Born November 8th 1948 in Germany, Wiltraud (Willie) Roze starred for the Raybestos Brakettes of Stratford, CT for 10 years, earning eight All-America selections.Noted for her base running and clutch hitting, Roze was a first team selection in 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973 and 1974 and a second team choice in 1968, 1969 and 1973. Except for 1974 when she was named at second base, she was named as an outfielder. Roze played in 10 ASA national championships and batted .248 (53-for-214) and twice, 1967 and 1972, batted .333 . She had a .281 career batting average with the Brakettes with 526 hits in 1,869 at-bats, with .342 in 1975 her highest single season batting average. Roze was a member of eight national championship teams during her 10 years and also played in the 1974 ISF World Championship, which was held in Stratford, CT. She was the fifth leading hitter on the team with a .455 batting average (10-for-22).Winning that World championship, Roze said, was the greatest thrill of her career. Her greatest disappointment was in 1969 when the Brakettes didn’t win the national title and thus missing qualifying for a spot in the ISF World Championship in Osaka, Japan. A graduate of Southern Connecticut State, where she obtained both her Master’s and bachelor’s degrees, Roze played three years of pro softball after retiring from amateur softball in 1975.
