WESTFIELD-Softball – and baseball – have played a pivotal role in Donna McLean’s life since she was 10.
On Oct. 20, McLean was honored for more than 40 years on the playing field when she was inducted into the USA Softball of Connecticut Hall of Fame in Milford, Conn.
McLean, a native of Westfield and now a resident of Torrington, Conn., was nominated by John Stratton, field manager for the Stratford (CT) Brakettes. McLean helped the franchise earn National ASA titles in 1988, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and runners up finishes in 1987, 1989 and 2005.
Westfield native Donna McLean was inducted into the USA Softball of Connecticut Hall of Fame on Oct. 20 in Milford, Conn. She had been nominated by John Stratton, the longtime field manager for the Stratford (CT) Brakettes.
Stratton noted how proud he was of McLean during her years on the Brakettes.
“She couldn’t hit a change-up but she was a great player in every way,” said Stratton.
Patti Fernandes, a member of the 2016 Hall of Fame class, had shared the Brakettes’ field with McLean and also coached the team.
“I am very proud of Donna,” said Fernandes. “I liked her loyalty, dedication and longevity to the sport. Donna is a great role model and she understood the philosophy of the Brakettes and passed it on to the younger players.”
McLean was the first in the “batting order” for the evening’s ceremony. Bob Wilcox, a member of the Fast Pitch Committee, introduced McLean and highlighted some of her accomplishments.
“Donna began making a name for herself at the tender age of 10 not as a softball player but as baseball player when she became the first girl to play in the Westfield Little League,” said Wilcox. “Not only was she the first girl to play Little League but she also made the Little League All-Star Team in 1977 … a sign of things to come.”
Westfield native Donna McLean, center, is seen with her mother, Bonnie McLean of Westfield, and brother, Ian Michael McLean of Chicopee, during her induction into the USA Softball of Connecticut Hall of Fame.
Wilcox noted that McLean was an “outstanding athlete” at Westfield High School, where she earned All-State honors in softball and basketball before graduating in 1983.
McLean went on to Westfield State College where she also played softball and basketball. In her first season at Westfield State, she earned second team All American honors by hitting .419 with a school-record 35 RBI’s, seven home runs and five triples. She earned All-Conference and All New England honors from 1984 to 1987.
“Donna still holds 22 school records at Westfield State including lifetime totals of doubles, triples, home runs and RBI’s,” said Wilcox. “Her pitching records include innings pitched, strikeouts and victories, both in a season and career.”
McLean was inducted into the Westfield State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.
Over the years McLean played softball with the Berkshire Wildcats, Westfield Whips and Ocean Spray before she started playing with the Stratford Seahawks and the Brakettes.
“Highlights of her 13-year stint with the Brakettes were a team leading .414 batting average in 1996 and a 10 RBI game while hitting for the cycle in 1987,” said Wilcox. “She gained first team All-American honors in 2002-2004. Needless to say, a very impressive softball career.”
McLean shared humorous stories from her youth, while also thanking her parents, Bonnie McLean of Westfield and the late Ian McLean, Jr., and her brother, Ian Michael McLean.
McLean said her father and brother taught her the game of baseball “inside and out.”
“My brother and I would spend hours with friends playing baseball,” said McLean. “It was like a scene in ‘The Sandlot,’ picking teams, using an old mattress as our backstop, and the smashing of cellar windows.”
McLean also thanked her Westfield High gym teacher Joyce “O’D” O’Donnell for teaching her the game of softball.
“O’D wanted me to throw 500 pitches to a wall and it didn’t matter where the ball went,” said McLean. “With thousands of pitches thrown to a wall for speed, and target practice throwing for accuracy, I learned how to throw different pitches. She made me into that pitcher for sure.”
McLean also thanked Stratton for “believing in me and allowing me to play for the Brakettes for the rest of my fast pitch career.”
In her “retirement” from the Brakettes, McLean’s passion for softball has never waned and she currently plays in the outfield for the Twisted Fossils, a slow pitch team associated with Senior Softball-USA.
