Gregg Hunt's Return to Coaching in the NECBL

Gregg Hunt has always had deep roots within the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

The Connecticut native has served as the Deputy Commissioner of the NECBL since 2013, with prior experience as a manager. When the team was around, Hunt was the manager for the Torrington Twisters and would go on to eventually manage the Manchester Silkworms in their final season in Manchester, CT. One of the most important things that Hunt preached to those teams was conditioning. 

"There's a big difference between playing four games a week and six games a week," Hunt said, looking back at his older rosters. "You can't get tired."

Hunt's sharp mindset has brought him tremendous success as a coach. Dating back to 1995 at Wamogo Regional High School, he coached the boys' varsity basketball team. His teams have won four league titles and seven Berkshire League tournament titles. 

Before his days as a basketball coach, Hunt coached baseball at three high schools, including Wamogo Regional, where his teams have had two appearances in the Class S finals and have won two Berkshire League titles. For his incredible work, Hunt was recently inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame for his success in and out of sports.

Now serving as manager of the Bristol Blues, Hunt earned his 295th career win on Friday night when Bristol defeated Danbury 3-1. Hunt currently holds the second-most wins out of any NECBL manager. 

"I didn't think I was out of it for that long," Hunt said, reflecting on his prior work in the NECBL. "But, you know, it's quite different coming back now." 

In addition to finding his touch in the NECBL again, Hunt also mentioned that he's getting used to larger roster sizes.

"I have more pitchers now than I used to have players on my entire roster," Hunt said. "The game has changed a lot." 

Hunt used seven different pitchers in Bristol's Friday night win at Muzzy. The unit as a whole struck out 11 batters while only allowing one run. 

The Blues have made deep playoff runs in their past couple of seasons. The Blues went to the finals in 2023, but were eliminated by the Newport Gulls. They reached the semi-finals in 2024 but once again were defeated by the Gulls. This year, Coach Hunt has his eyes on more than a deep playoff run and is hoping to bring the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup to Bristol for the first time. 

"I like what I've seen so far," Hunt said. "Jordy's (Blues General Manager Jordan Scheiner) did a great job recruiting what looks like a very competitive roster.. These kids have a great attitude, we're an athletic team, and we're going to have competition for spots, and those are all things that breed excellence."       

Hunt's strategy to get runs across this season is to be aggressive on the basepaths. 

"We're going to try and put runners in motion as often as we can," Hunt said. "And that's what we're going to have to do to score runs." 

One player to watch out for on the basepaths is Mika Peterson. The left fielder was named All-Ivy First Team, coming off a stellar junior season at Brown University. 

Only time will tell how far the Blues will get this season, but Hunt is optimistic about the 2025 season and their chances at the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup.