75 things to know for the Brakettes’ 75th anniversary
The Stratford Brakettes, one of the most successful programs in the history of amateur sports, celebrate their 75th anniversary this season. Here’s a look at 75 interesting facts:
.907.
The Brakettes’ all-time winning percentage (4011-410) going into this week’s WMS Tournament.
28.
Number of ASA women’s major fastpitch championships the Brakettes won through 2008, the last time the tournament happened.
10.
Number of WMS championships the Brakettes have won since the Stratfordbased tournament began in 2009.
11.
Brakettes who’ve played in the Olympics, most recently Cat Osterman this year for the third time, and including two who played for nations other than the United States.
16.
ASA women’s major fastpitch nationals played in Stratford. (A 17th in 2010 was canceled.)
4.
World Championships in which the Brakettes represented the United States. They won three times.
3.
The Brakettes introduced the organization’s third team in the 2021 season under the Brakettes umbrella: the U18 Select Brakettes. Outside of the Stratford Brakettes, the Junior Brakettes are in their third season.
168.
The Brakettes all-time record for consecutive wins (2010-2012)
238.
The Brakettes all-time record for consecutive home wins (2010-2015)
19.
Pat Dufficy (1977-83, 85-95, 97) and Barbara Reinalda (1976-94) share the title for most years on the Brakettes (19). Joan Joyce (1955-63, 67-75) and Doreen Denmon (1978-95) follow with 18 seasons, with Kathy Arendsen (1978-92), Bev Danaher (1952-61, 63-67) and Denise Denis (200506, 07-19) behind next with 15-year careers. On the current roster, Valerie Suto (201521) holds the longest tenure on the team with seven years.
1958 team.
The first Brakettes championship and the first national tournament in Stratford. Joan Joyce relieved an injured Bertha Tickey to pitch a combined no-hitter in the final.
1976 team.
With much of the previous year’s roster off to a new pro league and manager Ralph Raymond sidelined by a heart attack, John Stratton led the new kids to a national championship.
1991 team.
Down to their last strike in the first game of the national final, the Brakettes came back to win that game and the next to win the championship.
2002 team.
John Stratton thought this might be the best team he ever led, with a deep pitching staff and a good mix of veteran and young talent. It ended a 10-year championship drought.
Joan Joyce.
Arguably among the greatest athletes ever: a star in the circle and at bat for the Brakettes, a pro golfer, a standout in other sports.
Bertha Ragan Tickey.
“Ageless Wonder,” as Bob Baird called her, came east after a long career with the Orange Lionettes and helped turn the Brakettes into a powerhouse.
Micki Stratton.
The Brakettes’ first Hall of Famer, a star catcher who went on to coach, umpire, and be the exemplary Brakette the rest of her life.
Donna Lopiano.
A Hall of Famer, she appears all over the Brakettes record book both on offense and pitching. She has gone on to be a respected administrator and advocate for women’s sports.
Pat Dufficy.
A versatile player who could do just about anything, the WMS Tournament’s home run champion receives an award named for her. She has some of the best offensive numbers in team history and played more Brakettes games, 1,112, than anyone.
Kathy Arendsen.
The Hall of Famer’s 593 strikeouts in 1980 are a team record, and her 551 the next year rank second. Her 4,061 career strikeouts rank second to Joan Joyce.
Barbara Reinalda.
She pitched 19 years for the Brakettes and won 441 games, breaking Joan Joyce’s team record and joining Joyce in the Hall of Fame.
Raybestos Robins.
A Brakettes farm team from the 1960s and early 1970s that helped develop young local players.
Edna Fraser.
A longtime Brakettes standout and then Robins manager, she was a staunch advocate for Title IX and athletic director at Foran High School in Milford, where the gym bears her name.
Allyson Rioux.
The WMS Tournament’s top defensive player receives an award with her name. She was a 10-year standout for the Brakettes before she died in 1987 at 29 of an inoperable brain tumor.
Danni Kemp.
Another player who died much too young (at 19, in 2017) of a brain tumor, the WMS sportsmanship award bears her name.
Diane Schumacher.
Hers is the name on the tournament award for the batting champion, and it’s no surprise; the Hall of Famer led the Brakettes in hitting five times.
Dot Richardson.
