Babe Sanfilippo is the second of eight children. She grew up in Brighton Park on Chicago’s South Side. Growing up, Babe would gather her brothers and the neighborhood kids and go to the empty lot to play the game she loves. ”Many times we wouldn’t have enough people to play all positions. Right field would …
Renee Strasser started playing baseball at age nine in a boys Little League team in Alsip, Illinois. She was one of three girls allowed to play in the league. When Little League officials wouldn’t let them advance to the next level of competition, they joined Alsip Park District’s sixteen-inch softball for girls. At age eleven …
Growing up in Calumet Park made it very easy to be sports orientated. The town and schools were ahead of their time by offering several sports opportunities for girls. Attending Seven Holy Founders Grade School, Colleen competed in both softball and volleyball leagues. She graduated from Dwight D. Eisenhower High School in Blue Island …
The fourth of five children, Betty Kollar grew up on the Northwestside of Chicago in the Hermosa neighborhood. There she played whiffle ball, league ball, and softball with the kids on the block. But for someone who was destined to become one of the top female softball players of her time, it was important that …
When Cheryl was about nine years old, she and her sister Cathy, along with the neighborhood boys started playing baseball in the streets of Oak Lawn using the sewer covers as bases. When the Oak Lawn Park District decided to form a girl’s softball league, Cheryl and her sister Cathy joined and their mother Mary …
The youngest of five children, born to Jim and Louise Walz, Mary was raised in the south side neighborhood of Bridgeport. Having two older brothers, Mary was exposed to the game of softball at a very early age; and since her family lived across the street from Healy School, the schoolyard became Mary’s baseball field. …
Julie Iverson’s foray into softball was never about being the “star.” It was always about what she could do to help the team win. If it meant hitting a ground ball to the right side of the infield to score a run, that’s what she did; if it meant getting on base to start a …
Monica starting playing softball at a local park when some older girls who were looking to put a team together noticed her talents and asked her to play for them. She started playing with the Heartbreakers in a 16-and-under league at Lawler Park. She then played with We’ve Got Style, Shamrocks, Psychos, and Irish Express. …
Popati Wing, who is best known as “T”, started playing softball at the Robert Taylor Homes on Chicago’ Southside when she was nine years old. Even though she had no formal training or coaching, she did have the one thing that great athletes possess ‘ talent. She played third base as the only girl to …
Janet Carpenter’s lifelong interest in 16” softball began in 1977 when she was only thirteen. Joe Bertucci, the supervisor at Wilson Community Center in Chicago, asked her to play shortstop for the powerhouse Wilson C.C. team. They were so impressed by her defensive skills and talents on offense that they formed a long partnership. Wilson …
