Southington legend John Fontana (pictured) was among 14 new members recently inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at American International College in Springfield, Mass.Fontana, a 1957 graduate of AIC, was honored during a formal ceremony held in the Butova Gymnasium.
A star baseball player at AIC, Fontana made his mark in baseball after leaving college as he went on to become one of the winningest high school coaches in America. During his 41-year tenure at Southington High School in Connecticut he won 669 games and finished his career fifth among high school baseball coaches in winning percentage with at least 600 wins, while leading his teams to two state titles and 40 state championship tournament appearances. A total of 192 of his former players went on to earn college scholarships, and in 1991 seven of his former players were playing in the NCAA Division I and Division II College World Series. He also had 17 former players sign Major League contracts.
Fontana was inducted into the National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1999 and was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2000.
The Class of 2011 was the fifth to be inducted into the American International College Athletics Hall of Fame, which was first established in 2005, and brings the total number of honorees to 61.