That’s Dr. Dot Richardson, who’d helped the Orlando Rebels past the Brakettes in 1981 before joining them three years later. The Hall of Famer went on to win two Olympic gold medals.
Lisa Fernandez.
She was a three-time national champion with the Brakettes and won three Olympic gold medals after leaving Stratford. She’s another Hall of Famer.
Danielle Henderson.
In six seasons in Stratford, she went 102-10 and helped the Brakettes end their decade-long championship drought in 2002. The Olympic gold medalist coaches her alma mater, UMass.
Cat Osterman.
The MVP of the 2002 national tournament, she went on to play on three Olympic teams, including this year’s silver medalist. Things ended poorly, though, when she declined to sign with the Brakettes’ NPF team in 2006 after they drafted her first overall.
Brandice Balschmiter.
The mainstay (and workhorse) pitcher of the past decade: In 12 Brakettes seasons, she won 190 games, behind only four Hall of Famers.
Stephanie Call.
In 202 games over four seasons, the first baseman hit 79 home runs, better than one every seven at-bats. She holds three of the top four home run seasons in team history, including a record 31 in 2011.
Doreen Denmon.
Standout catcher played 815 Brakettes games, behind only Pat Dufficy and Joan Joyce, in 18 seasons. Her twoout, two-strike double kept the Brakettes alive in the 1991 national final, setting the table for a comeback win out of the loser’s bracket.
Kelly Kretschman.
Only a Brakette for two seasons, but she hit .636 in 66 at-bats for the 2003 amateur team and led the 2006 pro team with a .410 average. Played on two Olympic teams.
Donna McLean.
Her 12 seasons in Stratford help her appear on many Brakette career leaderboards, including games played, where her 656 are sixth in team history. She had 10 RBIs in a 1987 game.
Keri McCallum.
Like another Brakette, she was a catcher with an all-around solid game. And like another Brakette, she joined the Stratton family, marrying Micki and John Stratton’s son, Jay.
Pat Whitman.
She pitched only two years for the Brakettes. They’re two of the top 14 seasons in wins in team history: Whitman went 38-3 for the 1974 world champions and 31-3 the next year.
Kaci Clark.
Though she was only a Brakette for four years, she was a well-respected veteran during her tenure, which ended when she retired from NPF in 2006. She went 29-0 in 2002 and struck out 12 in the national final.
Rachele Fico.
After a meteoric 2005 national tournament debut with the Stratford Breakers at 14, pitched five Brakette seasons. The Masuk, LSU and NPF star has the most wins in an undefeated season (33 in 2010) by any Brakette not named Joan Joyce.
Willie Roze.
German-born, the Hall of Famer’s two-run double gave the United States the lead in the 1974 World Championship final at Raybestos Memorial Field.
Denise Denis.
One of the most recent Brakette legends, she broke team career records for doubles and home runs and nearly caught up to Pat Dufficy’s RBIs mark.
Kristine Botto Drust.
The former Brakette is in her sixth year as the team’s associate head coach. In 2004, she helped lead the Brakettes to their 26th ASA National Championship. She was inducted into the Connecticut ASA Hall of Fame in 2018.
Lisa Brummel.
The Staples High School and Yale graduate played for the Brakettes from 1976 to 1978. Brummel is currently a co-owner of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.
Billie Jean Moore.
A Brakette for four years, from 1969-72, Moore was the head coach of the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team in its Olympic debut in 1976. She is the first women’s basketball college coach to win national championships (AIAW) at two different schools (Cal State Fullerton and UCLA).
Sarah Calgreen.
Following her third and final season with the Brakettes in 2012, Calgreen became a member of the U.S. Marshall Service and has protected Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sototmayor.
Annette (Verespy) Kalafus.
Kalafus (born 1929) was the last living original member of the first Brakettes team in 1947. She died in January 2021.
Irene Shea.
The Brakettes all-time record holder for most games played in a single season (86 in 1974) and most hits in a single season (124 in 1974)
Barbara “Rusty” Abernethy.
She’s seventh in wins in Brakettes history, pitching from 1948, the first year the Brakettes were called the Brakettes, into the 1960s. She was Southern Connecticut State University’s first director of women’s athletics.
Raybestos.
The name the team took on in 1948 comes from Raybestos, a company that made brake linings in Stratford. The company sponsored the team until 1984, then again in the early 1990s.
