The RoundHouse | 3/22/2019 2:10:00 PM
Where are they now:
Patty (Bautista) Spallone – softball (1986-89)
In January 1985, Glen A. Wilson High School softball coach Fred Long typed a letter of recommendation for Patty (Bautista) Spallone and wrote "I personally feel that Patty has a great future in softball."
Long got it exactly right, as her four-year career at Wichita State proved. Spallone departed from WSU with 23 school records as a pitcher and carried the Shockers to their first NCAA regional appearance in 1989.
For all that success, Spallone's fondest memories are the moments with her teammates and classmates at Wichita State. While the games receded in her memory, those connections remain important to her.
"It's the relationships I had with my teammates , my roommates – those were really great," she said. "Playing silly games on these long 10-hour drives and braiding hair and maybe doing your homework."
Spallone and many other former softball Shockers will return to campus for Alumni Weekend on March 29-31 when Wichita State plays UConn at Wilkins Stadium. The 1989 team, which won the Gateway Conference Tournament, will be recognized on March 29 and the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference champions on March 30.
Spallone, from Hacienda Heights, Calif., compiled a 1.70 ERA, fifth on Wichita State's career list, with a 48-61 record at WSU. She ranks first at WSU with 103 complete games, second with 25 shutouts and sixth with 368 strikeouts.
She was named Gateway Conference MVP in 1989, leading to a spot on the MVC All-Centennial team and the Gateway's All-Decade team (the MVC absorbed the Gateway in 1992).
Family – Husband, Peter; sons, Andrew (16) and Aiden (14); daughter, Aubrey (12)
Status update – Spallone lives in Costa Mesa, Calif., where she works as controller for a golf/fitness company.
She coaches her daughter's softball team and plays tennis and pickle ball.
"I started off coaching, years ago, my boys' baseball teams," she said. "My daughter started playing (baseball) as well, so I was coaching her team. A handful of years ago, she wanted to pitch so that's when we transferred over to playing softball. It's given us a really good opportunity to bond and have fun."
Thanks, Dad – Spallone's favorite sport was volleyball and she played setter as a youngster. Softball won out because she saw more of a future in that sport.
"I just wasn't as good as a volleyball player as I was for softball," she said.
Her desire to spend time with her father got her started in sports. Ben Bautista, she said, was a good athlete who loved to coach his children and exhibited the patience to help them.
"I was all about doing what my dad wanted to do," she said. "Volleyball, ping pong, shuffleboard, football. I was up for it."
She started softball around age 8. When she got serious, her dad built a pitching rubber and home plate in the backyard. As a sophomore in high school, she worked with Don Farno, a pitching coach. He connected her with former Wichita State coach Cindy Bristow, who recruited her to Wichita.
"I put in a lot of pitching hours with my dad," Spallone said. "My parents were so supportive – whatever I needed to do, go where ever I needed to go."
Great late – The Shockers had five consecutive losing seasons before the 1989 season started.
When it ended, the Shockers set 12 school records, including for wins, on their way to a 35-31 record and the NCAA appearance under first-year coach Jim Maynard.
"I don't think we were on anybody's radar," Spallone said.
Pitcher/outfielder Sylvia Lavin hit a team-leading .315 with a conference-leading 15 doubles and went 11-16 with a 2.23 ERA. Catcher/first baseman Julie Gallagher led the Shockers with five home runs and scored a conference-leading 49 runs. Utility player Marie Thomas hit .275.
Spallone went 24-15 with a 1.32 ERA and 184 strikeouts. She hit .284 with 10 doubles and two home runs.
The Shockers won seven of their final nine regular-season games to finish 9-7, fourth place in the Gateway. That hot streak continued through the conference tournament at Northern Iowa. Wichita State went 5-1 with Spallone winning all five and throwing three shutouts. To complete the journey back from the losers bracket, she threw two-hit shutouts in 6-0 and 2-0 wins over Indiana State.
"I remember the van ride being super-long," Spallone said. "Everybody was excited, everybody was focused on doing their best. When we ended up winning, it was like 'Wow.' It was exciting."
That gave the Shockers the automatic bid to the NCAA Midwest Regional at Oklahoma State where they lost 2-0 and 3-1 to the host team.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
