6 inductees to join County’s best

The Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame announced its class of inductees, naming six prominent sports figures into its three wings, bringing the number of sports figures recognized in its 16 years of existence to 103. The Hall of Fame, which is overseen by the Fairfield County Sports Commission, Inc., will honor this class at a later date. The Commission has postponed its annual Sports Night gala dinner until 2021. The class of 2020 honorees are: Jackie Robinson Professional Wing: Matt Barnes ( Bethel), John Sullivan ( Greenwich) James O’Rourke Amateur Wing: Jim Fitzsimmons ( Fairfield), Barbara Reinalda ( Stratford) J. Walter Kennedy Community Service Wing: Don Foust ( Stamford), Dianne Nolan ( Fairfield) Fitzsimmonswas one of the most prolific high school basketball scorers in state history during his career at Fairfield Prep. The threetime All- MBIAC and two- time all- state pick led Prep to three straight Class L title games, including winning the crown in 1969 when the Jesuits earned a No. 1 ranking in New England. He is the only Jesuit basketball star to be named an All- American. Fitzsimmons holds the school record for career points ( 1,732), averaging 32.5 points per game in ‘ 69, and points in a single game ( 64), which was then a state record. After being named New England Player of the Year, he played in the prestigious Dapper Dan national high school tourney. The dead- eye outside shooter went on to lead Duke’s undefeated freshman team in scoring before transferring to Harvard, where he had to sit out ayear. As a sophomore in the 1971- 72 season, the 6- foot- 3 guard led the team in scoring average at 24.2 ppg. ( still a school record), third best in the Ivy League, and was named first team All- New England. Fitzsimmons was inducted to the New England Basketball HOF in ‘ 06 and Prep’s HOF ( 2017). Reinaldais one of the long line of Stratford ( Raybestos) Brakettes’ world- class pitchers and she tops all of those greats with the most wins in team history with 441 over her 19- year career ( 1976- 94). In 675 games, fifth all- time for the club, she posted a 0.38 ERA, with 2,172 strikeouts, 19 perfect games and 31 no- hitters and won 11 national titles. Those numbers earned her a coveted spot in the National Softball Hall of Fame in 1999. The right- hander made an immediate impact with the perennial champions as a rookie on the 1976 team that was severely depleted by the formation of a new professional league. Reinalda pitched the Brakettes to another national title and won the pitching and batting awards with a .429 average to win MVP honors. She followed that up in ’ 77 by repeating as a national champion as well as MVP. Reinalda, who also played for Team USA internationally, had an outstanding collegiate career for two years at Cal- Poly Pomona ( 1978- 79), where she was the school’s first AllAmerican and is a member of CPP’s athletic HOF ( 1992). The Shelton resident was a women’s softball coach at Yale for 21 years, including eight years as the head coach ( 2005- 2012). She was inducted into the Connecticut Scholastic/ Collegiate Softball Hall of Fame in 2002. Nolanis one of the most successful women’s college basketball coaches in history. In her 38 years as a Division I head coach she won 575 games, including a school- record 456 during her 28- year run building the Fairfield University program into a perennial winner. She took over the Stags in 1979 and oversaw their transition to DI in 1981. She is in the Top 50 all- time in DI victories. At Fairfield, Nolan’s teams earned four NCAA tournament bids, one WNIT appearance and captured three MAAC regular season and tournament titles. She had six 20- win seasons, including three 25- win campaigns. Nolan was recognized for her accomplishments as a five- time MAAC coach of year, Connecticut Women’s Basketball HOF inductee ( 2005) and selection to the Fairfield U Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. She concluded her college head coaching career in 2015 after five seasons at Lafayette, following three years as an associate head coach at Yale. Nolan, who began her head coaching journey at St. Francis College in 1974 and is also a member of its Hall of Fame, continues her association with basketball by doing TV color commentary for MAAC and Quinnipiac games.