The girls of summer Women's softball continued into 1950s

LIMA — Softball came into its own in the 1930s in Lima.

Starting in the late 1920s, women's softball leagues continued to grow until the parks were filled with games. The teams were made up of women of all ages. There were 14 teams vying for a chance to go to regionals and then state. The newspapers even published standings.

Lucy Sonderman Mathers, who turned 100 years old earlier this week, played softball and remembers how popular the games were. She grew up in a big Lima family, and her brothers made sure she could play ball. She enjoyed all sports, continuing to play golf today.

“I didn't want dolls and all that junk. I wanted to throw a ball,” she said. “You punch that finger right where you want that ball to go. That finger was always sticking out.”

Berg Camera's coach was Eddie Biederman, a man she knew from her neighborhood near Lincoln Park. Biederman solicited her help on putting a team together. So she went around and watched girls play, scouting the best players and putting a team together. She was out of high school but still living at home, and many of the girls were younger.

Biederman convinced her to be catcher, which sounded all right by her because she'd see a lot of action.

“They knew that I would catch a ball no matter how hard they throwed it. I got hit a lot of times. See my crooked fingers?” she said. “And my hand was so sore.”

Mathers could also hit, and she remembers being asked to catch for traveling teams often. She was once approached by “big shots” from Detroit to play in a more professional league, but she said her parents wouldn't give her permission to go. And it worked out fine. She started dating the late Fred Mathers, another neighborhood boy, and married. They would go to ball games on dates.

“I'd rather play ball than eat,” she said. “Now, you get a team that really knows what they're doing about baseball, that's fun to watch.”

Lima turned out in droves to watch the women play softball. By 1935, South High School's diamond was electrified, and games were played under the lights. Works Progress Administration workers readied diamonds around town for league games. In 1945, a small item refers to a softball league meeting held for African-Americans, but it's unclear if that separate league had enough support to form.

During the World War II era, the women's leagues continued to be very popular. The Lima Tank Depot girls went to the state tournament in 1945 but lost. They went on the road after returning home and played exhibition games, one such game under lights at a new field in Sidney in August 1945.

By the 1950s, it appears the league had fewer teams. It was still operating and was still popular, but it had contracted a bit.

“Shrinkage in the number of persons participating in the softball program was expected for 1951, according to the commission. They feel the war situaion will have its effect on the local leagues,” an April 15, 1951, story reported.

There were seven teams, Harrod, Bradfield Center, Leatherwood and Shawnee Granges, Otis Jewelers, North Star Woolen Mill and Retreat. Otis Jewelers, a business at 130 W. High St., was the team on top for several years. That team made it to the state tournament at least twice.

There were more exhibition games, more featured event games than before. A July 17, 1951, event at Delphos featured Gomer vs. Otis Jewelers. After that game, the Chicago Hottentots would play the Delphos Allstars. The Hottentots were the world softball champs. Adult admission was 50 cents. In 1954, Kalida played host to the Fort Wayne Angels vs. the Kalida team. The Angels were billed as “Indiana's All-State Colored Champions, Finest All-Girl Team in the Midwest.”

But the novelty of it all still persisted. A full-page photo package in a newspaper July 27, 1952, bore the headline, “This is a man's world? Slide, Katie, Slide!” A catcher was photographed demurely hooking up her chest pad, with her hair very neatly done in a ponytail and perhaps even a bit of makeup.

“She's lovely, she's young and she's a good catcher, as they say of Terry Bowers, above, donning protective gear for the next inning,” the caption reported.

All the while, good softball persisted. A game between Otis Jewelers and a losing St. Henry team in 1954 was covered: “For Otis, Toots Lhamon hit a triple, while Joan McMillen and Dot Selby each hit doubles.”

In 1956, the All-American Girls baseball team came to Kalida. The girls were from the teams popularized by “A League of their Own,” the Rockford Peaches, Kenosha Comets, Peoria Redwings and the like.

“It's strictly big-time baseball — not softball as often presumed,” a story from June 8, 1956, reported.

Interest in the Lima softball leagues slowly began to fade. The time for women's softball had passed, replaced by rec leagues and opportunities for women and girls in school and beyond.