Steven Coppola, Coach of the Madison Little League Kiwanis Baseball Team Spoke at June 26 Breakfast Meeting.

Steven Cappola, Coach of the Madison Little League Kiwanis Team presents a photo showing the members of the 2012 team to Kiwanis President Mary Anne Maloney (Photo by Bob Stannard).

Coach Coppola told us of his pleasure at coaching a fine team, and receiving the strong support from our Chatham/Madison Kiwanis Club.  As a gift for our cub, he brought a framed photo of the team members.  He thanked us for the invitation to the meeting, and said that it was even more of a pleasure ‘having our sponsors at the game to root us on’.  “Kinda like having George Steinbrenner there for the Yankees”.  Steve invited our members and friends to come to the Rosedale Avenue ball field to enjoy and cheer for the Kiwanis Team.

In a follow-up message, he commented on the last (winning) game: “Ryan Stafanick pitched the first five innings, and then after we went up by 2 in the top of the 6th, I put (my son) Steven in to close the game.  He said, ‘Dad, why do you have to do this to me?  My reply was, ‘Cause I know you will get the job done’.  He came in, and like a true closer, threw one pitch to the first batter, who hit a ground ball, threw two pitches to the next, who also hit a ground ball, and four to the next, who popped out to first.”