Carla Patarini

CORAOPOLIS — Call it her trifecta. And call her Captain Carla.

Carla (Wetzel) Patarini, a 1978 Knoch graduate, was a captain on nearly every athletic team she played for in high school and at Grove City College.

Patarini is already a member of the Knoch High School Sports Hall of Fame and Grove City College Athletic Hall of Fame. She will be inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame during the organization's annual banquet at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Butler Days Inn.

“I guess this completes it for me,” Patarini said. “It's a great honor. All of the Hall of Fame inductions have been great honors.

“I played around the time Title IX was instituted. I had a lot of opportunities in athletics and just loved to play all sports.”

Ranked among the top 10 of her graduating class at Knoch, Patarini earned three letters each in volleyball and basketball. The Knights' volleyball teams won section titles her junior and senior years and she was named team MVP her senior season.

In basketball, Patarini received the Defensive Player and Good Sportsmanship Awards her junior and senior seasons. Knoch finished 10-5 in volleyball, 16-6 in basketball her senior year.

“I grew up around sports,” she said. “My older brothers and their friends always played pick-up games and I tagged along with those guys.

“I didn't start playing organized sports until I was a freshman in high school.”

Patarini played softball with her brothers growing up and played in local women's leagues from 1974-82. Her team won the Butler County league championship in 1975.

Knoch didn't have a softball team when Patarini was there. Grove City College introduced softball as a varsity sport her sophomore year.

She was already playing volleyball and basketball there.

“With all the background I had in softball, I just naturally joined the team in college,” Patarini said.

She wound up setting a GCC record by earning 11 athletic letters — four each in volleyball and basketball, three each in softball. And all three teams were winners.

“Everybody got along well and and we meshed together as a team,” Patarini said of her collegiate athletic experiences. “That enabled us to beat some teams that were probably more skilled than we were.

“I was lucky, playing at the time I did. A lot of the (athletic) programs were fairly new and I had opportunities to play. Had I played at a time when teams had a lot of experienced players already there, I may have never received the chances I did.”

Patarini was co-captain her final two years in volleyball and was a three-time all-conference player, Grove City won the conference three times in her four years and the team reached the NCAA Division III playoffs her senior year.

She was a two-time tri-captain in softball, was MVP of the Wolverines' first team and held the team record for stolen bases.

A four-year starting point guard in basketball, Patarini helped the Wolverines win four league titles.

Graduating from college in 1982 with a degree in accounting, Patarini's teams won 195 games and seven Women's Keystone Conference titles during her GCC career.

She was part of GCC's second Hall of Fame induction class in 2008 and played in adult softball leagues for 28 years.

“I still play recreational volleyball,” Patarini said. “It's not very competitive, but it's fun.

“I golf and bowl now ... different sports, but I'm still active. I hope to always be active.”

Tickets for the banquet are $40 in advance and are available at Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, Butler Radio Network on Pillow St., Parker Appliance in Chicora, Snack n Pack in Butler and Saxonburg Drug. Tickets will be $45 at the door.