Syracuse Smoke
Elected : USSSA New York Hall Of Fame in 2023
Inducted : March 2024, Syracuse, NY
Syracuse Smoke was started by Tony Caruso and he immediately started playing USSSA
tournament softball in 2014. The original team was comprised primarily of a group of friends
who were college and high school baseball players who were just starting their softball careers.
The team experienced tournament success immed
iately across NYS and as a few years passed,
the team became a top “D” team in the Northeast.
Each year the team continued to improve and attract better players and started traveling to some
of the most prestigious tournaments across the county. Due to the team’s success, the team
acquired many sponsors over the years which included Easton Sports, Brett Helmer, Keith
Beloli, Mark Gaisser, Nick Macaluso, Rick Schiffhauer and Smash It Sports.
Over the years, the team won numerous local, state and NIT tournaments and two World
Championships. Tournament highlights include:
2018 – GSL and USSSA “D” State Champions
2018 – 2nd place USSSA “D” Nationals
2018 – 3rd place GSL World Series
2018 – 7th place USSSA “D” World Series
2019 – USSSA “C” World Series Champions
2021 – USSSA “C” Spring World Series Champions
2021 – 5th place One Nation “C” World Series
2023 – 3rd place One Nation “C” World Series
While winning the 2019 “C” World Series, Syracuse Smoke dominated the 80-team field
compiling a 10 – 1 record and outscoring opponents 194-89. The 2021 Syracuse Smoke team
spent the majority of the year as the #1 ranked “C” softball team in the country. From 2018-2023
Syracuse Smoke never finished outside the top 10 of any World Series events across all
associations in classes ranging from “D” to “B,” The team has set a standard of consistency that
has not been matched. Syracuse Smoke is proud to have two current NYS Hall of Famers – Tony
Caruso and Fausto Ramirez play integral roles in the team’s success and is looking forward to
adding several more in the near future. Current professional softball player Joe Boland played for
Syracuse Smoke in 2021.
