Countywide : They Form a League of Their Own

It had been 39 years since Sylvia (Tommy) Thomas played her last game.

On a recent day at the ball field, with her 50-year-old leather baseball glove on her left hand, the 76-year-old Thomas was eager to play ball again.

“I love the game!” a jubilant Thomas said as she took batting practice and caught fly balls.

For Thomas, of Laguna Hills, playing baseball is still in her blood.

At age 15, she joined a women’s major league in Canada, and played on three teams over 17 years, throwing in her glove at 37.

But Thomas, like her teammates who each have stories about their baseball history and statistics in the sport, say they are not too old to still play.

Thomas has dusted off her aged glove and joined a newly formed Orange County softball league that players can call their own.

The league is for women only, 45 and older.

“I was a good hitter and I could throw the ball well,” Thomas said of skills in her younger years.

“Now I can barely get to first base,” laughed the petite, gray-haired woman who sported a hot pink baseball cap.

Thomas joined the Legends League, recently organized by Fountain Valley resident Chad Hanna, to have fun and give softball a second try.

“It’s something I like and it’s better than sitting inside and playing bridge all day--which I can’t stand,” she said.

“The whole point in participating is you’re not sitting home as a couch potato, and as long as I can still play, I might as well.”

Hanna, like her teammates, joined because there were no teams that catered to older women.

“There is not a league for (women) seniors on the West Coast,” said Hanna, 73, who has been involved in baseball for 60 years. “We are the first.”

Practice started in January with four women, then two weeks later, there were enough players to make a team. Now, 60 women are involved, Hanna said.

“I feel it’s going to grow, that it’s really going to take off,” Hanna said, adding that some players hadn’t picked up a bat in 40 years.

Players practice Saturday afternoons from 1 to 3 and 3 to 5 at Greer Park, off McFadden Avenue and Golden West Street in Huntington Beach.

Hanna recently added a second practice because of the number of women who want to play.

Hanna said three teams will begin playing in Huntington Beach’s softball league on Friday nights.

Hanna also said she has grand plans for the league: to have teams that compete in tournaments and travel the country to play.

These women are energetic, enthusiastic and high-spirited--just like they were in their youth; the league has given them a new lease on life.

“It’s a way of getting together and letting people know we are not down for the count,” said Lillie Emerson,60, of Tustin, a nurse who was the only civilian on a U.S. Air Force ball team 30 years ago.

“We have a lot to offer. Age is just a matter of the mind. Just because you become a certain age doesn’t mean you have to sit in a rocking chair.”

Being involved with the league means making a commitment to practice and a desire to compete and win, Emerson said.

Many of the women played competitive ball in high school and college, and some currently play on co-ed teams.

Vicki Ward, 50, of Cerritos, a retired police officer and currently a court officer, said playing softball makes her feel good about herself.

Ward said she hadn’t played in 10 years--until she joined the Legends League.

“I feel great, just like a kid. I feel young again,” she said, tossing a softball into her glove.

Those interested in joining the league can call Hanna at (714) 775-8815.