Bill Faticone<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 His menacing presence alone on the baseball and softball field atoned for opponents to buckle in sheer trepidation during the later 1960\u2019s and 70\u2019s.\u00a0 Add to that his slugging ability and speed, and 2003 Branford Sports Hall of Fame inductee Bill Faticone was known as one of the shoreline\u2019s most prolific softball players.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A 1967 graduate of Branford High School, Bill Faticone was a two year varsity baseball player as an outfielder and pitcher.\u00a0 During these two seasons, he played with Branford Sports Hall of Famers Jerry Schmitz (\u201996), Ted Kaczynski (\u201999), Bruce Johnson (\u201900), and fellow inductee George Lepre, Jr. He was coached by Gerry Crotty (\u201900). <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After high school, Bill attended the University of New Haven and became a pivotal athlete in the recreation spectrum.\u00a0 He played amateur softball for 27 years for several legendary teams.\u00a0 From 1969 to 1974, tonight\u2019s inductee played for the Silver Dollar softball team which won five town championships and qualified for the ASA state tournament each year.\u00a0 One of his many highlights while playing for his team was a six homerun, 15 rbi game in the New London tournament.\u00a0 He hit a total of 15 homeruns in the tournament and was named tournament Most Valuable Player.\u00a0 His teammates that year included BSHOF inductees Jerry Schmitz, Bob Aguzzi (\u201999), Ron Tramantino (\u201903), and George Lepre. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1978 and 1979, he played for the New England Pilgrims of the American Professional Slo-Pitch League.\u00a0 His two year batting average was .462 and the team won the eastern division both years.\u00a0 His teammates included former Detriot Tiger Dick McKauliff and he played against former professional athletes Joe Pepitone, Norm Cash, Jim Northrop, and Billy \u201cWhite Shoes\u201d Johnson.\u00a0 Besides playing games throughout the cities in the league, the Pilgrims played at Philadelphia\u2019s Veterans Stadium and New York\u2019s Shea Stadium.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After 1979, Bill played for various softball teams including\u00a0 Branford\u2019s Neal\u2019s Flooring, that won 13 town championships, the 1989 New Haven ASA District championship and was runner-up in the 1989 Connecticut ASA tournament that qualified Neal\u2019s to participate in the ASA Northeast Regional tournament.\u00a0 Bill\u2019s teammate was 2001 inductee John Sobolewski (2001). <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the 1980\u2019s, he owned and operated Shoreline Nautilus Fitness Center of Branford. He currently is the owner of Sunrise Builders of Branford and umpires men\u2019s ASA softball league games.\u00a0 <\/span>This lifelong resident of Branford is the husband to wife, Cynthia and father to children, Leslie and Lea. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":857,"template":"","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductee\/856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductee"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/inductee"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}