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LEGENDARY BRAKETTES ICON JOAN JOYCE PASSES AWAY AT 81
 March 27 - The softball world and the Brakettes Softball organization of Stratford, CT, lost a legend with the sudden passing of Joan Joyce Saturday night, March 26, at age 81.
The announcement was first posted on the Florida Atlantic University softball website at noon Sunday. Joan had been the head softball coach at FAU for the past 28 years and she recently celebrated her 1,000th collegiate softball coaching victory with the Owls.
Long-time Brakettes Manager and even longer close friend John Stratton was informed earlier Sunday morning. “This all came about so fast that I still haven't had time to process it. Joan was one of those bigger than life personalities,” said Stratton, who also served as her assistant coach for 10 years in Boca Raton, FL. “I've known her for over 65 years. She was one of my best friends.”
Stratton's late wife, Rosemary (Micki Macchietto) Stratton, was Joan's catcher with the Raybestos Brakettes for eight years.
Joyce, a Waterbury, CT, native burst upon the softball scene with the Raybestos Brakettes in 1956, and she gained stardom in 1958 when she relieved veteran Bertha Ragan and proceeded to pitch 4.2 innings of hitless relief as the Brakettes won their first ASA National Women's Major Fastpitch Championship.
She played 17 seasons with the Brakettes, during which she compiled a 429-27 record and struck out 5,677 batters in 3,397 innings. Joyce hurled 105 no-hitters and 33 perfect games. In addition to her pitching prowess, she had a career .327 batting average, and six times led the team in hitting, including a career high .406 in 1973. A member of 12 national championship teams, she was selected 18 times to the ASA All-America first team, which includes her three seasons with the Orange, CA, Lionettes (1964-66) while she was attending Chapman College.
Joyce left the Brakettes following the 1975 season and helped to form the International Women's Professional Softball Association where she was a pitcher/coach and part owner of the four-time champion (1976-79) Connecticut Falcons franchise in Meriden, CT.
A member of 20 halls of fame, including the National ASA and International Softball Federation (ISF), Joyce was a 19-year member of the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA), and she is still listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fewest putts (17) in a single round for both men and women. Joyce also served as FAU's women's golf coach for many years.
 Despite all of her softball records, Joyce is remembered by many for having struck out Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Ted Williams (right) in August 1961, before 17,000 fans who crammed into Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, CT, for a local fund-raiser.
“In my opinion, Joan Joyce was the greatest female athlete of all time,” said Brakettes General Manager Bob Baird. “For all her athletic accomplishments and notoriety, Joan was an even greater person.”
Stratton was informed by Joan's sister, Janis Joyce, of her passing. She is also survived by her brother Joseph Joyce and his wife Virginia; nieces Bridget Joyce Wright and her husband Russ, and Meghan Joyce Bolesta and her husband Michael; as well as two grand-nieces, Morgan and Brooke, and two grand-nephews, Joseph and Patrick.
Ironically, Joan passed away on the same date as her father, Joseph Joyce, Sr., in 2013.
When additional information becomes available, we will post it on Brakettes.com.
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