Submitted Photo Pictured in front of a wind screen at SUNY Fredonia is softball pitcher Casey Mazurek Hennessey along with her daughters Cora and Kylian Hennessey. Casey, who lives in Dunkirk, was inducted into the SUNY Fredonia Hall of Fame in 2016 and holds the record for most wins, most innings pitched and most strikeouts at SUNY Fredonia. Casey also received many accolades at Dunkirk High School as a pitcher, including All-NYS, All WNY and Chev-Paddock Scholar Athlete. Casey was also a pitcher for the Dunkirk NY State Girls Little League Softball Champions in 2000.

Of the thousands of athletes to have played for Fredonia State, only 137 of the best have been inducted into their Hall of Fame. Dunkirk’s own Casey (Mazurek) Hennessey is one of those few greats, as she is arguably the greatest pitcher in the history of Fredonia Blue Devil softball. Hennessey was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a part of the class of 2016. Hennessey this year was honored once again, as her image was put on display near the tennis courts.

Casey (Mazurek) Hennessey’s softball began at Dunkirk high school where she played from 1999 until her graduation in 2003.

“We were a really successful team back when I played. All my best friends played and it was an amazing time,” said Hennessey.

Hennessey while in high school was not highly recruited to play in college and wanted to find a school where she could both pitch and hit, as she loved the game so much she did not want to just pitch. Casey thought she found that school in Edinboro University, but she changed her mind and went with Fredonia State where she would have to walk-on.

“I didn’t intend to go to Fredonia at first, but I just really wanted to play. And I saw at Fredonia that I would get to play,” said Hennessey. “I went to Fredonia as a walk-on. When I walked on, nobody really knew who I was. There I played all over the field and was able to pitch and hit.”

They may have not known who she was when she walked on, but certainly everyone knows her name now. Hennessey now owns a handful of records at Fredonia State which will last for a long while. Her career records include 90 pitching appearances, 522 innings pitched, 38 wins, 59 complete games, 11 shutouts, 1.98 ERA, and an impressive strikeout-to-innings pitched ratio of 7.59 placing her in 24th in NCAA DIII history at the time of her graduation. Her single season records include a 14 win season, an 0.88 ERA in one year, a whopping 161 strikeouts in a year and five shutouts in a season.

Hennessey graduated from Fredonia State in 2007 with a B.S. in Criminal Justice/Sociology, she currently works at the Fredonia State. Obviously with a career that astounding, Hennessey’s call to the Hall of Fame was only a matter of time. But the Fredonia State athletics went a little bit further this year honoring her image on their tennis courts.

“The assistant A.D. approached me at work and asked me if he could use my image for something, and I said sure. I didn’t believe it, until it was happening,” said Hennessey. “Not a lot of people can say they have had that and I am really honored by it. It’s very humbling and I’m really proud that my kids got to see it.”