Senior women find joy on the softball field: Meet the Colorado Peaches

She swings and she’s off. At a ballpark outside Denver, nonagenarian Magdalena McCloskey sprints toward first base.  

“The more I ask of my body, the more it gives,” says the slugger in an orange beanie. 

“Maggie,” as she’s known on the field, is a longtime member of the Colorado Peaches. The softball club welcomes women players from their 50s through 90s, though the number that counts is the one on their back. That’s because the Peaches find joy – together as teammates – in the later innings of life. 

“We all think we’re in middle school,” says 70-something Midge Kral in her green and white uniform. “We don’t think about age – we don’t. You just think about how wonderful you are.”  

In competitions, the women split up according to age categories, but they practice together. On this final Tuesday of the month, they’re scrimmaging. Typically, players are divided into Turnovers vs. Schnapps, but today for the last game of the season, held at a park in Lakewood, Colorado, it’s the Tricks vs. Treats in honor of Halloween. Before warmup, Ms. McCloskey helps decorate a dugout with fake cobwebs. 

“Is this too much?” asks practice coach Suzy Ando in a freakish, baby-like mask. A teammate giggles. 

Joy is the point. The Peaches cheer as teammates round the bases and send the neon yellow ball arcing toward the clouds. They also call out encouragement when a swing is botched.

“YEAH, baby, GO! Yeah! Yeah!” yells Ms. Kral, a former school librarian, to a Tricks teammate up at bat. 

Many older U.S. adults are, of course, swimming, cycling, pickleballing their way through retirement – and many compete. The National Senior Games Association reports that this year saw the second largest turnout for its National Senior Games with just over 12,000 athletes. Were it not for the pandemic, the 2022 games, which were delayed a year, could have been record setting, says NSGA spokesperson Del Moon.

“I can say from surveys and direct interviews with athletes that their passion for athletics was increased if anything,” writes Mr. Moon in an email. “They were angry and frustrated that tracks and pools and gyms were closed and most could not wait to ‘get back into the game.’”

Initiated by former physical education teacher Chloe Childers, the Peaches formed and began competing nationally in the ’90s – and won medals. This month, the oldest players received an honorary gold medal at the Huntsman World Senior Games in Utah for creating its first 79+ age bracket in women’s softball. (With no other teams old enough to challenge them, the Peaches ended up competing against younger players – and won one out of five games.)

“We’ve always had people from other states ask if they could join our team, because we always had so much fun,” says Ms. Childers by phone from her home in Greeley, Colorado. 

She’s among Peaches who graduated college before Title IX became law in 1972 to correct sex discrimination in schools. They’ve made up for lost time.

And why name the team after fruit?

“We’ve got the best peaches in the whole country!” she laughs.

Not even the pandemic could foul their plans – they simply practiced in masks. The group is roughly 35 to 45 women (some of whom live in other states). Membership has evolved over time, and the group is in the process of restructuring.

Ms. Childers, who used to play center field “because I was the fastest runner,” has retired her glove. But daughter Christy Childers says her mom still rules at table tennis with a killer backhand.

At the Tuesday game, fans behind the chain-link fence include some from Hilltop Reserve Senior Living Community in Denver, here for fellow resident Barb Johnson. She’s a recent recruit in her 80s known on the field as “Mom.” Nicknames are one expression of the togetherness that keeps the Peaches coming back – beyond the pursuit of mastering pop fly balls.

Take Dora Haynes, who joined this spring. Since moving to Colorado from Texas five years ago to be near her grandson, “I guess I’ve kind of felt a little isolated,” she says. “I’ve been learning how to be a grandparent for those five years, and kind of put myself on the back burner. So this definitely brought me out.”

Husband Ed Haynes has witnessed her transformation from his bleacher seat.

“Every week she looks forward to getting with these ladies,” he says. “Now she’s got a big family.”

The camaraderie has also moved Laura Clemons, who lost her husband in 2018. “This gives me an out to, you know, not think about that,” says the athlete. 

For others, participation is a personal triumph.

“I went through cancer, and they were still here when I came back. I didn’t know if I could crawl out of my home, but I have, and this team’s meant everything to me,” says Sue Stantejsky. Here she’s called “Red Sue,” because she used to have red hair.

In the end, her team, the Tricks, beat the Treats 2-0. All players high-five in a show of good sportswomanship. Then they pass around print editions of the Greeley Tribune, which recently featured the group, and buckets of Halloween candy. Ms. Kral trades her baseball cap for a headband of cat ears. 

How will she spend the offseason? 

Winter conditioning, says Ms. Kral. So she can come back and hit it “out of the park.”