Despite the hardships that most families endured during the Great Depression, Vic Sasali was determined to attend Cathedral High, primarily for their football program.

He hitchhiked and walked from Windsor Locks to Springfield and back for four years and became a bedrock in two sports. In baseball, he became the starting catcher midway through his sophomore year
when Angelo Bertelli (future Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner) was moved to the outfield to allow Vic to add his energy and savvy to the starting nine.

During his junior year he madethe Springfield All-City team as catcher and unofficially had the best batting average in Western Massachusetts. In the middle of his senior year, he was asked to make the move to
first base for the good of the team, which he did even though this meant he would not repeat as an All-City performer.

He was a key member of teams that won both City and Parochial
League championships.

Vic also became a football starter on the offensive line in the middle of his sophomore year.

In that era everyone was a two-way player (offense and defense) and Vic primarily played center or guard on offense and linebacker on defense for the City Championship team that featured Angelo Bertelli at quarterback.

Although in those days there was little if any mention of the
exploits of linemen in the newspapers, Vic’s play did earn him a football scholarship offer to Notre Dame.

Unfortunately, due to the Depression, Vic was unable to attend college and instead worked to help support the large Sasali family until he entered the army during World War II.

Vic played a key role on both the Junior and Senior WL American Legion teams, as well as the Kettle Brook baseball and football town teams during the 1940’s.

He showed his versatility in baseball by fielding several positions, including catcher, third base and the outfield.

The Kettle Brook nine played in multiple leagues including the highly regarded Hartford Twilight League and the Farmington Valley League, placing high in the standing on a regular basis.

Vic also was a key player on the Ramblers football team in the 1940’s. He was known for his willingness to do anything to help the team win, blocking and tackling with incredible fierceness. There are accounts of him playing quarterback (including throwing touchdown passes), linebacker and offensive lineman, showing that he had the same versatility in football as in baseball.

In the 1950’s Vic was recognized for his exceptional work as the top umpire of Windsor Locks Little League Baseball.

Along with his older brother John, “The Sasali Brothers” gained a local reputation for their intense hustle, will-to-win and keen baseball and football intellect.

Vic had a special relationship with his older brother John and learned about baseball and football by playing pickup games in town with him.

Vic and John were very close all of their lives, playing baseball
and football together on the Windsor Locks town teams for several years even as young adults.

They also were co-owners and proprietors of the popular local family style Donut Kettle Restaurant from the 1940’s through the early 1980’s.

Vic can trace his family’s athletic abilities back to their roots in Northern Italy, where his mother’s cousin, Fausto Coppi was one of the greatest cyclists in the history of the sport.

Vic was married to Jane (Golon) Sasali for 56 years and they have two children, Tom, who was a star basketball player for Windsor Locks and Trinity College, and Maggie Regan of Suffield, who along with her husband Dan have two daughters, Jamie and Sarah.

Vic was very proud of his family, especially his granddaughters.

Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to meet his great-grandsons Harrison and Oliver.

Apart from his sports career, Vic was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his bravery on the European battlefield in WWII.

He also was Windsor Locks VFW Post Commander, and served for a time as the town’s Housing Inspector.

Devoted to his family; dedicated to all of his teams and teammates; a man who served the local community – Vic Sasali was a lifelong resident who all of Windsor Locks can be proud to call its Son.