By Michael Letendre
Bristol Central baseball coach Bunty Ray simply loves to coach.
And Ray’s 200th victory, which came against Farmington (4-3) last Thursday afternoon, proves that very fact.
In one capacity or another, Ray has been coaching for most of his life and whether it was Pony League or Sandlot Baseball Camp, various clinics he puts on at the Bristol Armory, his time spent as the manager of the Bristol Merchants of the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League, and at the public school level in Bristol, he just loves to be on the sidelines – coaching.
And that’s exactly the kind of guy who you want teaching your kids.
“I coach three sports in three different climates and I don’t even understand how statistics work or whatever. I just go in pitch-by-pitch, quarter-by-quarter, and minute-by-minute in soccer,” said Ray. “I just love coaching until my time is up and it’s someone else’s turn. I’m just going to keep on going and I’ll take the good with the bad and the bad with the good.”
Ray simply appreciates the process and everything that goes along with mentoring young men.
He’s made so many relationships along the way and his former players and peers respect the veteran coach, some of which have returned to coach alongside him.
Mitch Rossi, Kelly McCabe, Shawn Mirmina, and Skip Klepps have come along for the ride on the pine at Bristol Central for quite some time now and Ray knows when that crew eventually leaves the scholastic program, they’ll do something else special in the city of Bristol.
“The relationships along the way are really precious to me, even the opponents and opposing coaches,” said Ray. “They raise the bar. My coaches, while I’ll never reach where they are, know that because they’re just more special than anything.”
The lessons learned from mentors like Mike Giovinazzo, Spec Monico, Bob Freimuth, Jim Ziogas and a host of other coaches over a lifetime of playing and coaching baseball is what Ray cherishes the most.
He also wants to honor the tradition the men before him have put in place in Bristol – hoping his players pass those values and stories down to their children in the future.
And it’s an ongoing education Ray continues to talk about, teach, and enjoy.
“Somebody asked me how can you do what you do with all this stuff? Well, how could you not?” said Ray. “I’m gifted in having the ability to be around a lot of great people. You absolutely have to survive some tough days. That’s why I have a great family, a great life and everything else that’s happened. And I’ve got a lot a great mentors I’m able to call. Being able to talk about those things with my mentors is truly great.”
“All these guys just have so much to still give and I hope someday maybe I said something to as assistant as they move on past me and something gets passed on through them and passed on over time.”
Ray is tremendous in what he does and what he continues to bring to the city of Bristol.
And the best is yet to come.
Bunty Ray – Bristol Central Baseball coaching highlights:
*Named head coach of the program for the 2007 season, winning 19 games as a ‘rookie’ coach for the Rams.
*Went to the state tournament in all but one season, missing the cut by just one game in 2018.
*Has six seasons of 17-plus victories, including three years of 20 win campaigns.
*The Rams have won 11 league titles over his 20-year stint as a coach in the baseball program.
*Guided the team to the semifinal round of the Class LL of the state tournament in 2010, falling to Xavier (3-1) to close out the season.
*Several of his players ended up at the semi-professional and NCAA level.
*Helped guide the pitching careers of Craig Lejeune and Matt Blandino – both who went onto throw at George Washington and the Cincinnati Reds franchise, respectively.
*Ray is a perfect 18-0 versus Bulkeley of Hartford and his teams have done extremely well against Maloney (19-9), Middletown (16-1), Plainville (16-5), and Platt (18-7) over the years while going 13-13 against his mentor Mike Giovinazzo in head-to-head matchups against Bristol Eastern.
*Currently carries an all-time record of 200-106 as the head coach of the baseball program at BCHS.
*Needs 73 more wins to catch Tom Moylan (273 career victories).
Other Accomplishments
*Current head coach of the Bristol Eastern boys basketball program and is a longtime assistant of Bill Sweet on the BEHS boys soccer team.
*Assistant coach for the Central baseball team (eight years) under Tom Moylan.
*Won a NCAA Division III baseball National Championship at Eastern Connecticut State University in 1998.
*Helped the Bristol American Legion baseball program to a Connecticut state championship in 1994.
*Coached the Bristol Merchants of the Greater Hartford Twilight League to several regular season and postseason championships from 2002-2010 – accumulating over 230 wins.
*Was an eight-time GHTBL All-Star and three-time manager of the year.
*Played soccer and baseball scholastically at Bristol Eastern.
*Currently one of the owners and operators of the Bristol Sports Armory, hosting camps, clinics, and after school activities for kids.
