Pace

Elected : USSSA New York Hall Of Fame in 2006
Inducted : 2007, Rochester, NY

The road to the 1977 Womens's Class 'A' World Championship was anything but smooth for the Pace Fighting Green and Gold team - at least until the team arrived at the World Tournament. It had to overcome several problems along the way, play a record 98 games - of which it lost a record 20 games - lose 4 league games (still won the league), and played in a record 12 tournaments. It did win half of those tourneys. But in the end, it did something that even the great World Champion Muxworthy's Ski-Haus F G & G team of 1972, which lost only 4 games, didn't do - go undefeated in the World Tournament. The 2 Championships were the highlight of the 13 year 'big ball' era in which the Fighting Green and Gold was the only team in the country to play in all thirteen. It never finished out of the top ten. Along with the 2 World Titles came 2 runner-up finishes, 1 third, 1 fourth, 2 fifths, 1 seventh and 4 ninths. Mildred Burrell, the former USSSA women's National Director, called the Fighting Green and Gold the greatest and most decorated team of the USSSA Big Ball Era (1969-1981). The 1977 team had a giant share of that remarkable World Tournament history.