04-11-2024 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 28
“Seeing players in their 70s and 80s inspires the younger
ones to keep going,” said Mark Pendleton.
Many players also participate in more competitive
senior leagues, using the Saturday pick-up contests to
hone their skills. Here, though, games are played with
a nod to safety. A wire screen on the mound protects
the pitcher from sharp line drives. Metal cleats are
forbidden. There are two bags at first base — one each
for the runner and fielder — to stave off collisions.
Batters can opt to use “courtesy runners” to round the
bases for them. And, to conserve everyone’s energy,
teams play two innings at a time (e.g., six outs), to
keep from changing sides as often.
Still, injuries happen. Base runners pull up lame.
Fielders wince with shoulder pains. But the games
go on.
“Senior softball has put a lot of orthopedists’ kids
through college,” said Kathy Reitz, 73, of Rockville.
The lone woman out there, Reitz, an outfielder, took
a shot in the chops in 2018 when an errant fly ball
glanced off her glove, struck her face and tore open
her lip. Stitches closed the wound. Two weeks later,
still badly bruised, Reitz was back on the field.
“You never want to lose your grit, at any age,” said
Reitz, who, at 69, scaled Mount Kilimanjaro. “This
game gives meaning to our lives. It’s training for being
tough, and that’s true for geezers as well as for teenage
boys.”
Four months ago, Chuck Spalding underwent a
second knee replacement. Now, he plays softball four
days a week, including the Saturday games, as he has
for 20 years.
“I’ll do this until I die; it’s ingrained in me,” said
Spalding, 75, of Laurel. “Some friends think I’m nuts;
others respect what I do. The guys I grew up with all
play golf now, but softball is much more fun.”
Even when you’re getting razzed.
“Guys joke about how I run; they say, ‘Take the
piano off your back,’ ” said Spalding. “We all make
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| Spring 2024 | howardmagazine.com
Each Saturday, several dozen athletes — most in their
70s — gather at Centennial Park North, in Ellicott City, to
choose sides and play the field.
“It takes you back to when we were 10, and we’d all go
to a vacant lot, and the team captains would choose up
sides by walking their hands up a bat, with the one at the
top getting first pick,”said Andy Zitnay, right.
fun of our age. If I’m put out on a close play at first
base. I’ll say, ‘I would have been safe 20 years ago.’ “
That self-effacing style is shared by his peers.
“It’s good-natured ribbing, guys bantering back
and forth,” said Mark Pendleton, 67, of Catonsville.
“Swing the bat and hit a dribbler and you might hear,
‘A grown man hit that?’”
Needlers know how far to go.
“There’s some bench jockeying, but we don’t tolerate
serious trash-talking,” said Roberts. “Some guys take
[baiting] better than others; you learn that, fast.”
Play is competitive, but not cutthroat.
“We’re out here to engage with the guys and to
keep ourselves sharp,” said Pendleton. “Seeing players
in their 70s and 80s inspires the younger ones to