Evan Pycko

Journalism
Feature Story
28 March 2017

The Untold Story of Coach Dan Dulchinos

Everyone knows Coach D, winner of nearly 700 high school baseball games,
record-holder for coaching longevity (50 years) and most wins in a single sport in
Western Mass history. But not everyone knows Mr. Dan Dulchinos; family man,
coach, mentor. In that order.
Dulchinos taught countless lessons in his 50 years of coaching, but perhaps
the most significant lesson was that of family. If you have had the pleasure of
knowing Coach D, youre very familiar with the fact that family always comes first.
Thats on and off the field, in sports and in life. No excuse was ever good enough for
missing practice, unless it involved family. He had his list of priorities that he
always shared with the team: Family first, school, then baseball, said assistant
Coach Franzeck.
Dulchinos had special ways of implementing his principles into every one of
his players and coaches. Sunday afternoon BP at Coach Ds was a ritual, said
Travis Seymour, former Chicopee Comp shortstop. Some of my best memories from
high school baseball come from Sunday afternoons in the backyard with Mrs. D
whipping up burgers and dogs on the grill and Mr. D doing soft toss drills. Weekly
team Sunday afternoon batting practice was Coach Ds way of getting everyone
together, not only for practice but also to have fun and talk about what going on in
everyones life. After the practice was over everyone gathered around the picnic
table and shared their stories. He always made the extra effort to connect, heart to
heart, with all of his players, truly making everyone feel like family.
Dulchinos may be one of the nicest, most genuine people you ever meet, but
dont take his kindness for weakness. If the team wasnt putting in the effort during
practice he knew exactly how to motivate them. One of his favorite methods was to
number all the baseballs 1-50 and take batting practice as usual. Only difference is
the number on the balls represent laps. These are not laps around the base paths,
but laps around the entire park. I will never forget the day we lost ball #32.that
was the worst day of my life. The kids on the basketball courts were laughing at us
every time we ran by. But looking back at it, we did come ready for practice the
next day, Travis said laughing as he was reminiscing.
Dulchinos started coaching at Chicopee Comprehensive High School when it
opened in 1962. At that time he coached both the basketball and baseball teams.
He is most renowned for his success coaching baseball. Which is understandable
due to an impressive resume, consisting of 22 Valley League titles, 4 Western Mass
titles, a State title in 1979 and 26 consecutive winning seasons. However, what
might be more impressive and what many people do not know are his achievements
as a basketball coach.
The programs first season didnt live up to expectations, winning only 3
games and losing 16. Just six years before taking the Comp coaching job Dulchinos
went 17-8 as the coach of a championship military baseball team in Japan so losing
is not something he is accustom to. Coach D vowed to turn things around the
following year. And he did just that. He coached the team to a 20-5 season and a
Valley League championship. It was a special team that learned to play together.
When we started we had just freshmen and sophomores, and they stayed
together for three years to become a team Ill never forget, said Dulchinos. But
in his eyes there was even more room for improvement. The next season, 1964,
Dulchinos would coach his team all the way to a Western Mass title, just two years
after going 3-16. Comp became the first Chicopee team to win a Western Mass
basketball title, a title he says, Put Chicopee on the map. Unfortunately, this is
when Dulchinos decided to end his basketball coaching career, but this is not where
his story ends.
The high school stood from when it was built in 1962 until 2008 when it was
replaced with the new school. Two superintendents, five principles and three
basketball coaches passed through during the schools 46 year history. The only one
still remaining, Coach D. He coached so long, they tore down the first school and
built another while he was still coaching, Franzeck said jokingly.
After 50 short years of coaching Chicopee Comp baseball, the only coach in
program history announced he would be retiring following the 2011-12 season. "A
couple of times, I wrote up my resignation letter, then threw it out. The 80 year
old continued saying, It wasnt about winning and losing, but about time.
For the first time in school history there would be someone without the name
Dulchinos coaching Comp baseball. That person would be none other than his
assistant, Justin Franzeck. Justin played for Dulchinos from 1999-2002 and had been
coaching under him for the past three seasons. Other than my dad, Coach
Dulchinos had the most influence on me as an individual, his ideals and his
philosophies. Franzeck went on to say about the coach, "At any point, he could have
packed his bags and left Chicopee to manage a college or professional team, but
rather than chase fame and fortune he chose to stay in Chicopee and teach young
men the game of baseball and the game of life.
The now 86 year old retiree resides in his small Chicopee home with his wife,
Ellaine. He spends his free time mowing the grass, not with a rider but with a
walking mower, and doing soft toss drills with his grandson. As for the park where
he spent over half his life, well the field has been renamed in his honor as Dulchinos
Field. Five years after hanging his coach cap, its still common to see him down at
the field helping at high schoolers develop life skills and baseball fundamentals.
 In 2015, Dulchinos was inducted into the Western Mass Baseball Hall of Fame.
His legacy and philosophies will live forever through Comp baseball. Duke basketball
may have Coach K, but Chicopee Comp has Coach D.