Senior softball gives Lowcountry men a reason to keep moving
By Jenny Peterson
The ball flies into the outfield with a crack, impressive for any hitter, and even more so considering the age of the batter who hit it — 79 years old.
At a weekly practice before the season, cheers, good-natured teasing and encouragement carry across to the field from the dugout. Someone compliments the hit. Someone else jokes with a teammate.
Bats are slung over shoulders, gloves are adjusted and players greet one another as the old friends they are, bonded by years of being part of the same game.
For the men of the Low Country Senior Softball Association, this is exercise, yes, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like a workout.
Here on the diamond, where balls fly over the terra cotta colored infield, time is measured by seasons — and, for some players, by the number of colorful team shirts they’ve collected over the past two decades.
“I was 53 years old when I started playing in this league, and I’m 68 now,” said one player.
Butch DaCosta, who will turn 80 in April, has played in the league for more than 20 years, from his days working as an EMS nurse through retirement. As he walks onto the field, he gives a fist bump to each person he greets, many of them his former coaches.
“I’ve had two knee replacements, rotator cuff surgeries; you just got to keep moving,” DaCosta said.
A League Built to Keep Players Moving
The Low Country Senior Softball Association began in 1998 as the “Over 50 League,” with four teams playing in Mount Pleasant. It has since grown into a community of around 250 players across morning and evening leagues who practice and play at the Hanahan Recreational Complex.
Fortunately, many of the league’s founders are still here, and still playing. Among them is one of the league’s founders, Willie Brown, 81, a local celebrity who played professionally in the Montreal Expos organization — and can still hit.
Duffie Stone, another founder, is 89 years old and still a formidable pitcher and hitter. According to his teammates, he is a game-time player who doesn’t need much practice.
Today, the league includes four teams in the competitive younger player nighttime American League, six teams in the nighttime National League and eight teams in the morning league, made up predominantly of retirees who have the luxury of spending a weekday morning on the ballfield.
Leading up to the fall season, which runs from Aug. 24 until early November, players took to the field for practice twice a week at 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays amd Saturdays, despite temperatures climbing above 90 degrees.
Every player was greeted by name by one of the long-timers with a “how ya doing?” and often, an inside joke.
Soon, the practice field filled with deceptively young-looking men catching popups, sending balls flying and chasing them across the field.
“Not bad for a 68-year-old,” laughs Richard “Nick” Nickless after his outfield hit.
Over the years, the league has opened up to younger players, 48 years and up, mainly to accommodate those looking for a more competitive game.
But, no matter the age, the objective remains remarkably simple: Get out of the house, move, compete, laugh, and, most importantly, keep playing for as long as you can.
“We want it to be enjoyable for guys to come out here,” said Stanley Cox, president of the league. “Sometimes guys will bring their grandsons or sons. We let them practice with us.”
Adapting Softball for Safety and Longevity
While there is running to first base, chasing fly balls, swinging a bat, throwing, catching and moving around the infield, the league has adapted the game to account for the realities of aging.
Players aren’t expected to perform like 20-year-olds, although many hit the ball like they are. Safety bases are used at first and home plate to avoid collisions.
Any hit where the ball falls on a strip of grass between the infield and outfield is an automatic first base, preventing a player from being thrown out because of a slower running speed.
Catchers don’t squat behind the plate, and players aren’t allowed to wear cleats, opting instead for more supportive athletic shoes.
Pitchers are protected by a net, a change prompted by an injury in which a player was struck by a ricocheted ball and developed a blood clot. Games generally have a time limit of 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Cox, 66, has played in the league since 2014 and has served as president for four years. He knows firsthand that staying active doesn’t mean avoiding every ache, surgery or setback.
The men talk openly about those realities and often learn from one another.
“Last year, there was a run on players having knee replacements, before that, it was shoulders,” Cox said.
Prostate health has also become a topic among the players, with several men having gone through prostate-related issues.
“Doctors talk to you, but you get to talk to people who have been through it,” said Todd Kidd, the league secretary. “Where I won’t be judged, they’ll shoot it to me straight.”
Those conversations offer something different: the perspective of someone who has already walked the same path. They can also make it easier to talk about issues men might otherwise avoid, and these conversations can naturally end when it’s someone’s turn to bat.
Competition, Community and Brotherhood
Ask the players why they keep coming back, and the answer quickly goes beyond the game.
“Good times, good fellowship and everyone gets to play,” Cox said.
That may be the reason the league has lasted nearly three decades. It’s seeing friends. Lunch after practice, often at LG’s Bar and Grill, which sponsors both a morning and evening team. It’s the jokes between innings and the familiar faces that have been part of their lives for years.
Some players have known one another for a decade or more.
Retired nurses, tradesmen, military veterans, chefs and others from a range of professions take the field together.
Ray Moake has been in the league for 25 years and now organizes the league practices.
“I always loved the game so much. I got into the league because I had a good friend who worked at the paper mill, and told him ‘I want to play, I want to play,’ and he said, ‘Ray, when you turn 50, I’ll you can play,’” Moake said. “Back then, 50 was the age limit.”
Here, everyone plays.
Players are generally expected to spend several innings in the field, while coaches work to make sure everyone gets opportunities to bat. There are no “permanent benchwarmers.”
“The mental aspect as we grow older is just as important as the physical,” Cox said. “To get up and get going and move and be around like-minded people with a common goal — we all like to play softball and we like the brotherhood.”
He has watched players reach the point where they can no longer play competitively. Rather than disappearing from the league, some continue participating by coaching bases, keeping score or helping in other ways. Any league member that has been playing at least 10 years can be considered for the league’s hall of fame.
The league uses a draft system to balance teams and give new players a chance to find a place. Practices are open to those who wants to try it out, allowing newcomers to get a feel for different positions before the season begins.
Many players discover the league through friends, Facebook, word of mouth or simply talking to someone already playing.
After games, the group sometimes gathers for prayer.
The relationships extend beyond the diamond.
Teammates have become the people they call when they need advice, encouragement or simply want to hang out on the weekend. The league offers a ready-made social circle at a stage of life when routines can change and retirement can leave people with more free time than they expected.
“Some people are just needing to get out the house,” one 15-year player noted. “Many people joined the league to play softball, and now they’ve got 120 new friends.”
But don’t mistake the laughter and laid-back atmosphere for a lack of competition.
There are competitive divisions and travel teams, and skilled players participate in tournaments throughout the Southeast. Teams have traveled to Myrtle Beach, Jacksonville, Sanford, Tampa, Charlotte, Georgia and Tennessee in pursuit of tournament glory and championship trophies.
But even within that environment, there is an understanding that the larger value of the league isn’t measured by wins and losses.
It’s that there is a team that needs you in the lineup.
On a hot Tuesday morning, more than 40 players took the field. They were working their legs without counting steps. They were practicing coordination without calling it balance training. They were strengthening their arms and their social connections without calling it a wellness strategy.
Sure, there are occasional injuries and reminders that bodies don’t recover the way they once did. But there is also a 79-year-old batter running to first. There is an 89-year-old pitcher still taking the mound.
And there is the sound that brings everyone back: the crack of the bat, followed by cheers.
The rules may change and the teams may change, but these players keep showing up.
For more information or to sign up, visit www.lowcountryseniorsoftball.com.
