Highlights of 1976

May 28 – The first night of Women’s Professional Softball league play begins in Buffalo, where 4,770 vocal fans watched Willie Roze of Connecticut lead the inaugural game off with a long homerun. Joan Joyce made the run count, as the Falcons defeated the Breski’s 1-0. The “First Pitch” was thrown out by Billie Jean King, a co-founder of the W.P.S. and co-owner of the Falcons.

May 29 – What turned out to be the second largest crowd of the year viewed the Santa Ana Lionettes home opener. They weren’t disappointed, either, as Lionette pitcher Cathy Benedetto hurled a ten-inning shutout to beat the Southern California Gems 1-0. On hand were 5,226 fans.

May 30 – The largest crowd of the season turned out in East Detroit, as the Michigan Travelers opened their season in front of 5,875. What they saw was Joan Joyce besting Cindy Henderson 5-0, as Snooki Mulder became the first Falcon player to collect 15 hits for the young season.

June 10 – A pattern seems to be developing. The Connecticut Falcons reeled off 13 wins in the first 15 games to pull on top of the Eastern Division, while the San Jose Sunbirds won 12 of their first 14 games to go on top of the Western Division.

June 20 – Santa Ana’s Cathy Benedetto becomes the league’s first 10-game winner, as the Lionettes blank Southern California 3-0. Joan Joyce is at 9-1 for the season, but because Connecticut is idle, doesn’t pick up her 10^th win until June 26.

June 27 – Hall of Famer Dot Wilkinson takes over the managerial reigns of the Arizona Birds, replacing Gerald Stapley.

July 8 – Bonnie Johnson of the San Jose Sunbirds throws the first no-hitter in league history, a 1-0 PERFECT GAME over the San Diego Sandpipers and Nancy Welborn.

July 12 – Joan Joyce of Connecticut pitchers her first ho-hitter, as the Falcons top Southern California 4-0.

July 14 – 15 – San Jose Municipal Stadium is the site, as the Eastern Division leading Falcons meet the Western leaders, the San Jose Sunbirds in back-to-back doubleheaders. The two teams split the four games in front of 6,644 fans, as Joan Joyce becomes the league’s first 20-game winner.

July 17 – Joan Joyce continues to dominate the league’s pitching statistics, and picks up her second no-hitter by beating Southern California 3-0 on a PERFECT GAME. Joyce’s record for the season improves to an incredible 22-1.

July 23 – Santa Ana’s Cathy Benedetto proves that she is a serious contender for the “Top Pitcher” as she blanks Connecticut and Joan Joyce 1-0 for her 23^rd win of the year, tying her with Joyce for most wins with 23. It was only Joyce’s second loss of the season.

July 28 – Over 3,600 fans in San Jose watch as the West defeats the East 5-0 in the first W.P.S. All-Star game. San Jose’s Charlotte Graham was the winning pitcher for the West, while Falcon Kathy Neal absorbed the loss for the East.

July 30 – Buffalo beats Pennsylvania in a slugfest, 13-5, as Breski’s outfielder Maryann Cardillo wallops her 10^th homerun of the season.

August 6 – Joan Joyce hurls her third no-hitter, again beating Nancy Welborn and the San Diego Sandpipers, 2-0, at Falcon Field.

August 14 – Joan Joyce wins her 31^st game of the season, as the Falcons blast the Pennsylvania Liberties 13-1 behind Joyce Compton’s Grand Slam homerun. Compton took over the league’s RBI lead and never relinquished it after this game.

August 15 – Pennsylvania’s Pat Willis throws the only no-hitter of the season AGAINST Connecticut, as the Liberties beat the Falcons 3-1 at Falcon Field.

August 17 – Joan Joyce returns to the record books, as the Ace pitcher for the Falcons hurls her second PERFECT GAME, closing the door on the Michigan Travelers 7-0. Falcon outfield Kathy Krygier goes 3-for-3 in the game to take over the league lead in total base hits for the season.

August 22 – The Connecticut Falcons clinch the Eastern Division title by sweeping Buffalo, 1-0 and 7-0, behind the combined five-hit pitching of Joyce and Sandy Fischer.

August 25 – The San Jose Sunbirds enter the record books by setting a two-game scoring record, as they sweep the Chicago Ravens 16-7 and 12-0.

August 26 – Connecticut’s Kathy Neal hurls the Falcons’ fifth no-hitter of the season, blanking Pennsylvania 3-0.

August 28 – Chicago Ravens’ pitcher Donna Schwenk no-hits the Pennsylvania Liberties 7-0.

August 31 – The San Jose Sunbirds clinch the Western Division title by sweeping the Pennsylvania Liberties 2-1 and 3-1.

September 6 – The Chicago Ravens sweep Michigan 3-0 and 6-0 to clinch second place and a playoff berth in the Eastern Division. Santa Ana splits a doubleheader with San Jose, and the Lionettes finish in second place and move into the Western Division playoffs.

September 12 – Connecticut advances to the W.P.S. World Series by sweeping Chicago in the Eastern Division Playoffs. The Falcons won the first game in Meriden, 4-1 behind the two-hit pitching of Joan Joyce. Sandy Fischer shut out the Ravens in game #2, as the Falcons won 2-0 in Chicago. Joyce Compton belted a long homerun and powered the Falcons to a 6-4 victory behind the combined pitching of Kathy Neal and Joan Joyce.

September 13 – The San Jose Sunbirds advanced to the W.P.S. World Series by completing a sweep of the Santa Ana Lionettes in the Western Division Playoffs. San Jose won game #1 in San Jose, 1-0, behind the shutout pitching of Bonnie Johnson. Charlotte Graham won game #2, as the Sunbirds squeaked past the Lionettes, 2-1, also in San Jose. Two days of rain didn’t dampen the Sunbirds, as they won game #3 in Santa Ana 1-0, again behind Bonnie Johnson.

September 17 – The first game of the 1976 W.P.S. World Series was played at Falcon Field in Meriden, Connecticut. Joan Joyce, the league’s top pitcher bested Charlotte Graham, as the Connecticut Falcons blanked the San Jose Sunbirds 3-0. The big hit of the game came off the bat of Joan Joyce, as she belted a double to left field in the fourth inning, to score Irene Shea and Willie Roze.

September 18 – Connecticut upped its World Series record to 2-0, as the Falcons topped the Sunbirds 4-2 in World Series game #2 also played at Falcon Field. Sandy Fischer scattered four Sunbird hits and allowed no earned runs, while San Jose pitcher Bonnie Johnson took the loss. Falcon third-sacker Irene Shea belted the first homerun of the series, and Snooki Mulder added two RBI’s to aid the Falcons’ cause.

September 19 – Game #3 of the W.P.S. World Series was full of surprises, and wasn’t decided until the bottom of the eighth inning. Snooki Mulder collected two more hits and another RBI, and Sunbird left fielder Cyndi Lillock homered off Joyce, as the eighth inning began as a 1-1 deadlock. But Irene Shea led off the eighth with an infield single, and subsequent singles by Joan Joyce and Willie Roze led to the second run, as Joan Joyce and the Falcons defeated Charlotte Graham and the Sunbirds 2-1 to take a commanding 3-0 game lead as the series moved to San Jose for game #4.

September 23 - Sandy Fischer and the Connecticut Falcons made it a clean sweep, as the Falcons downed the Sunbirds in game #4, 3-0, in ten innings Willie Roze had the game-winning hit, a two-run singled in the 10th, that gave the Falcons the World Championship.