By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – It’s never easy giving up a coaching job you love but when it’s time to go, it’s time to go.
It’s a decision Scott Redman had to recently grapple with as the Bristol Eastern softball coach recently decided to step down from his position.
And for the first time in about a decade, the BE softball team won’t have Redman coaching (or yelling) from third base box.
“I missed my kid’s t-ball games this year and it was heart wrenching,” said Redman. “You know coming home after games, kid is already in bed [and] hearing about how awesome he did [after the fact]. It eats at you really quickly and you can’t get those things back.”
“That was a major part.”
And with kids getting older, getting even more involved in sports, clubs and the like, Redman just wanted to be there for more of those moments with his family.
Redman will continue to coach the girls soccer program at Eastern in the fall but in terms of spring scholastic sports, family came first for the long-time mentor and coach.
But he ran his program this spring like a well-oiled machine, as usual, guiding a bit of an undermanned crew to 14 wins, picking up a couple huge victories along the way.
“I felt like I was 100-percent committed this year to the softball team,” said Redman. “I gave it everything I had. But there was this piece that was kind of missing from the family aspect. I think moving forward, I had to make that really, really tough, challenging decision. I don’t want to be in it if I’m not giving 100-percent and I felt like next year, it would eat at me more and more.”
“I think it was the right time.”
Redman leaves the program with 106 career victories but had quite a task when his title changed from assistant to head coach at Eastern in 2013.
He took over for Chris D’Amato (2004-2012), an excellent coach and motivator that guided the program to the Class L state title in 2007 while propelling the Lancers to two other championship appearances in 2006 and 2010 – going 177-38 overall along the way.
When Redman took charge, Eastern was coming off an 18-win season and nearly made it to the semifinal round of the Class LL tournament.
But just after a few seasons, everything started to click for Redman and his Kingstreeters.
“Stepping in for D’Amato, it was a challenge,” said Redman. “It took me a few years for the kids to respect what we were trying to do. There was a little bit of change in expectations, I guess. It took a couple years for the kids to buy in and we lost some good players because we wanted them to commit to each other and commit to the program.”
“However, they started to do that, and they started to understand that we wanted to compete at a high level.”
Every season, the Lancers were playoff contenders – qualifying for the Class L quarterfinals in 2019 and putting a real scare into Masuk, dropping a tough 5-3 decision.
Masuk eventually won the Class L and the Lancers weren’t that far off from an elite level.
And just about every step of the way, Redman’s coaching staff of Nate Jandreau and Rico Lodovico helped the head coach navigate through all the twists and turns that every successful Central Connecticut Conference softball program must endure.
“With Nate and Rico by my side almost my entire tenure, we were aligned philosophically, and we really wanted to compete at a high level,” said Redman. “We had to do so without compromising our values. It became a commitment to the program. We talked to each group [of girls] about leaving the program in a better place than when they came.”
That coaching staff helped guide Eastern to a 62-21 ledger over the past four seasons, competing – and beating – some of the top squads in all the CCC.
And Redman always stuck by his guns, making all the tough calls and often, he brought his teams to the pay window on more than one occasion.
“I think throughout my tenure, the players really started to buy in and the kids, for the most part, bought into competition at a high level, trying to be the best we could be and being okay where we ended up,” said Redman. “I think the last few years have been evident of that.”
“We’ve had some studs that have come through, competed at a high level, and competed with the best in the state.”
Bristol has an amazing Little League system, and the Bristol City Series always gives a sneak peak of the youthful talent that eventually compete and play in high school.
Individuals like Darrell Darby – as well as countless other volunteers and coaches – have done a spectacular job in getting players ready for the scholastic level.
“The feeder system for softball in Bristol [is excellent and] I can’t take the credit,” said Redman. “It has nothing to do with me. It’s really the feeder system that helps us play competitively at a really high level.”
And don’t forget, Eastern hung big losses over some of the powerhouses of the CCC, like Southington over the last two years – the 2019 and 2021 Class LL state champs.
Not every program can boast such triumphs, but Redman and his crew can.
Redman did things the right way for the softball program at Bristol Eastern, was an excellent mentor for the program, and the lessons and teachings those girls learned under his guidance will last a lifetime.
The incoming softball coach at Bristol Eastern has some big shoes to fill.
“We didn’t make quite as deep of a run as we hoped to in our tenure but I’m leaving feeling okay with the way the kids grew as individuals, as people more than players, and I felt like the goal of leaving them in a better place than when they came in was achieved,” said Redman.
