Tony Caruso
Elected : USSSA New York Hall Of Fame in 2023
Inducted : March 20024, Syracuse, NY
Tony is a lifelong resident of Central NY. He was born and raised in Syracuse and currently resides in
Baldwinsville, NY with his wife Amanda and three children Anthony, Dante and Vivian.
Tony was introduced to tournament softball as a child by being the bat boy for his brother Dominick’s
Change of Pace softball team. After college, Tony started playing softball in the late 1990s. Over the years
Tony was a part of many successful tournament softball teams which included Tully’s, Bally’s, Tailgaters,
Nightmare and eventually Syracuse Smoke.
In 2014, Tony decided to start and run a tournament comprised mostly of friends from the Syracuse area.
From 2017 – 2021 the Syracuse Smoke softball team complied a 161-75 record in tournament games
winning NITs and State Tournaments competing from class D all the way up to the class B level.
Over those years Tony prided himself on the fact that they consistently traveled to the best tournaments
available in the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic Region always looking to play the best possible competition
regardless of class.
Highlights include:
2018- 58–25 record in the “D” division. State Champions in USSSA & GSL. 2nd place in Nort
heast
Nationals, 7th place in USSSA World Tournament and 3rd place in GSL World Tournament.
2019- 41-22 record in the “C” division. 7th place in GSL World Tournament and USSSA World Champions.
2020- 10-5 record at the “B” level in a COVID shortened season.
2021- 28-9 record in the “C” division. USSSA Spring World Tournament Champs and 7th place in USSSA
World Tournament.
From 2018 – 2021 Syracuse Smoke became a nationally recognized name in the softball community. Over a
4 year stretch the team never finished below 7th in a world tournament across several associations while
winning two world championships.
Tony would like to thank all of his players, coaches and sponsors who made this induction possible. A
special thanks goes out to the USSSA directors and the HOF committee for this prestigious honor and
congratulations to the other inductees.
