Mitch Hoffman named New Canaan baseball coach

Written by Dave Stewart
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 13:08

New Canaan’s boys of summer have been pretty active during the past few years, as the local All-Star baseball teams have gone deep into tournament play, making regular trips to the States, Regionals and even the Cal Ripken World Series.

Mitch Hoffman knows the talent at the town’s youth level well, having worked with New Canaan baseball players through camps and clinics for the past 10 years.

Now, Hoffman has been afforded the opportunity to take on an even greater role on the baseball scene, as he was named the new head coach of the New Canaan High School varsity team earlier this week.

“It’s a great town and a great community,” Hoffman told the Advertiser Tuesday. “I know they have deep, long roots of baseball and to be appointed the head baseball coach and have the ability to facilitate the program in a number of ways is a tremendous honor.”

Hoffman, an assistant coach with last spring’s varsity team, will be taking over for Mark “2-5-0” Rearick, who coached the Rams for the past 14 years. Under Rearick, New Canaan made numerous trips to the State tournament and captured an FCIAC championship during the 2006 season.

NCHS athletic director Jay Egan said the job opening was posted in early August and drew a large number of interested candidates, including some from as far away as Georgia and Texas. Eight people were interviewed and four were brought back a second time before a selection committee chose Hoffman for the job.

Egan said Hoffman was strong in all the components the committee felt were important.

“Mitch was the best qualified candidate in the four major areas we were looking for,” Egan said. “He has knowledge of the community, he’s been working with the youth program for close to 10 years, he’s been a head coach, he has an education background and he has knowledge of college placement and what it takes to help kids get to the next level.

“When a young man walks in the door as a ninth grader, if baseball is the most important sport in his life, we’ll give that young person whatever they need to take their dream as far as they can. If we have one goal it’s not necessarily to win games of championships, but it’s to help players be the best they can be. I think that’s what Mitch will do for us.”

Hoffman, who hails from Stamford, has a strong baseball background. He was a four-year starter at catcher for the Lafayette College Leopards and was named to the Patriot League’s All-Decade team. He graduated from Lafayette in 1998 and went on to Columbia University.

Hoffman started the baseball program at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., in 1998, before taking over as head coach at St. Luke’s School in 1999. He coached the Crusaders until 2007 and was also the A.D. at the private school.

He has been the co-owner and president of Bobby Valentine’s Sports Academy in Stamford since 2007.

While working with New Canaan Baseball, Hoffman said he’s been impressed with the number of players coming up through the ranks in town.

“They have a tremendous pipeline and it’s good to see more kids playing baseball,” he said. “When more kids play, competition is developed and I think they’re seeing that even younger and younger, this competition is being developed and the kids are getting better. The future is tremendously bright for the high school.”

Egan said Hoffman’s work with the youth leagues was an asset in the hiring process.

“The awareness of what a program leader’s role in the community is was a big factor,” Egan said. “That’s not only what you would do with the high school program but how you would work with the youth program so that the continuity was what we are looking for all in all of our programs.”

After a few years away from coaching at the high school level, Hoffman was back on the diamond with the NCHS team as an assistant last spring.

“When I left St. Luke’s, I left on great terms,” Hoffman said. “St. Luke’s did a lot of great things for me, we won a number of championships and we placed a ton of kids in college baseball programs. It was just a time for me to take a little bit of a break. Getting back into the coaching aspect with the challenge of the FCIAC has always been something in the back of my mind.”

Last year’s varsity team struggled to get wins, although the Rams were competitive in nearly every game. New Canaan lost numerous close games, but the captains were able to hold the team together.

Many players will return, including senior captains Willie Ouellette, Jeff Spindel, Alex Freeman and Nick Bamatter, although Hoffman said the Rams will have to contend with the loss of leaders Thomas Mase and Zack Swanson.

“They never let down and they always pushed the team forward,” Hoffman said. “They wouldn’t let anybody on the team give up. That part in high school baseball is the crucial aspect.”

“I look forward to working closer with Willie Ouellette, who I think is the best kid in the world,” he added. “Jeff Spindel is going to be a huge asset, Freeman and Bammater have a year under their belts, there were two young guys at the corners last year in [Thomas] Krieger and [Robbie] DeWaele, and in the outfield, you had a plethora of guys that mixed in there. I’m looking forward to seeing how they’ve developed, what they’ve done in the summer and what they’re going to do in the offseason.”