Rose M. Gacioch, 89; Star Player in Women’s Baseball League

Rose M. Gacioch, 89, a star baseball player for the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, died Sept. 9 at a nursing home in the Detroit suburb of Clinton Township, Mich. A native of Wheeling, W.Va., Gacioch was the only girl on a town baseball team called the Little Cardinals.

While still in her teens, she also played for Maud Nelson’s All-Star Ranger Girls, a Chicago-based barnstorming women’s team.

In 1944, she was signed by the South Bend Blue Sox of the women’s professional league, which was started by Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley to provide entertainment during World War II. The following year, she moved to the Peaches, the team featured in the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own.” An outfielder, she led the team in triples in 1946.

She also set a record for outfield assists in the league with 31.

She became a pitcher in 1948, winning 20 games in 1951.

Gacioch worked as a press operator for 20 years in Rockford, Ill., until her retirement in 1978.