Joe Silvestro, November 2023
Joe Silvestro died suddenly on November 8, 2023 at age 72. Joe has been umpiring in EMASS for 10 years and was a member of IAABO board, USA Softball, and EMBUA. He umpired in EMASS and many other leagues working 3, 4 or 5 games per day, and frequently worked 7 days a week. He also found time to referee basketball and football games and loved to play golf. Joe was the caretaker of his elderly father until he passed away last year. Joe enjoyed his umpiring duties and loved to discuss interesting play situations with our other umpires. He was always reliable and available to serve our league.
A celebration of life will be scheduled in the coming weeks by his family.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/joseph-silvestro-obituary?id=53565029
Emory Payne, September 2023
Emory managed teams in several divisions, managed a division and wasn on the EMASS board for several years. With a brain cancer diagnosis in 2022, Emory did his best to keep contributing to our community as a player, a manager, and a board member in 2023. His friendship, work ethic and sense of humor had a positive impact on many of us and his behind-the-scenes work as a tireless equipment manager helped EMASS operations run smoothly. He had to withdraw from these activities over the last year but he was still as snarky as ever, entertaining us all in an uplifting way as he always has. Emory knew how to make people laugh and he enjoyed playing senior softball in every division.
Emory was one-of-a-kind. He was also one kind-hearted man who cared about EMASS.
Chas Crawford, August 2023
Chas was a very talented shortstop and hitter who played on many championship Bay State 8 teams in EMASS and was passionate about playing the game. He was quite vocal in commenting on the play of his teammates and opponents. He played on several national championship teams as well. He founded the Gray Sox, which played in a traveling Bay State League in Eastern New England. A link to his obituary may be found here:
https://www.capecodtimes.com/obituaries/pneo0548679
Pat Romano, March 2023
Pat Romano of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, passed away on March 28, 2023, after a 6-month battle with lung cancer, despite having never smoked a day in his life.
Pat was a very good softball player, often being selected for tournaments. He was a slick middle fielder, and consistent hitter with power. He was also one of the truly nice guys in EMASS, and in the Bay State League where he played for Worcester. In his "other life," he was the Science Dept. Chairman of Westfield State University, and held that post for many years.
He was a classy guy, liked by all, and those of us who played with him or knew him will miss him a great deal.
His obituary can be found here.
Fred Scerra, August 2022
Fred Scerra died on August 11. He was 88 years old. Fred was one of the original 82 members in the first EMASS season in 1995. There were only 4 teams then. We have come a long way and Fred stopped playing just a few years ago.
- Fred loved softball and knew everything about bats. I once told Fred about a bat I wanted and in less than a week he gave one to me and wanted nothing in return. I remember him as being generous and caring friend.
- I have many fond memories of playing with and against him in the Marlborough B league as well as EMASS. He helped me find at least 3 new bats. But my most vivid memory was when he walked me 6 times in 2 games. He was a great competitive pitcher.
- Fred's pitching made it a cakewalk to win the National division championship in 2010. Fred never missed a game and would arrive early to practice his pitching and hitting. Fred was also a reliable participant in the July 4th family games.
Fred Scerra was an influential player and EMASS player for 25 years. As I moved into a board position 7 years ago, Fred offered me great counsel in how the league's culture had evolved. He was proud of the league he helped build and passionate about retaining its culture of community, sportsmanship and competition. His legacy lives on.
Ferdinand A. Scerra Jr. Obituary - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Joe Defelice, May 2022.
Joe Defelice died on Sunday evening, May 15 of kidney failure. He was 81 years old.
Joe was good friends with Cab Devoll since they were Little league age. They played with and against each other for 7 decades. In the last 10-20 years, Joe was also Kevin Hayes' (and many other EMASS member's) favorite tournament team manager. "He loved to win and he lived to win." According to Cab and Kevin, nobody east of the Mississippi has played and coached more games then Joe and he has the trophies to prove it. If you were on Joe's team, you loved him. If not, you feared him as an opponent.
Back around 2002, Cab was standing next to John Stewart, an EMASS founder and board member. He pointed to Joe and said "John, that guy will make you change your rules about forming teams." If not, he is going to win the league every year. Cab was right. EMASS moved to a focus on balanced competition and competitively balanced teams shortly thereafter.
Joe made a big difference to the joy we all get out of EMASS softball.
Joe Defelice obit
Ray Theriault, August 2021.
And Ray was a memorable character and couldn't always remember other player's names. He would respond by saying something to the effect, ‘Hey you guys, I have 27 grandchildren and I don’t know their names either.’ He was a good pitcher. He knew the game of softball very well, and was always willing to give advice during a game. “Keep your glove down.” “Your weight is on your front foot when you hit.” “When running after a fly ball, don’t put your arm out until the last second.” He was well known for getting angry at something in a game and walking off. But he would soon return, and take the mound. What we learned most from Ray was how to play senior softball better, and how to have fun doing so. He brought a joy to the game which was infectious and made us all like him, quirks and all.