When I was a young girl, my siblings and I would play a lot of baseball together. We were a very large family of 15, so coming up with enough players was not an issue. We would play for hours, learning how to catch a ball bare-handed, hit a ball with either a stick or wooden bat, and running bases made of either rocks or rags. My love of the game grew over the years. Around 1974 I was asked to play some pickup ladies ball with a couple of friends and my sister. The Huntsville Ladies fastball league came into existence later, around 1976. I joined a team, along with my sisters, and throughout the next years became very competitive as the league grew. With a lot of practice, my skill as a pitcher excelled.
In 1978, a select team from Huntsville entered a big tournament in Aurora. We proved to be as capable of playing as the city teams, and came out the winners, with me as the pitcher.
I have had continued success in this position over the years on different teams. My love of baseball continues to this day as I am still playing and enjoying time spent at the games with my daughters Brodie and Casey….it is a “family thing”.
My young grandkids have picked up this sport and are very intense players, copying their grandma! Wow, over 50 years of ball for me, and loving all the fun that I have had and continue to have, playing the sport I love the most!