Francis "Bosco" Reopelle
Hall of Fame Inductees
Softball (fastpitch) (2017)
Bosco Reopelle was born in Red Lake Falls, MN on July 24, 1931.
Bosco was always playing sports and as a 16 year-old in 1947, he met Jack Hermsen who got him interested in fastpitch softball. Bosco practiced and played hard and loved pitching. In fact, it was Jack Hermsen who taught him how to throw a change-up and according to his wife, Vi, who accompanied him to many games, "he had a really good changeup—even Jack couldn’t hit it."
Bosco and Jack remained friends for their entire lives. They both worked together and played together on the Tacoma Longshoremen’s team through 1968. Prior to that Bosco played for Oswald Flying Service, the Dug-Out Drive-In, Lincoln Tavern, Ray C Roberts VFW, Tacoma-St. Paul Lumber, and Pederson's Fryer Farms. Among his teammates were Ron Fawcett, Jay Beach, Ed and Dave Huntington, Vern Morris, Nick Engels, Jim Patnode, Roy Bagnell, Bob Reed, Roger Coleman and Neal Slavic. He also played for the West Coast Grocery Company basketball team.