Raybestos Memorial Field.
The field near the plant, which closed in 1984, was named in honor of employees who died in World War II. For the 1974 World Championship, 12,500 fans packed the park for the final, which the Brakettes won for the United States.
Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field.
The Brakettes’ home since 1988 went by a few names but in 1997 was named for DeLuca, himself a Hall of Fame softball pitcher and Stratford community icon.
Bill Simpson.
General manager of the Raybestos Division founded the Raybestos Girls All-Stars in 1947. “Made Stratford, CT the mecca of men’s and women’s fast pitch softball,” says his Hall of Fame biography.
Francis “Hi-Ho” D’Addario.
The businessman stepped in to sponsor the Brakettes in 1985 when Raybestos pulled out. He died in a plane crash the next March.
Red, white and… green.
The Brakettes deviated from their traditional red, white and blue color scheme, wearing Hi-Ho hunter green, in the late 1980s.
Dave Carpenter.
After Raybestos departed a second time as sponsor in 1996, Carpenter kept the team going for over a decade until his death in 2007.
Pat Sanders.
After Carpenter died, Sanders helped keep the team afloat for the better part of another decade.
Joe Barber.
The Brakettes’ longtime general manager was an ASA president, was Connecticut commissioner for 25 years and helped found the International Softball Federation, for just a few things. He’s a national and world softball Hall of Famer.
Bernie Kaplan.
“Has earned quite a reputation for himself as a coach of girls’ teams,” says a 1948 clipping on the Brakettes’ website. The team’s first manager, so to speak.
Vin Cullen.
Replaced Kaplan in 1957, and a year later led the Brakettes to their first national championship. Retired after five years and two championships.
Vincent “Wee” Devitt.
An ASA Hall of Famer, he managed the Brakettes to three championships and also managed the Raybestos Cardinals, a men’s fastpitch team.
Bob Baird.
Has been the Brakettes’ general manager since 1988 after a long stint as a reporter covering the team. A major reason the team still exists.
John Stratton.
Renowned pitching guru has been a presence around the team for 44 years (and beyond), as a coach and as manager since 1995.
Hal Baird.
Longtime public address announcer until his death last year. The press box at DeLuca Field is now named for him.
Ralph Raymond.
Won 17 national championships and three world championships. Then he coached the United States Olympic team to two gold medals. National and world Hall of Famer.
John “Jay” Stratton.
The son of John Stratton, who is referred to by Jay in the softball world, currently coaches the Brakettes and has been involved with the team’s staff since 2006. He is married to former Brakettes catcher Keri McCallum Stratton.
Rob Baird.
Bob Baird’s son, Rob has been the team’s media director for the past 16 years. He often does play-by-play for the team along with helping out with assistant general manager duties.
John Pekar.
The Raybestos Memorial Field groundskeeper for 35 years was inducted into the Connecticut Amateur Softball Association’s Hall of Fame in 1980.
Foul balls.
The older John Stratton began his career with the Brakettes as a bat boy and a foul-ball collector in the late 1940s. He was paid one game ball per each game he worked. The Brakettes now donate used game balls to local girls youth leagues.
Long homers.
The current Brakettes record holder for longest ball with 344 feet, Steffi Call is one of two Brakettes to ever hit a ball past the 300-foot center field fence. She played collegiately for Joan Joyce at Florida Atlantic University.
National Pro Fastpitch.
The Brakettes joined the pro league in 2006 (while fielding an amateur team that won a national championship). They reached the NPF final, but the experiment lasted just the one season.
1974 World Championship.
Stratford hosted for the only time after the Brakettes won the national tournament the year before. The Brakettes won their first World Championship, winning nine games, all by shutout.
1978 World Championship.
The Brakettes won their second title in El Salvador.
1986 World Championship.
In New Zealand (and so in January), the Brakettes won the championship for the third and final time.
2008 ASA Major Fastpitch Tournament.
The last one held, called before the loser’s bracket final because of rain and giving the championship to the SoCal Hurricanes. The Brakettes felt they got a raw deal.
2009 WMS Tournament.
Begun by the Brakettes in response to their grievances with the 2008 ASA Tournament. The unheralded NYC Havoc became one of the more unlikely champions ever.