Romano was honored at the annual Hall of Fame dinner on November 22 at Costa Azzurra Restaurant in Milford.

"I can't tell you what a tremendous honor this is; it caught me off guard and overwhelmed me when I heard about it," said Romano who co-owns a popular local eatery/sports bar, Ordinary Joe's in Oakville.

Romano, better known as "Joe Ro," played 36 years for 20 different teams throughout Connecticut, including Mario's Barbershop, the 1981 CT State Modified champions, Allyn's Cleaners, the 1986 CT State Modified Champions and American Sports World, the 1989 Connecticut champions.

In his 20-plus seasons, Romano tossed five no-hitters; he also excelled as a first baseman, participating in 14 ASA National Class A tournaments.

Romano was named the pitcher on the ASA All-American team in 1996; that same year he won four games in one day to help his team win the National Qualifier tournament in New Hampshire.

While most of his career was been spent playing modified, Romano was also a member of the fast pitch team sponsored by Tavern Near the Green which was the state runner-up in 1990.

Romano also played for Connecticut championship teams from Putnam, Cheshire, Waterbury as well as Framingham, Mass.

He hasn't limited his involvement in the sport to playing; throughout the years, Romano, who currently resides in Thomaston with his wife Sharon, has sponsored many state amateur softball teams.

Among those joining Romano as inductees were be former Franklin Cardinal and long-time New York Daily News columnist John Harper of Whippany, N.J., Bruce Lazar of Monroe and umpire Jose Vicente of Groton.