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08/17/2017 12:00 AMJeff Hutchinson has been a fixture in Essex Little League for the past eight years. Jeff, an Ivoryton resident who is also the chief of police in Guilford, has coached a variety of baseball and softball squads in the league. This summer, Jeff guided the Tigers to the Majors title in the Chester-Deep River-Essex-Westbrook (CDEW) Little League behind a 6-1 victory against the rival Essex Braves in the championship game.
Jeff emphasizes the little things to the Tigers as their head coach. It doesn’t matter to him if a kid is a star player or is just starting to learn the sport. Jeff enjoys seeing everyone succeed in any way, because he knows that’s exciting for his athletes, as well as the people who come watch them play.
“I think the biggest achievements are the smallest—just seeing the kids make progress and have success,” says Jeff. “There are a lot of different levels of players on the team, and some play outside of Little League, as well. The thing that’s great about Little League is you can have different type of players all playing and learning together. I love seeing a kid who gets his first hit. I love seeing a kid who makes a great play. You see the looks on their faces, and you see their parents and their families get excited.”
In addition to stressing baseball’s fundamentals, Jeff also teaches his players how to be hard-working competitors and good teammates. He makes sure that the Tigers show respect to each other, their opponents, the umpires, and all the fans in the stands. These things are so important to Jeff that he always goes over them at the first practice of the year.
“I open every season in the first practice with the concept of teamwork, supporting teammates, and being good sports. I’ve rarely ever had to repeat it after that,” Jeff says. “The kids—they’re all friends, and they all play and go to school together.”
The Essex Little League features four divisions in tee-ball, transition, minors, and majors. Jeff has coached at each of those levels as his children Emily, Caroline, and Sam have progressed through the ranks. League president Casey Metz says that Jeff is a positive influence on every player that he coaches.
“He’s a great guy all-around. He’s extremely likable, and the kids really take to him as a coach,” says Metz. “He’s really positive to players of all levels. With him, you don’t have to be a superstar. He’s a great role model for the kids. We’re super lucky to have him on the board.”
The Essex Little League sends the Tigers and the Braves to compete in the CDEW League. Jeff says the rivalry between these two teams runs deep, but he likes that it’s a friendly competition where the kids stay close off the diamond.
“That Tigers-Braves’ rivalry has been around for decades. You have grandparents showing up who have played on one of those teams,” he says. “While there’s a real competitive edge, it’s also kids that go to school together. They play together. So it’s great to win, but they have to be able to stay friends.”
It’s always an event when the Tigers and Braves face each other. During the recent regular season, the Braves handed the Tigers their only two defeats on the heels of beating them in last year’s CDEW final. As a result, there was a lot riding on this year’s championship game, and so Jeff gave his team a pregame motivational speech that also helped the Tigers relax a little bit.
“We were in the first-base dugout, and I was trying to think of something to motivate the kids to beat the Braves,” says Jeff. “I told them to do it for the Tigers’ teams before them, do it for their coaches, for their parents, and to do it for themselves. Then I told them to look up above our dugout, and there is an American flag. I said, ‘Do it for the United States of America.’ They all laughed and started to chant about America. I think that loosened them up, and they were ready to play.”
The Tigers went on to win the CDEW title with their 6-1 victory versus the Braves. The very next day, players from both clubs joined forces to compete in the District 9 Little League Tournament, where they fared quite well against some stiff competition.
“The Tigers and Braves got together at the end of the year and made an Essex All-Star team. The day after that final game, players from those two teams were playing together on the same team,” Jeff says. “They competed against much bigger towns like Guilford, Portland, Middletown, and East Hampton. They went 4-0 in the first round and made it into the second round.”
Jeff feels grateful to many people involved with Essex Little League for all of their hard work, including the longtime board members for building it into the quality organization that it is today. Jeff also thanks Braves’ coach Ron Sparaco, who’s been involved with the league for many years; as well as his assistant coaches Mark Erwin and Patrick McPherson; plus coach Bev Clark, who was integral in building the softball program in Essex.
As for the future of the Essex Little League, Jeff wants to see the kids keep coming out to play, because he knows that the experience will be a positive one for them.
“I’m hopeful that kids will continue to play baseball. It’s seems to be declining with other sports. I just encourage kids who are interested to get out there and participate,” Jeff says. It’s America’s pastime, and it’s a great way for kids to learn about being a teammate and to learn good sportsmanship.”