Trenton Softball Hall of Fame Event 1995

Trenton Softball Hall of Fame Event 1995

'Stale' finally makes it
Times, The (Trenton, NJ) - Saturday, April 15, 1995
Author: TONY PERSICHILLI, Times staff writer

'Stale' finally makes it

As a kid growing up in Chambersburg , John Stillitano knew
that one day he'd ''make it''. He just didn't know where
or when. Now he knows. Johnny Stale, as he is known to his
legion of friends, will head this year's list of inductees
for the Trenton Softball Hall of Fame.
An All-Mercer County player in soccer and baseball at
Trenton High (exactly when isn't important but it was
several years before the legendary undefeated football
team of 1970), Stale began his softball career playing for
Zip's Transmission. He went on to play on eight USSSA and
ASA state championship teams, be named the Most Valuable
Player in state tournaments six times, win a pair of Golden
Glove awards and make 12 All-Tournament teams. And this was
before he played ''pro'' softball with the Trenton
Statesman and Champale. JOINING STALE as honorees at this
year's induction dinner will be Rick Angelo (Men's Division)
, Robin Egerter and Clair Baxter (Women's Division), James
J. Cleary (Umpires' Division), John Imlay (Player/Coach),
David Goodwin (Fast Pitch)and Lou Lucullo (Sponsor's Award).
Angelo, also an all-county baseball player at Trenton High,
began his softball career with Zip's Steak House. He played
on eight state championship teams, won the Mercer Major
League's Sportsmanship Award, played on the first local
team to win a world championship and was selected to the
All-World team at the Class B Tournament.
Egerter, who holds numerous softball records at East
Stroudsburg University, has a lifetime batting average of
.399 and was named softball coach of the year by the
Star-Ledger in 1981 when she coached at Bernards High.
Cleary, who also officiates football, basketball,baseball
and swimming, is a long-time fixture behind the plate and
on the bases as a member of the Delaware Valley and
Mercer County Umpires Association. In a career that
began in 1961, Imlay has been associated with teams that
have won 14 national championships. In 1992, he was on a
team that became the first to win all four (USSSA, ASA,
NSA, ISA) major national titles. After leading Trenton
Catholic to a pair of state championships in baseball and
soccer, Goodwin went on to play professionally in both
sports. He signed with the Boston (now Atlanta) Braves
and went on to become a member of the Phillies
organization. HE WENT on to found the Broad St. Park
Post 313 American Legion League team and become the New
Jersey State Director of American Legion baseball before
turning his attention to softball where he played for
such teams as Mickey's Pallazzo's and Pete's Bar.
While playing for Pete's, he once won a state
championship game with a home run in the bottom of the
15th inning after calling time out to ''call'' his shot
and in two appearances against the King and His Court
went 6-for-6 against ''The King'' Eddie Feigner.
Lucullo, the retired owner of Conte's Bar in Princeton,
sponsored numerous teams including softball, basketball
and Little League. His softball teams won five regular
season and eight playoff championships from 1972-85.
The TSHOF also will present two of the area's
outstanding scholastic athletes with scholarships. This
year's winners are T.J. Apicelli of Ewing and Alison
Koeppe of Hopewell Valley. The dinner will be held
from 4-10 p.m. on April 30 at Angeloni's in Hamilton.
Tickets are $30 a pop and can be obtained by calling
Fred Walters at (609) 882- 4152 or Art Sheedy at (609)
586-7448.