Leicester Blue Sox are delighted to confirm the appointment of Tony 'AJ' Screti as the club's new Head Coach for the 2022 season.
AJ joined the Sox mid-way through this year and made an immediate impact to the coaching of the first team on game days and at weeknight practice. Supporting this season's joint skipper's Scott McMillan and Matt Deacon, the trio will switch roles around next year, with AJ taking on the Head Coach position and Scott and Matt supporting as Assistant Head Coaches. Matt will also take on the role of Conditioning Coach and is looking forward to getting into the gym with our players during pre-season early next year.
AJ's baseball journey started with his Italian father and summer trips to Nettuno, who are famed for having a high level ball club. AJ's cousin Marco is also an international baseball umpire.
After playing softball in the West Midlands, AJ went onto to join the Birmingham Braves in the mid-1980s and in his second season formed their second-team the Birmingham Dodgers. He was to become their starting pitcher and eventual player-manager.
AJ's baseball career then entered a hiatus following a stint with the Chase Water Pirates but he eventually returned to the game in the early 2000s to help out new team Solihull Storm. Unfortunately, the Storm were a short-lived outfit and AJ's involvement in baseball was to remain dormant once again for almost two-decades.
In 2021, a chance meeting with the then chairman of Birmingham Metalheads, Mike Finnegan, reignited AJ's passion for baseball once again. After spending the first half of this season with the Metalheads, Mike then moved onto the Stourbridge Titans and AJ went 'East' joining Leicester and immediately felt at home.
AJ explains what happened next "I hit the ground running playing first base for the Sox and Scott then approached me about being more active on the coaching side at the club".
He added "come the season end, the club then approached me about taking on the Head Coach role next season and I immediately jumped at the chance. I'm so happy to be leading the Blue Sox as we move into 2022!"
The club wishes AJ all the best for next season and we will be announcing our plans for pre-season shortly after the Christmas break.
Let's go Blue Sox!
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