The girls of summer: Women’s whiffle ball leagues gain popularity in Hoover
Lacey Murray started the double play with a nifty grab of a line drive at shortstop, then fired across the infield to first base for the second out, a defensive gem that helped turn the tide for her team. Down 4-0 to the Wendy Peffercorns, Murray’s team — Pitch Please — was down 4-0 in the top of the third.
The women of Pitch Please roared back to score five in the bottom of the inning and then added seven more runs in the sixth to win 14-10 in the inaugural game of the Bluff Park Women’s Wiffle Ball League, which ran from the end of June to early August.
“This was so much fun,” Pitch Perfect captain Kim Barber said. “We’re typically the ones who are watching the kids play. Now it’s our turn, and it was a blast.”
The rise of women’s whiffle ball leagues in suburban Birmingham — there’s also one nearby in the Ross Bridge subdivision — might seem a little unusual to outsiders. But at its heart, leagues like this one are about finding community.
“I put up a post on Bluff Park United [the community’s Facebook group] to gauge interest in doing a whiffle ball league,” said Sherrie Roberts, who founded the league and captains the Peffercorns. “We communicate online a lot, but I thought this would be a great way for us to meet people, to interact with our living, breathing neighbors.”
Roberts found out she wasn’t the only one who craved that kind of camaraderie with her neighbors. When it came time to organize the league, there were enough women to field six teams with 15 players each. Overall, 96 women signed up.
With team names like Dunder-Wifflin’, Wifflin’ Dixie, Diamond Divas and eventual league champion Salty Pitches, it was easy to see that this league would be a lot of fun.
Roberts approached the Children’s Fresh Air Farm to host the games and got permission from Shades Crest Baptist Church for players and supporters to park across the street from the farm in the church parking lot. In a matter of weeks, the league was ready to start play.
“Whiffle ball is one of those things that you can do together as a team and just have fun,” Roberts said. “You can be competitive, but it’s also an activity where you can laugh and have a good time, too.”
And it was more than a good time for just the teams. More than 100 spectators came out for the first game, settling down in the shade of a line of trees in the rear of the outfield. Local merchants offered pizza and gelato for sale to attendees. It was everything Roberts hoped it would be.
“This is a great way to make Bluff Park come alive,” Roberts said. “It’s a great way to meet and interact with our neighbors.”
The league attracted players young and old, of varying skill levels. Some had played competitive softball. Some had never played at all. Using a blind draft, Roberts tried to distribute the talent as evenly as possible.
“I grew up playing in Montgomery,” Murray said. “I guess I started playing when I was about 4 years old.”
But no matter the skill level of the players, the league has been about building relationships within this mountaintop community.
“We moved to Bluff Park about two years ago,” said Summer Martinez, who played softball in high school. “We hadn’t really met many people here other than our immediate neighbors, so when I saw the post on Bluff Park United, I said ‘Sure!’ It’s a neat experience because you make all these new friends.”
Bluff Park’s top team, the Salty Pitches, battled the top team from Ross Bridge, the Pitchin’ Fits, for the Hoover Wiffle Crown on Aug. 18. Ross Bridge’s top team won 29-8, but the Bluff Park all-stars captured a 24-23 victory over the Ross Bridge all-stars.
The whiffle ball fever is spreading. Whiffle ball leagues also are forming in Riverchase and the Lake Wilborn subdivision in Trace Crossings. You can find the Bluff Park Women’s Wiffle Ball League, Riverchase Women’s Wiffle Ball League and Hamptons’ Wiffle Ball League (Ross Bridge men’s and women’s teams) on Facebook. Some require players to live in the community that has the league.