Joseph Leo Battistelli
Graduating class: 1950
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2006
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
Joseph Leo Battistelli is a 1950 graduate of Fairhaven High School. All through his school years he went by his middle name of Leo. During his high school years he played football and baseball. He was a four year letterman in both sports.
In 1949 Leo held the batting title and in 1950 he made the All Bristol County Team in baseball. Coach Alec Clement credited Leo with being a real speed merchant as well as having a great arm, tossing out several runners at the plate. One newspaper article said "His batting was one thing that kept the Fairhavenites on the winning side so often and led them into the semi-finals of the Small Schools Tourney.'' Leo Battistelli will be long remembered for the way he played both baseball and football at Fairhaven. You couldn't find a harder worker on the field of play than the diminutive Battistelli, who alÂways turned in a great performance.
After high school, while the Korean War was going on, Leo and some of his classmates joined the Air Force. He spent four years in the service and was honorably discharged with the rank of Airman First Class.
During high school, Leo had taken the business course which, at the time, he did not know he would ever need. As it turned out, in 1963 he opened a sporting goods store named Capeway Sports Center. He ran the successful business for twenty-two years until his retirement. Leo and his wife Shirley, whom he credits with being a big part of his success in business, are the parents of three daughters and seven grandchildren.