Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Ray Bosetti played center field and captained the 1960 Indiana State Teachers College baseball team, the first in school history to participate in a national tournament. Coach Sam Smith’s squad claimed NAIA District 30 and Area 8 titles to land one of eight berths in the NAIA World Series, held in Sioux City, Iowa. IUP lost its opener to Sam Houston (Texas) State, rebounded with a 2-1 victory over Southern Illinois and then was eliminated by eventual runner-up Georgia Southern. Smith’s team also captured the PSAC title and finished 14-5, at that time the most wins in program history.

Bosetti, who served two years in the Army after graduating from Moon Area High School, earned an education degree from IUP in 1960. He taught driver’s education for 39 years at Moon and served for 37 years as the school’s baseball coach, the longest tenure of any coach in any sport in Moon history. The Tigers won 391 games under his guidance, claimed eight WPIAL section titles and made 11 WPIAL playoff appearances, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 1986.

Bosetti is perhaps better known for his softball exploits than for his accomplishments at IUP and Moon. He was inducted into the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame in 2010 and has celebrated nine world championships, the first in 2001 when the Clearwater (Fla.) Reds captured an International Senior Softball Association title in the 60-and-over age division. He was most recently a member of a world title team in 2019, when Center for Sight, based in Englewood, Fla., won an ISSA 85-and-over championship. An infielder for many years, he now excels as a hot-hitting pitcher, Bosetti regularly earns all-tournament honors and has collected numerous MVP trophies. He is still winning games as a pitcher, at the age of 87.

Bosetti splits his time between residences in Coraopolis and Dunedin, Fla. He and wife Rosanne Defonso have two daughters—Heather and Raychelle—and three grandchildren.