By Napoleon F. Kingcade
Sports Reporter
Olivia Phan has yet to figure out how she will stage her home run celebration when she hits her first homer of the season. But when she does hit her first home run of the season, it will not doubt be a great team celebration when she crosses home plate. For the last few weeks, starting back on June 19, Olivia Phan and her great team of co-ed players have been playing the game of softball, a game that they dearly and truly love, at the Mill Creek Recreation Center, located at 48th and Brown Street. Every Tuesday afternoon, players like Olivia are seen lacing up their sneakers and playing the game that keeps them busy hours at a time.
A couple of Tuesdays ago, Olivia Phan, a Vietnamese native, was able to give her team a major boost when she crushed a slowly pitched ball into the deep corner of left field. By the time Olivia had cruised into third base with a stand-up triple, three of her teammates had already crossed home plate. Olivia was seen jumping up and down and clapping her hands. Meanwhile her three teammates were seen hugging each other at home plate. Even though Olivia couldnt join her teammates for the team celebration, she was overwhelmingly happy about her deposit of a three-run triple. Her three-run triple gave her team called The Kids Can Hit Good) a very comfortable 14-0 lead and an easy 16-0 victory. On the mound, Olivia had pitched six whole innings and only allowed five hits to earn her first complete game and first softball league shutout of the season. Her husband, Ian, who plays on the same softball team, was also celebrating his wifes bases-loaded triple. In the third game that day, there was another player who had a great day at the plate. His name was Evan Thistoe who plays for the Devils Alley team. Evan hit for the cycle. He hit a single, double, triple and home run and knocked in five runs to lead the Devils Alley to a 17-5 victory over the Back To The Future team.
The Philadelphia Adult League Softball is a new co-ed softball league that operates at the Mill Creek Recreation Center every Tuesday afternoon on the centers green baseball diamond. Four softball games are played every Tuesday starting at 5PM. The last of the four games is played at 9PM. Operated by a committee of six commissioners, the Philadelphia Softball League has grabbed the attention of the Mill Creek Recreation Center and its entire neighborhood as eight softball teams take part in the week-after-week competition.
"We are all here to compete, play and to make our league a better league to play in," said Kelly OConnor, one of the six co-founders of the league. "Right now we dont have a whole lot of equipment or suitable uniforms, but we all have the spirit and motivation to play ball here in the community."
Operating on a shoestring budget, the Philadelphia Adult League Softball is a league that has the potential to form into a citywide league. With eight softball teams playing on its current summer schedule, the games are always exciting and great to watch. Theres no age limitation or age requirement to play this co-ed softball league. The youngest person playing in the league is 19-years-old and the oldest person in the league is 56-years old. As a co-ed league, a minimum of four women is required to play on a team. Theres never a dull moment when these players engage in weekly competition with each other. Many games are highlighted when players are seen hitting home runs in the recreation centers watery pool. The water pool is stationed behind the baseball diamonds center field fence. Softball fans are always encouraged to stop by the Mill Creek recreation field and watch the non-stop action. All is needed is a folding chair and five hours of your precious time.
"Right now, everybody pitches in to buy equipment and to keep the league up and running," said Kelly O Connor, another co-founder of the league. "We all play by basic rules of the game and we all have fun. Its a group thing and a family thing when it comes to playing softball in our league. This is fun and recreational for all of us."
One umpire runs each game in the league. Stealing bases are not allowed, but a player can advance to a base once the batter makes contact with the ball in the infield. The seven-run rule is applied as a team per inning can score a maximum of six runs. Blowouts are allowed and players are also allowed to talk trash as long as it doesnt become physical.
Back on June 19 when the league started, the Philadelphia Softball League held an outdoor cookout for the Mill Creek neighborhood community. Free hot dogs and sodas were given out to all people that attended. Since the operation of the league, 20% of the leagues fees and donations given by the players are given to the Ronald McDonald House of Philadelphia. Also there are many players in the league who do volunteer work at the Ronald McDonald House.
"This is done to help others in need," said Mike King, another co-founder of the league. "Even though we need financial help with our league, we love helping other people in need. Plus, we know the softball community has a huge heart and the people in the community would rally around a league that puts a portion of the league dues back into the areas in which they play."
Going into Week # 3 of the Philadelphia Adult League Softball, the eight teams that make up the leagues One Division were all standing strong. Devils Alley (a team put together by its Devils Alley Center City restaurant located near 20th Chestnut Street) is currently undefeated and sitting in first place with a record of 3-0. Then comes the Cavanaugh Sports Bar softball team (another restaurant establishment located near 18th and Sansom Street) is current sitting in second place with a record of 2-0. In third place, the Ball Breakers (a team made up of a bunch of individual free agent players from around the city) are sitting pretty with a record of 2-1. Tied with the ball The Breakers for third place is Dicks Bat (another free agent team). The Dick Bats team record is also 2-1. Sitting in fourth place is Olivias team, The Kids Can Hit Good, (thats the teams real name). Olivias team won its first game last week and is on the verge of winning more games with Olivias hot bat.
The final three teams in the Philadelphia Adult League Softball are : Back To The Future (with a 1-2 team record) and the PAL All-Stars (with a 1-3 team record) and Super Team (sitting last place with a 0-3 record).
Coming August 21, the Philadelphia Softball League Playoffs will begin its summer playoffs . The inaugural league champions will receive championship tee shirts and personalized trophy cards. For the next six weeks, the University City Review and Weekly Press will cover the remaining regular season games plus all the playoff games. Game of the Week and Player of the Week will be highlighted in the papers upcoming issues. Readers are urged to come out to the games and help support this promising and exciting co-ed softball league.
To learn more about The new Philadelphia Softball League or sign up your team for next season, visit www.phillypals.com or call 215-995-0214 and ask for Yvette Grier.
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