgan to take the reins as head coach of the Huskies’ baseball squad. The next decade turned out to be quite a successful tenure for Morgan, which advanced to the Class S state final in both 2015 and 2016.
During the recent spring season, John announced that 2017 would be his final year in the Huskies’ dugout. Morgan sent out its skipper with one last solid season by winning 19 games and reaching the Class S semis.
“I’m an old-school, win-first type of coach, and there were a lot of little things that factored into my decision. I was starting to see a change in philosophy with high school sports, and I felt it was time to move on,” says John. “The first freshman class I had went on to go 15-5 as juniors and then 16-4 as seniors. The 16-4 team made the state semis. The teams the last three years have been phenomenal. In my third year, it was our first time to the Shoreline semifinals with me, and then we were down 6-2 to Haddam-Killingworth in the semifinal and came back to win 7-6. In that first state final team, winning the quarters and the semis was great, and making the team’s first state final since 1968 is something I’ll never forget.”
One thing that John always stressed in both Branford and Clinton was developing strong offseason programs to help maximize his athletes’ chances of prospering in high school. John extends a ton of credit to his Huskies for proving themselves as both top-notch ballplayers and first-class sportsmen throughout his tenure.
“I started a summer and fall ball program at Branford with the Branford Sting, so I knew I would do the same thing at Morgan, so the younger kids could learn my system by the time they reached high school,” John says. “The kids who play for us are dedicated. We have the hardest-working kids in the state. They are blue-collar workers who work their tails off. It was a disciplined program that built respect in them. I have gotten so many compliments from people and umpires on our kids. A ton of credit also goes to the coaches in those summer and fall programs.”
John deeply appreciates the connections that he’s formed with the kids he’s coached. John was always there to help them out during troublesome times, and wanted them to use what they learned from playing for his team to help them overcome any adversity later in life.
“I loved the relationships with the kids and getting to know them. I always tried to help them and keep up to date on their grades,” says John. “Being on the team was also something to help them be successful for the future. It was also great to be involved in a group that accomplishes goals. When all the effort they put in comes to fruition, there’s nothing more rewarding as a coach.”
Morgan Athletic Director Kevin Rayel says that John owns a boatload of quality characteristics that not only made him a great coach, but also an exemplary mentor for the Huskies’ student-athletes.
“John Litevich was an institution at The Morgan School. He would stop by the high school often to check in on students, staff, and the athletic department. He has been just an outstanding role model. As a parent, you’d want your child to interact with Coach Litevich,” Rayel says. “The way he does everything, it’s what’s best for the kids. He cares about their academics, their personal lives. He wants to help them with their future. He’s just embraced the role as a coach and has exemplified what a coach can do in making a difference in the lives of others. He cares deeply about the program and the legacy of Morgan baseball. Coach Litevich is a great motivator who got the most out of his players. Someone never having a big ego, sharing coaching techniques with other coaches, always available to help, being kind to everyone, and being one heck of a coach is what John Litevich was to Morgan baseball.”
John’s loyalty to Morgan baseball will always run as deep as his roots in the program. Looking back at his time as the Huskies’ head coach, John takes great pride in the caliber of the young men that he worked with every season.
“It was a blast to coach at my alma mater. I will never coach in the Shoreline Conference again, because I don’t want to coach against Morgan. That’s how much Morgan means to me,” says John, who thanks his son Dan Litevich, who was Morgan’s varsity assistant/JV coach the last two years, as well as volunteer assistant Mike Spotts. “The way these kids worked means a lot to me. There was no griping from them, and I can’t thank them enough. Every team I had worked their tails off, which means everything to a coach.”