FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2011

Ray Tilley accepted to International Softball Federation Hall of Fame

(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) Softball Canada is pleased to announce that Ray Tilley (Woodstock, ON) - who was inducted to the Softball Canada Hall of Fame as an athlete in 1997 - has been accepted into the International Softball Federation (ISF) Hall of Fame. The ISF Hall of Fame recognizes people who have contributed to the sport of softball on the international stage. The vote took place at the ISF Congress which took place in Oklahoma City this past weekend. The actual induction ceremony will take place in Canada at a later date.

Ray Tilley enjoyed a distinguished career at both the national and international level in softball competition. He was an original member of Softball Canada's Men's National Team formed in 1983, and was a national team player for twelve years, which was truly a remarkable achievement. During that period, he played a major role in Canada's four Pan American Games gold medal performances (Caracas 1983, Indianapolis 1987, Santiago de Cuba 1991 and Parana, Argentina 1995).

His most notable success, however, came in 1992 in Manila, where he played an integral role in Canada's gold medal victory at the International Softball Federation's Men's World Championship. During his career, Ray also collected a silver medal (Midland 1984) and a bronze (Saskatoon 1988) in ISF World Championship play.

Ray's personal contribution to these team successes is noteworthy. At the 1983 Pan American Games in Venezuela, he hit three homeruns, had an on-base percentage of .500 and a batting average of .286. The following year, he batted .421 with four doubles and a .571 on base percentage at the 1984 ISF World Championship in Midland. At the 1988 ISF Worlds in Saskatoon, he had five homeruns, nine runs batted in and scored 15 runs, and at the 1992 Worlds in Manila he hit .295 with two homeruns. At the national level, Ray collected four gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals in ten Canadian Championship appearances.

Softball Canada would like to congratulate Ray Tilley on his induction into the prestigious ISF Hall of Fame.

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For more information, please contact:

Gilles LeBlanc
Manager - Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105
gleblanc@softball.ca