Ruffstone

2019 New England USSSA Hall of Fame Team of Distinction 

The Ruffstone Tavern softball team began as Sunrise Fruit Juice in the early 70's. We were a bunch of young girls playing in the Pawtucket Recreation League. George Mirabile volunteered to coach since nobody else would help. Several years later we were sponsored by Ruffstone Tavern in Providence and became known as "Ruffstone" or "The Ruff". We would play in local and regional tournaments and became very competitive. The Ruff was one off our teams to have founded the Tri-State Women's Softball League in Rhode Island. As we moved forward, we became involved with USSSA on the local and national level. All the players were local when other “A” teams would recruit nationally.

In the late 70’s the team was approached by John “Corky” Corcoran, who soon became our co-sponsor. Corky was well known for hitting the local taverns as we traveled around the country and sure enough, those new friends would line the fences to watch us play in those national tournaments on those weekends. The team morphed into not only a highly competitive team, but also known for our fun-loving style on and off the field, a rare combination.

Our biggest win ever was when we defeated the Virginia Belles in Richmond Virginia on their home field. They were ranked 4th in the country at the time. That same year, we managed to be ranked as high as 9th in the country in the USSSA national rankings. Being an “A” team in the 80’s was quite a task as the competition and talent was off the charts back then, but we were proud to say we held our own amongst the giants.

The team disbanded in the late 80’s but indeed left its mark as the tough, close knit, crazy crew from Rhode Island.