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| Left to right: Linda Finelli, Donna Lopiano, Lou Gecewicz, Willie Roze, and John Stratton on July 20. At the 1974 World Tournament held in Stratford, Finelli and Stratton were Brakettes' assistant coaches, former Brakette great Lopiano was head coach of the Italian team, and Gecewicz and Roze were players on the World Champion Raybestos Brakettes. Lopiano, Roze and Stratton are National Hall of Famers. |
Ceremony Saturday, July 20, 2024 at DeLuca Field
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see New Haven Register article
July 18, 2024 - Nearly 50 years have passed since the Raybestos Brakettes won the Third International Softball Federation World Tournament title on Friday night, August 16, 1974, before a reported 12,500 fans at Raybestos Memorial Field in Stratford, CT. The Brakettes represented their country in the tournament, by virtue of winning the previous year's 1973 ASA National Title, also held in the team's hometown of Stratford.
Late great Joan Joyce and teammates would celebrate the 3-0 Worlds final victory over Japan that night not just as Stratford's beloved Brakettes, but also as America's sweethearts, proudly wearing USA across their jerseys. The Brakettes would return to their familiar Raybestos uniforms just weeks later, as they battled out of the Loser's bracket to win their fourth consecutive National ASA title in Orlando, FL.
Fifty years later, the Stratford Brakettes continue to produce topnotch softball players and memories, and the club is delighted to welcome members of the 1974 ISF World Championship Raybestos Brakettes to DeLuca Field to celebrate their historic accomplishments.
Please join us in welcoming 1974 Raybestos Brakettes Barbara Clark, Lou Gecewicz and Willie Roze, 1974 Brakettes assistant coach Linda Finelli, former Brakettes manager and 1974 assistant coach John Stratton, and 1974 Italian National Softball Team Head Coach Donna Lopiano back to Stratford, CT.
The Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame and Youth Foundation, which recently inducted coach Stratton into their Stamford-based Hall, is proudly serving as the sponsor for this 50th Anniversary event. The Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame has inducted a total of 11 Brakettes since it opened in 2005.
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1974 World Champions
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Eventual ISF and ASA National Hall of Famer Joan Joyce was also enshrined by the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, and Donna Lopiano was inducted the following year.
The entire women's fastpitch softball world has changed much since that historic 1974 tournament in Stratford, with the dawning of Olympic softball competition in 1996 in Atlanta, the NCAA Women's College World Series soaring to new heights, and the coming-and-going of professional leagues. No matter which direction one looks in women's fastpitch softball to this day, it's impossible to escape the tremendous influence of the Brakettes.
Joan Joyce joined Billie Jean King to become a founder of the International Women's Professional Softball Association (IWPSA) after leading the Brakettes to the 1975 National ASA title, and led the Connecticut Falcons to all four IWPSA trophies before the league suspended operations in 1980.
| photo by Joani McCarthy |
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Joan Joyce warming up at 3rd Worlds
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Joyce, still considered by many to be the greatest softball player of all-time, later went on to play on the LPGA golf tour and coach college softball at Florida Atlantic University.
Peggy Kellers and Rosie Adams retired on top after the 1974 season, and both were eventually inducted into the ASA National Hall of Fame. Kellers was enshrined in Oklahoma City in 1986 and Adams followed in 1987.
Willie Roze and Sharon Backus both played another season with the Brakettes and joined Joyce on the Connecticut Falcons in 1976, playing key roles en route to winning IWPSA professional titles. Roze and Backus were both inducted to the National ASA Hall of Fame in 1985.
Brakettes great and ASA National Hall of Famer Donna Lopiano continued her pioneering work in women's sports after coaching the Italian National Softball Team at the 1974 Worlds, becoming the first Women's Sports Athletic Director at the University of Texas, and later serving as the CEO of the Women's Sports Foundation.
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| Ralph Raymond |
The Brakettes went on to win four more ASA National titles in a row after the 1974 crown (eight straight from 1971 to 1978), and a total of 12 more under Ralph Raymond, who served as the Raybestos/Hi-Ho Brakettes manager from 1968-1994.
Ralph Raymond enjoyed his first taste of success at the highest international level with the '74 world title, and would later serve as the first US Olympic manager in history for gold medal-winning teams in 1996 (Atlanta) and 2000 (Sydney).
Raymond and more than half of the Brakettes' top players left in the mid-90's for a chance to pursue their Olympic dreams. Seven of the original US Olympians played for the Brakettes prior to the 1996 Games.
1974 Raybestos Brakettes assistant coach John Stratton and fellow longtime Brakettes assistant coach Andy Van Etten served as co-managers in 1995, and then Stratton took over as the sole manager from 1996 onwards, rebuilding the franchise as the Brakettes captured five more ASA titles in the 2000's.
After the final ASA Women's Major National Tournament was played in 2008, and far removed from the Raybestos sponsorship days, late Brakettes General Manager Bob Baird created the independent Women's Major Softball National Championship in 2009, and the Brakettes have captured 12 of the 15 WMS titles since.
In 2024, the (on-again, off-again) Olympic softball dream remains in the hearts of young players everywhere, while the impact of Team USA's first ever Women's World Championship, won by Stratford's Raybestos Brakettes way back in 1974, is still felt today.
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Dave Carpenter
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