REGION — For the second year in a row, it was Red Sox vs. Pink Sox for the Championship of the local U12 softball league. Runners-up in 2018 play, the Pink Sox came out on top this year, defeating the Red Sox 9 – 3. This year’s Championship was decided on the Spruce Mountain field in Jay, the home field of the Red Sox, who were seeded first at the end of the 2019 season. Coincidentally, the only games the Pink Sox lost during regular season play were against the Red Sox.

Other teams competing in the U12 (players age 12 and under) league this year were Farmington Panthers, Wilton Bombers, and New Sharon White Sox. 

Pink Sox players are from the various towns of MSAD 58. Their team came together in 2013 when Marc Keller, then the PE teacher at Mt. Abram Regional High School in Salem, expressed the need for a “feeder program” for girls’ softball. Up until then, there was the Mud Dogs tee-ball team and Little League, but nothing for girls wanting to play softball until they were in sixth grade and could play on the middle school teams. Some girls did play for the Mud Dogs, but few chose to continue on to Little League.

According to Frank Donald, one of the founders of this Franklin County girls’ softball league, the program was started 10 or 12 years ago with teams from Wilton, New Sharon, and Farmington. AYS (Area Youth Sports, Jay) and a Strong/Phillips area team joined a couple of years later.

“It used to be ages 9 – 2,” Donald explained, “but we broke it into a U8, U10, and U12 league, which was a good move.”

“One of the hardest things with the league is to get qualified people to ump,” he noted, “but teams mostly do the best they can.”

Shannon Monahan and Faith Collins coached the original Pink Sox team, which first competed in the U8 league, with players ranging in age from 6 – 8. As the years went by and the girls “aged out” of the youngest league, Pink Sox moved on to compete in U10 and U12. Shannon and Faith moved on with their players for the first five years. For the past two, John Sniadecki, Ian Shamp, and Justin Stinchfield have taken on that role. Hannah Stinchfield has also assisted the Pink Sox since the beginning, keeping the books and helping with practices.

Shannon pointed out that, currently, there is not a softball program for U14 (girls under the age of 14).

“There are people out there looking to start something,” she added, “but it gets tricky as the girls get into high school (because of summer teams, and so on).”

The only three girls from the original Pink Sox team sharing this year’s Championship victory are Riley Monahan, Adrianna Stinchfield, and Randi White.

“It’s been just amazing,” Shannon continued, “to watch the girls who have never played before go from not being able to pass or catch the ball to hitting home runs and striking out batters.”

In U8, coaches pitch to their own players and there’s a lot more leeway for these beginners. At the U10 level, the girls start pitching, which, Shannon says is “a big transition”.

“As the team progressed through the age brackets, other young ladies filled in behind those players and now the Pink Sox have 3 teams U-8, U-10, and U-12,” Coach John Sniadecki added, “However it’s a fragile balance which competes with baseball in the communities for funding, players, and even a field of their own. With the support of the local American Legion donating the field to the town and the hard work of volunteers who helped install a new back stop and fencing, and their dedication to various bottle drives to securing funding, we are able to ensure that our community will continue to have baseball and softball programs available.

“All these programs, are run completely by volunteers,” he pointed out, “A lot of time goes into sculpting great work ethics and team building that is done solely to benefit the young ladies and give them an opportunity to have equality in sports.

“It truly take a village to keep a program like this going,” he concluded.

Also stressing the importance of “supporting our female athletes”, Shannon added her expression of the team’s appreciation to the players’ parents and the coaches who organized and/or otherwise supported their various fundraising efforts to earn money for the previously listed projects. She recognized Franklin Savings Bank for their donation of a new scoreboard, Signworks for the new Legion Field sign up by the road, IEC, Sandy River Cash Fuel, and every one of their generous sponsors throughout the years, who, when asked if they might help out, said, “Just tell us what you need.”

Additionally, Shannon gave a huge shout out to Mike Pond of Strong for all the work he has done for the Pink Sox, including work on the reconstruction of their home field, the fencing, setting the posts for sponsors’ signs, and helping to recruit sponsors.