When Berlin High School baseball coach Leo Veleas was looking for an assistant coach in 1990, Frank Naples just showed up. “I didn’t know he wanted to be a coach,“ Veleas said. “I just knew him as an athlete.”

Now, 35 years later, they are one of the most successful coaching duos in the state. Naples, 58, has been a part of more than 500 of the more than 600 victories and four of Berlin’s five state titles and all six second-place finishes.

Veleas, 76, was effusive in his praise of Naples: “I couldn’t do it without him. He’s indispensable. Mild mannered. Loyal. I consider him like a younger brother. When we had a couple of tough years, I asked him, ‘Would you be staying?’ and he said, ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ ”

Naples probably didn’t have a chance to be anything but a coach. His father Ron coached him in Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion.

Naples never lost the idea of coaching someday, even while his playing career blossomed. He played football, basketball and baseball four years at BHS and finished his senior year in 1984 with a 10-0 pitching record, batted .497 and played in the Class M final where the Redcoats lost to Plainville. Or while playing four years at Springfield College as a pitcher.

He has been a physical education and health teacher in North Haven, since 1990 – the same year Veleas made the coaching offer.

To Naples it was a dream come true. “I always wanted to stay in Berlin,” he said. 

At times, Naples was a soothing counter to Veleas. “I had to play the good guy at times,” Naples said. “Sometimes I met with players after a game to explain what Leo was trying to do. Leo has mellowed over the years.”

Naples’ work didn’t go unnoticed. The Connecticut High School Coaches Association named him the Assistant Coach of the Year and recipient of the Bernie O’Rourke Sportsmanship Award by the Connecticut Association of Approved Umpires.

When Veleas was told Naples was being inducted into the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame, he was ecstatic. 

“He belongs in the Hall,” Veleas said. “Most assistant coaches come and go. It would be a lot harder, if he wasn’t with me. It’s tough finding guys like that.”