STAMFORD—Upon graduating from Stamford High in the spring of 2019, Dana Serricchio walked around the building one last time and cried.
“I always wanted to find my way back,” Serricchio said.
Two years ago, she did just that when she joined the Black Knights softball program she once played for as an assistant coach.
This week, Serricchio was promoted to take over the program when she was named head coach at Stamford, replacing Tori Cuscuna, who stepped down following last season.
“Dana is a wonderful person. She was a tremendous softball player at Stamford High as well as a great student and leader,” Stamford athletic director Chris Passamano said. “I’m not sure I could’ve found a better role model for our current student-athletes than I did with Dana.”
Serricchio, who is the younger sister to Stamford baseball coach Mark Serricchio, takes over a team that went 8-13 a year ago. After missing out on the FCIAC tournament, the Black Knights fell to Conard, 7-3, in the first round of the CIAC Class LL tournament.
“I always knew I wanted to become a coach,” Serricchia said. “The coaches I have had, from the Stamford Stars all the way through college, have left such a huge impact on me and my life. It’s all made me who I am today.”
Her connection to her Stamford High coaches Tony Esposito and Melissa Giordano truly planted the seeds for her returning to the game when her playing days were over.
“Having them, the way they ran the Stamford High program and how they connected with the girls, it definitely made me want to become a coach,” Serricchio said.
Growing up in Stamford, Serricchio’s athletic career was destined to be filled with diamonds.
Her mom was a softball player while her dad and both her brothers played baseball.
“Our dinner table conversations always circled around those sports,” she said. “I would say my family grew up on that sport and we started so young and it was just my passion.”
She started her own playing career with the Stamford Stars and soon found herself raising her travel game even more. She competed with the Lady Titans out of Bobby Valentine’s training facility in the city, and soon joined the Empire State Huskies.
After graduating from Stamford, she attended Springfield College, where played for four years as a shortstop and graduated in 2023.
In college, Serricchio played in 96 games and while she only hit .196 in her career, the slick-fielding defensive stalwart had a career .956 field percentage, making just 17 errors in her tenure at Springfield.
“I am so excited for Dana Serricchio to be named the Head Softball Coach at Stamford High School,” said Kate Bowen, a former Newtown player who coached Serricchio at Springfield and is now the head coach at Southern Connecticut State University. “As a four-year starting shortstop (at Springfield), she demonstrated a tremendous love for the game. Her work ethic, leadership, and character set her apart. I have no doubt she will bring that same passion and commitment to her players. Stamford is not only hiring a great coach, but an even better person.”
After graduating from Springfield, Serricchio returned to the city she has always called home and is presently working as a physical education teacher at the Stillmeadow Elementary School.
Taking over her own program is a dream come true.
“I just want to give back,” she said. “I loved playing and I now I just want to teach these girls all the life lessons I learned both inside and outside of softball.”
Doing so in Stamford, with the Black Knights? It’s more than a bonus.
“I bleed it,” Serricchio said, referring to the school’s Black and Orange colors. “I’m happy to be back home.”
Serricchio feels she has pulled a little bit from all the coaches she has had, but hopes to find her own voice using everything she has been taught through the sport.
Her goals at Stamford do not yet include trophies and championships, but as any good coach knows those can come with commitment and practice.
“When I was at Stamford High the team culture was so important,” she said. “It was so big when I was there and I want to be bring that back a little bit. It’s always been known as a great program, so I want to rebuild that culture, and create a family culture, where girls can look back and say, ‘This was the best time of my life.’”
Serricchio would also like to get more Stamford girls involved in the travel aspect of the game.
“Playing year-round, you learn so much and it’s those continuous reps that make you better,” she said. “It’s so important.”
Passamano feels that everything Serricchio has learned through the sport, she will pass down to a new generation of Black Knight student-athletes.
“She’s got a lot of great experience as a starter and a captain of her college team in Springfield,” Passamano said. “I believe a lot of of the things she learned there she can teach our student athletes here.”
And maybe the next time Dana Serricchio cries on campus is when a softball trophy is once again put back into the school’s trophy case.
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