Regrets: I'm a bit late getting this posted, but gotta get this down. Can't not record it.

Big doings going on Monday night, May 13, at the A-Diamond during the over-62 Pirates-Americans game.

The Pirates catcher was a woman.

I believe that's a first for this division.

I saw her just as the Pirates battery, Bob Knipper on the hill and Amber Ring behind the plate, were warming up
to start the game. The catcher had her dark hair pulled back.

Turns out that the Pirates regular catcher, E.J. Seney, would be an inning late and Amber Ring, a new player this season
on Jim Dalton's Pirates, volunteered to take to the post.

Though the Americans scored five runs in the first frame, en route to a 12-6 victory, the Americans' runs were a product
of hot bats and not any Pirate errors. Among the batters knocking the ball free were Mike Kane, who would go 2-for-3 with
a double and two runs scored; Jesse Braverman, who went 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored, and Rich Garbarino
who also posted 2-for-2 night with a run scored. Don Ball and Gibby Travis had two-hit nights. The win evened the Americans'
record at 2-2.

Among the Pirates, Bob Knipper slammed a long ball to center for a pretty triple.

I believe that Amber's appearance on the field is a first for the over-62 division, which began play in 2020. I recall
one other woman who played with her husband in the 45s about 2008 and another woman, Cindy, a big Mets fan, who played in the
over-60 Capital Division a few years back. (I'm sorry, I don't recall their names. Perhaps John Reel or Don Wixon can fill me
in and record their names below. They were and are all gutsy pioneers and hats off to them for that.)

Amber handled catching well for the first inning and later she'd get on base by an error and score a run. After the game, more than one
of her Americans' competitors praised her during the high-five salutes. She smiled at each.

After the game, I asked Amber about her background. She'd played softball with girls for years but, she said, she
always enjoyed hardball more and would play it every chance she got.

Why, I asked. What's so special about hardball?

"Well, for starters," she said with a big post-game smile, "it's not softball. Hardball is fast. The ball gets to you in a second. It's
a real test. I like that."

Welcome to the league, Amber. Here's wishing you lots of good tests and good games.

-Mike Hart



-- Edited by mikehart on Monday 3rd of June 2024 12:41:21 AM