| Ray Demarini was inducted into the USSSA Hall of Fame in the Special Category. In the 1980's Ray Demarini was a 5'6", 165 pound undersized softball player obsessed with improving his game. In 1988 he was asked by ESPN to do an instructional hitting video. From over 450 videos in it's group, it took first place at the American Film Festival. The following year he took the proceeds he had received from the video and along with his partner created Demarini Sports. His mission was for Demarini Sports to provide the opportunity for every softball player to own a custom factory bat. In the 1990's Ray's first printed advertisement appeared in USA Today. His first customer was Dr. Rodger Clay who called and ordered a custom bat and then asked Ray, "How do you think you can compete against the giant bat companies?" Ray responded "How do you think those cumbersome giant companies can compete with me?" by 1992 the company had created the first high performance multi-walled bat, the Demarini Double Wall, the game of softball was changed forever. |