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8th annual Rhode Island Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame: Class of 2025
The Rhode Island Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame celebrates its 8th year by announcing the Class of 2025. The Hall of Fame will be held on Saturday, November 16th at the Crown Plaza in Warwick, RI.
May has its traditions, it’s when the May flowers sprout up after the April showers. It is when all of us celebrate our mothers and mother figures, and since 2018, it is the month when the Rhode Island Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame annually announce the members who will inducted at its annual dinner in November.
At this moment 178 inducted members await a new class of 10 that will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Members were selected on the achievements, contributions and accomplishments they have made to the long history of Rhode Island’s adult softball community. May has become a most anticipated month, knowing that the new class of Hall of Famers will be made public.
The committee is made up of members who are, in fact, inducted Hall of Famers, themselves. They meet several times throughout the year, going over applications, researching the nominated player to see if they meet the criteria to move onto the next step of the selection process. When the month of May rolls around, the final selections are made and announced.
“The selection process is very thorough and complete” says Hall of Fame President Nancy Santopadre, “many hours are spent reviewing every aspect of the candidate’s career. We first make sure that the candidate meets the qualifying requirements, then they move on to the next phase which is a review of their careers. Then the candidate goes in front of the entire executive committee for a series of votes. If a candidate fails to get voted into the Hall, their applications are put on file for the next year. A candidate has a 5-year window before their application is discarded.” Many of the current inducted Hall of Famers have been voted in on their last year of eligibility.
Introducing the Class of 2025 RISPSHOF!
Beginning with the coach’s category: Jim Rock coached several teams from 1971 to 1988. His teams played in Class “A” his entire career, as they won multiple State and Regional championships with Conti Brothers, Kelly’s Sports and Bovi’s Tavern.
The men who will be inducted this November are:
Michael Donfrio who has been playing softball from 1967 until 2025. His teams competed successfully at the “A” level throughout his career until switching to the Over 35, Over 50 and now Senior Softball.
Craig Bassett has had a stellar career playing from 1979 to present. Starting with Rebels, Elmwood Sports, the Backstop Café, Tecnic Inc., Bill Ray Demolition, Titan Enterprise and for the last 20 season he has been playing for Action Auto Parts at the senior level.
Dennis Lynch played from 1972 to 1983, during his career he had led his teams to league, State regional, Regionals and State Championships.
Ed Catelli had a career that started in 1980 and ended in 2022. Playing for teams such as Eagle Plating, Cookie Factory, Park Ave Florist, Elmwood Sports over 35, Catamaro Ltd over 35 and Action Auto Parts over 50. During his career his teams won several State Championships, played consistently on the both the Regional and National stage.
Chris Petrucci played from 1995 to 2015. During his career he played for two teams, Floor Concepts where they wone 3 State Championships and both Regional and National tournaments and his second team was Players Softball Club. There he helped lead his teams to 19 State Championships while playing in Reginal tournament and traveling to 20 National tournaments.
William “Billy” Read is the final member in the Men’s category. He played at the highest-level softball offered his entire career. His career began in 1988 with Ron’s Spaghetti House, Action Auto Collision, Thermco Home Improvements, Pollock Law, Sports Center and Zarrella’s Real Estate. Locally, his teams won several Class “A” State championships, but it was his time on both Thermco and Zarella’s Real Estate his team won National/World tournaments.
The Women that will be inducted:
Cherra “Scooter” Wheeler, whose career spanned 16 years. Playing for Taylor Rental/Gillis Automotive, Fair Warning, Fellini Pizzeria and S & S Landscaping/Sands Law/Rathskeller. Her teams won several State and Regional championships as she was also named to many All-American teams when they competed in the Nationals/World championship tournaments.
Amanda Charest, will be joining Wheeler. She played for Grogan Sports, Fair Warning, Yeti Softball, Bad Intentions, S & S Landscaping/Louisville Slugger/Shirts & Logos and the OSS Sharks throughout her career. Her teams won multiple State and Regional championships and National tournament appearances.
The “Team of Excellence”
In 2023 the Hall of Fame committee created a new category call the “Team of Excellence”, this category was to always remember those teams that help make Rhode Island Slow Pitch Softball what it is today. These were teams that history had forgotten until now. The men and women who paved the way for today’s players. These teams were legendary teams of their time, and the category acknowledges the team aspect rather than the individuals on the team. This year’s team of Excellence is A.T. Cross, an industrial team powerhouse. They dominated a state that had some very good industrial teams. They traveled all over the country to compete and win.
Tickets will go on sale for this year’s induction ceremony that will be held on Saturday, November 16th at the Crown Plaza in Warwick, RI.
Golf Outing
The RISPSHOF annual golf outing is scheduled for Saturday, July 26, 2025, at the Richmond Country Club. Entry fee for the golf outing is $150 per golfer.
For more information, please contact Scott “Stump” Sunderland at 401-623-6094.