Take me out to the ballgame. Whether it’s a game at Yankee Stadium against the Boston Red Sox or a tee ball game with your own children, there is just something about the game of baseball, and I’m including softball in this statement. When I was a youngster, Sally League (Little League for girls) was just getting organized. It was a time when most boys would still pick girls last even if they were better than some of the boys. But the times they are a changin’. Girls’ softball games can be an exciting and nail biting experience.
In Clay, the Seneca Girls’ Softball League has been around for over 30 years. This year they had 300 girls in four divisions ranging from kindergarteners to college freshman. They just wrapped up their season with playoff games and championship games in the junior (grades 5-7) and senior (grades 8-13) divisions. They play at various schools and at the fields at Clay Park Central on Wetzel Road. They cap off the season with a picnic given through Senior Daze from Liverpool High School. The younger divisions work on introducing the game and building skill and technique before it gets competitive in the older divisions.
Katie Bradley has been playing in the league for six years, but has cheered on her older cousins for years and now a younger sister too. She knows the benefits of the league.
“I have been able to work on my skills in softball and I even got to hit a grand slam and a triple in a game a few weeks ago. It was awesome.” The individual games may eventually be forgotten, but the skills, camaraderie, and good old-fashioned teamwork can last a lifetime.
This year in the Junior Division, the team sponsored by Hayden Jewelers won their game against B&T Sports with a score of 26-16. This score shows what the girls are made of, which is much more than sugar and spice and everything nice. Their team placed second overall for the season.
The junior division had two teams tied for first place. They were the teams sponsored by William A. Raineri, DDS and A&P Auto Parts.
In the senior division, the first place team was sponsored by MG Insulation and the second place team was sponsored by A&P Auto Parts.
Now the baseball season is over and other sports will take its place…temporarily. Most likely next year these same girls will be back, along new ones too, looking for their chance. And just like John Fogarty sang, “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play…” But this time it’s not the “Boys of Summer” as Don Henley sang, it’s the “Girls of Summer”. ‘Bout time.
