Minus the skirts and hairstyles of her day, Englewood’s Sue Zipay has a vision for women’s baseball. The vision is one of professional leagues across the country, filled by players historically limited to fast-pitch softball.

It’s a bold vision, but for the 86-year-old Zipay, a pitcher, utility infielder and outfielder for two years for the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), it all starts with sending up a trial balloon she hopes gets belted out of the park.

The player signed by the Peaches out of high school as an 18-year-old, who appeared in the movie “A League of Their Own” and helped form Sarasota’s Women’s Sports Museum, needs to hear from girls in our three-county area and beyond who would rather throw a ball overhand.

“I’m fishing,” Zipay said. “I’m fishing for the interest.”

The way Zipay sees it, a need exists that needs filling. Last July, with the help of the Atlanta Braves, she organized a girls baseball camp at CoolToday Park. It attracted 40 participants and Zipay came away from the camp convinced interest in girls baseball is there.

“They want to play girls,” Zipay said. “They want to play with girls. There are so many little girls and so many baseball players around the country and they’re saying, ‘You know, I don’t want to play softball. I want to play baseball.’

“It’s amazing if you knew how many local little leagues there are of girls and girls getting to play with the boys. Then they get into high school and it’s a tough job trying to get on the high-school team. There are a lot of softball players who, if they had the choice, would choose baseball.”

Read the entire Herald-Tribune Story here

By Doug Fernandes, Sarasota Herald-Tribune