Franchina To Be Inducted Into WNY Softball HOF

Lori Franchina is becoming increasingly familiar with securing Hall-of-Fame honors.

The Falconer native will add another piece of hardware to her collection when she is inducted into the Western New York Softball Hall of Fame during formal ceremonies of its 45th class at the Lake Erie Italian Club in Lackawanna on Oct. 14.

For Franchina, who now lives in West Warwick, Rhode Island, it will mark her fourth Hall of Fame induction. She was enshrined into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Eastern Connecticut State University Hall of Fame in 2021, and she will be inducted into the Rhode Island Slow Pitch Hall of Fame this November.

The Western New York Softball Hall of Fame was established in 1965 and, since its inception, it has inducted more than 800 members.

Franchina’s latest honor will bring the number of inductees from the Southern Tier to 10. The others are Bob Schmitt, Joe Mistretta, John Woodfield, Jim Adamczak, Dale Till, Luella Kye, Betty Bartkowiak, Leda Peterson and Sheilah Gulas.

“I felt if I pushed and did my job, I’d be successful, and that’s absolutely true,” Franchina told The Post-Journal in 2020. “Don’t give up. Find somebody to help you with the dream.”