Batter Up Baseball Camp

Batter Up Baseball Camp, also called The BUP, includes weekly Mets-Braves games, player trades and transactions, and games played on Showtime Field. Coach Payne supervises the Mets-Braves games each week, while Coach Lazarou oversees all player trades and transactions and keeps all teams under the BUP salary cap. Showtime Field at Batter Up is supervised by Coach Gregory, who leads his UConn Huskies team there each week.

• Ages: 5–13 years old

Batter Up Baseball Camp started in 1994 and enters its 33rd year this summer, and since 1994 Bill Buscetto has run the camp for thousands of kids ages 5–13 during the summer. The camp has been a summer tradition since 1994, and kids from all leagues, towns, and abilities have attended for over three decades. Each year there are over 40 coaches per week for the camp, and former campers are welcomed to the coaching staff when they get older. All Batter Up Baseball Camp updates are done on Coach Bill’s personal Facebook page.

Camp Director Bill Buscetto is a member of the CT Association of Athletic Directors and the CT High School Coaches Association and is the Chairman of the CHSCA Baseball Committee. He was an All-American catcher at the University of New Haven, led UNH to the Division 2 College World Series, and won the New England Collegiate Conference batting title with a .404 average as a senior. He was inducted into the University of New Haven Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 and the St. Bernard Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010, and he is a former Athletic Director of St. Bernard High School and Lyme-Old Lyme High School. Bill’s leadership in the athletic department was recognized with CIAC Michael’s Cup annual awards for outstanding athletic achievement by a school for 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2015.

The leadership team includes Camp Director Bill Buscetto; Director of Player Development Isaak Lazarou; coaches Tim Payne, Joe Funaro, JJ Koning, Harry “JR” Chiappone, and Casey O’Neill; certified athletic trainer Desarae Latino; certified personal trainer Billy Buscetto Jr; Supervisor of Showtime Field Sawyer Gregory; and Jordan Buscetto, who organizes registration lists and logistics. Joe Funaro was an All-American baseball player at Eastern CT State University and played six seasons of professional baseball in the Florida Marlins organization, reaching the AAA level and playing in Major League Spring Training games. Jordan Buscetto is a graduate of Brandeis University, was a two-time captain of the softball team, and is a guidance counselor at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School. Tim Payne works as a special education teacher at Fitch High School in Groton and has coached baseball, basketball, and golf at the high school level. Desarae Latino has been the certified athletic trainer for all 32 years of Batter Up since it started, was the Head Athletic Trainer at UConn Avery Point for 20 years, and is a Special Education teacher in Groton. Sawyer Gregory is a teacher at Mile Creek School in Old Lyme, CT. Billy Buscetto Jr helps coordinate team selections and player transactions. JR Chiappone was the initial logo of Batter Up, taken from a picture from his first career college home run. The Day’s sports broadcasting coverage, which includes Casey O’Neill, is described as award winning.

The camp’s mission statement is that it promotes a fun and competitive atmosphere where kids from all leagues, towns, and abilities have thrived for over three decades. Coach Lazarou has volunteered a significant amount of time over the years giving back to New London Little League as well as the Batter Up Baseball Camp. Coach Buscetto describes Batter Up Baseball Camp as entering its 33rd year this summer and says that The BUP has provided many fun and lasting memories since it started in 1994, including watching thousands of children have fun, grow their love and passion for baseball, and learn lessons like teamwork, patience, never giving up, and always hustling.

Last updated March 13, 2026.