OUR STORY

Valley Fusion was formed in 2008 by Jeff Sherman (Prospect Panthers) Janet Poeta (Beacon Falls Bullets) Rob Marucci (Prospect Panthers) and Matt Wirsing (Beacon Falls Bullets) 

In 2008 (12U) Matt and Jeff realized they didn’t have enough players for their town teams. All four of them had a "Softball Summit" at one of their houses in Beacon Falls and decided to come together since the girls would be playing in high school anyway. 

The team was formed. Problem was, they needed a name. Well, they left that up to the girls. They told them they would give $50.00 to the winner. The lucky winner was Morgan Poeta with picking "Valley Fusion" and what a perfect name it was. The logo, as well as the team colors, were also a collaborative exercise by the girls; 2 programs finally coming together as one.

The other issue they had was that we had older players on Beacon Falls Bullets/Prospect Panthers 16u that needed a place to play as well. Which included one of their daughters. They had two parents step up and start a Valley Fusion 16u, Dave Frenette (Prospect) and Kathleen Limbo (Beacon Falls).

They decided to start using a hitting club up in Thomaston for the first couple of seasons. Then decided they needed their own place. They scouted around and found that 141 South Main Street in BF was the one they could afford. 

They had the kids help, the parents and all the coaches get the place up and running. They brought in a projector and displayed the logo on the wall while one of their daughters, Angie Wirsing, traced it on the wall and then painted it. 

The team enjoyed almost instant success when we won the very competitive Friend of Softball tournament in Cheshire 
May 24-25, 2008. The very exciting final game against the hometown Cheshire Wildcats went into 3 or 4 extra innings and we ultimately prevailed for the win.

The girls (and the parents) were extremely accommodating and encouraging during the early years. Jeff stated, “Those were some fantastic years!” He believes that led to all of the success that they had on the field, and a lasting program to leave behind which we all continue to proudly follow and cheer for.

Valley Fusion kept on growing for many years. It was about ten years later, when Kelly Kane took over. This was after the original Valley Fusion girls had moved into college. As Matt stated, “I would have never traded this experience for anything.”

Shared by Jeff Sherman and Matt Wirsing