Louise Mazzuca
Softball, Fastpitch-Womens (2005)
Hall of Fame Inductees
Softball (fastpitch) (1995)
Few would argue that by the time she finished her fastpitch softball career, Louise Mazzuca was the best pitcher to come out of Tacoma.
Even though she was among the top hurlers in the area while pitching for Hollywood Boat & Motor, it took Mazzuca moving to the Portland area for her pitching career to really blossom. After a year with the Forest Grove Meadowlarks, she took her talent to Erv Lind Florists, a nationally ranked team based in Portland. Mazzuca played for Erv Lind from 1959-61, earning first team All-America honors each season.
As a 19-year-old competing in her first national tournament for Erv Lind, Mazzuca threw a pair of no-hitters and a total of three shutouts in leading the Florists to the title game, where a four-hitter over nine innings wasn’t good enough to keep the powerhouse Raybestos Brakettes from beating the Florists, 1-0. Mazzuca shared the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
The two teams battled for the 1960 national title in front of 18,000 fans at Memorial Stadium in Stratford, Conn., and again the Brakettes defeated Mazzuca and the Florists. Mazzuca was again outstanding, striking out 75 batters in 45 innings. For the second straight year she shared MVP honors. The following year the event was held at Normandale Park in Portland, and Mazzuca wowed the crowd by setting a national tournament record with three no-hitters, though Erv Lind Florists did not make the finals.