Tony Campitello

 

Elected : USSSA New York Hall Of Fame in 2019
Inducted :  October 2021, Syracuse, NY
 

Tony was born in 1947 in San’t Eusanio del Sangro, in the Province of Chieti in the Abbruzzo region of Italy. His family immigrated to the United States of America in 1958. He graduated from

Onondaga Community College with a Mechanical Technology Degree and has been working or consulting at Carrier Corporation for over 50 years as a Design Engineer. Tony proudly served with the New York Army National Guard from 1968 to 1974.

Tony coached CYO basketball at St. Mary’s of Minoa for 15 years and  has been volunteering at Seymour Magnet School for over 30 years and has played Santa Claus for over 20 years. He started to play softball in 1968 at Hopkins Road. Field #1 was the only field available. Tony was fortunate to start playing with the Poor House Mets in the classic league where they won numerous league championships and tournaments. During the same period he also played on the Carrier Corporation Tournament team where they won (4) City of Syracuse Industrial tournaments and (1) NY State Industrial tournament.  In 1978 Tony was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, I did not play softball for about 8 years, dealing with the disease. In 1986 he started to play again in the Jack Benny league (39+) in Baldwinsville Softball Association on Wednesday nights and the Friday Night Baldwinsville Classic League.

In 1999 the Syracuse Merchants Senior Softball Team was organized. I’m one of the original Syracuse Merchants. They took our beatings early and often but got our chemistry and started to win tournaments and championships. The Syracuse Merchants have won tournaments in Slo-Pitch City in Ontario Canada, Pan-Am in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada, Glen Burnie, Atlantic Coast Championship, North East Championships, Buckeye Classic, Manassas, Eastern Nationals, Phoenix AZ., Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, Richmond, Ft. Myers, and Tampa on a yearly basis. I owe a lot of my success to my Merchants Family. I also play with an older group of teams from New Jersey (70+) , EPA Financial and Jersey Masters, we have won 3 world cups and (1) triple crown. I was named the MVP of the 70+ division at the Triple crown tournament in 2017. I have been named to the All tournament or All world team several times but it’s all about the team, if the team does not win there’s no All tournament or All world recognition.

Softball is a team game, I have been fortunate to play with great teams with great teammates, the friendships and camaraderie are unmatched.

A special thank you to my family for giving me the opportunity to play as much softball as possible, they are very understanding and supportive.

Finally R-E-S-P-E-C-T the game, your teammates, your opponents, and the men and women making the calls.