Christopher Santucci

Male Player  - Presented by Kirby Murphy

Chris Santucci played USSSA softball for 20 years. He has played on Medway Mets, Weiser Painters, Undercoverwear, Spaulding/Brien Oil, Team TPS/Midas Touch, Team TPS/Checking/P&D, and Checking. Throughout his career, he was able to compile a .680 lifetime batting average.

Chris lists his most exciting event in USSSA softball as being early in his career while playing in the New England Qualifier in 1988 against Undercoverwear. At the time, Undercoverwear were on their way to rolling in every NE tournament they played in establishing themselves as a legitimate powerhouse and eventually winning the A Division USSSA World Series in California. His team, Weiser Painters, had played a tough game and were trailing going into the bottom of the seventh inning by 2 runs. Chris stepped up to the plate with runners on 2nd and 3rd and the catcher yelled to the field captain to walk him. This stirred up some controversy and a time out was called. Chris was in his first game ever against this team, and the team was dis-cussing him (a proverbial nobody according to Chris) as a possible threat to decide whether to pitch to him or not. The final decision was to pitch to him and Chris did not disappoint his team. The coach for Chris’ team called out from the bench “Tucci, they’re pitching to you, they just slapped you in the face what are you going to do about it…….leave em’ out there” On the first pitch he launched one over the fence, hitting the Undercoverwear RV camper they had brought. As Chris rounded the bases he felt like he had won the World Series….his team had just beaten the team ranked #1 in New England and highly ranked nationally. His team was waiting for him at the plate when he arrived.

Chris’s list of Individual Awards:

• 1988 Portsmouth USSSA Qualifier All Tournament Team
• 1989 New Castle NJ All Tournament All Tournament Team
• 1989 Last Chance Qualifier, Nashville, TN Tournament MVP
• 1989 AA World Series All Tournament Team
• 1990 War at the Short Qualifier, Milwaukee, WI Tournament MVP
• 1990 AA States, Peabody, MA All Tournament Team
• 1991 AA States, Chicopee, MA All Tournament Team
• 1996 New England CT All Tournament Team
• 1996 AA New England Regionals All Tournament Team
• 1999 Trentonian, Trenton, NJ Tournament MVP

Chris’s greatest thrill was to compete against the then USSSA powerhouse, Undercoverwear, play hard enough, and show through effort, approach and game play attitude that he could be a player that could contribute to their winning program. He will never forget the call he received from Steve Crampton when he recruited him and the conversation that took place. He was incredibly excited that he had made it so early in his career to a nationally ranked USSSA team. He was also overwhelmed and humbled of their assessment of him as a player. He figures he must have made a statement that night his team left them on the field!!

“My belief is and always has been that the USSSA program is the benchmark organization for which all other programs gauge themselves against. USSSA in my career, evolved with the game, the players and the equipment to keep the game competitive and safe. The USSSA qualifiers were always filled with the most ranked teams in the country and when you signed up to play, you knew you were going to face the best competition. I played in multiple organizations, but the only “ring” I wanted to wear was the USSSA Championship ring because in my mind if you wanted recognition, you needed to be in the USSSA arena.”