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06/24/2021 12:00 AMBill Daunais has been around the game of baseball for years, and it’s a sport that he’s grown to love more than any other. For the past two decades, Bill has used his love of the game to help the players on the Hand baseball team maximize their potential, while serving as an assistant coach for the Tigers.
A native of Saranac Lake, New York, Bill always had a passion for baseball after playing the sport as a child. Bill, a longtime Madison resident, has coached sports in town for more than 40 years, spending 19 of those years as an assistant coach with the Hand baseball squad. A couple of weeks ago, Bill and the Tigers completed a storybook season by capturing the program’s first state title with a 3-0 victory over Berlin in the Class L final.
“This is the best bunch of boys that we’ve had as far how they get along with each other and the coaches. No one complained about playing time throughout the season, and they really supported one another,” Bill says. “It’s great to see all of that support and positivity result in a state title.”
Bill graduated from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York with a degree in chemical engineering and then took a job in Armstrong Rubber Company in West Haven. From there, Bill moved to Madison in 1977 and then started coaching baseball, basketball, and soccer in town two years later. Bill’s wife Kathy was his scorekeeper, and now he’s the one holding that role for the baseball team at the high school.
“When I used to coach teams on my own, I had my wife serve as the official scorekeeper. She has always been one of my biggest supporters, and my whole family made it to the championship game for Hand,” says Bill. “It was nice seeing all of them come out and support something that means so much to me.”
When he isn’t doing the scorebook for the Tigers, Bill enjoys delving into the intricacies of baseball. Bill likes to strategize with his fellow coaches in order to formulate the best game-plan for Hand against any given opponent.
“My favorite aspect is the strategy,” says Bill. “I like knowing when to take pitchers out and how to mix and match kids in our lineup.”
Head Coach Travis LaPointe describes Bill as a treasure to the Madison sports community. LaPointe knows that he can always depend on Bill to go beyond the call of duty in any situation.
“Bill has been involved with baseball in Madison since before I arrived in the Madison District in 2004. Technically, he is our statistician, but he is actually much, much more than that to all of us,” LaPointe says. “To me, he is a mentor, a father figure, a confidant, and knows as much about baseball as any other coach around the state.”
Coach LaPointe adds that Bill is a favorite among Hand’s players. LaPointe says the first question that all of his former players ask him is, ‘How is Coach Bill doing?’
“Bill is the person that ties multiple generations of baseball players together. He has become like family to me, and I don’t think I would have had any chance at success in Madison without him by my side,” says LaPointe. “Although I try to tell him, I am not sure if he realizes just how special he is to me and everyone else that he impacts.”
In turn, Bill says that he and the Tigers’ skipper share the same mentality when it comes to their approach to the game.
“I started coaching with Travis when he was still working with the Legion team. We think very similarly about baseball, and we always talk about potential lineups that could work to our advantage,” Bill says. “I’ve enjoyed working with him and watching him grow throughout the years.”
Hand wound up finishing the 2021 season with an overall record of 21-2 on its way to winning the Class L state championship. Bill says he knew that the Tigers had what it took to claim state gold.
“It was pretty exciting just making it to the finals, because we had never been there before,” says Bill. “This was a terrific defensive team, and we had a good enough offense to get the job done. I felt confident in our chances to win, and it was great to come away with the title in the end.”