June 8, 1943

Rockford Register-Republic

Kenosha Comets Open Series at 15th Avenue Stadium Tonight

Rockford and S. Bend Divide

Rockford Girls Lose Windup After Taking Opening Game, 5-4

By Dick Day
(Register-Republic Sports Editor)

Unable to lift themselves above the .500 level in the percentage column since their recent four-game winning streak was snapped just before their return to the home ball yard, Rockford's Peaches make another bid to regain lost ground tonight when they open a series with Josh Billing's Comets from Kenosha at the 15th avenue stadium here.

Winners of five out of eleven games and down towards the bottom of the standings in the All-American Girls softball league, the Rockford Peaches hope to use the Kenosha series as a stepping stone to front rank position. They won two out of three from Kenosha in an appearance there last week and, due to the tightness of the league race, are only one game out of first place right now.

They might have been even nearer the top today but for a bad second inning last night in the windup of a double-header here with South Bend. The Rockford girls won the opener, 5-4, but after yielding 5 runs to the Blue Sox in the second canto of the afterpiece, never recovered their poise and ended up on the short end of a 12-2 count.

Outfield Star

The green-clad Comets are likely to give the Peaches some trouble with their comeback plans tonight, too, for Billings, the old Cleveland and Detroit catcher and former farm manager for the Giants, has assembled a slick aggregation at Kenosha.

One of the real "stars" of the Comet lineup is the smallest girl in the league, Center Fielder Shirley Jameson of Maywood, daughter of Tuffy Jameson, former Western league and St. Louis Browns hired hand. Shirley already is rated as the best outfielder in the league, size notwithstanding.

Ann Hartnett of Chicago is one of the league's top third base guardians, and in Elsie Harney of Jacksonville, the Comets have a fast-ball pitcher of real merit.

Peters Starts Tonight

Eddie Stumpf, the Rockford manager, will lead off with one of his topflight twirlers tonight when the Kenosha series starts, having given the nod today to Marjorie Peters. The Peaches, however, will be without the services of one of their regular outfielders, Dorothy Kamenshek. Dotty left for her home in Cincinnati today to get her high school diploma and will rejoin the team at South Bend on Saturday. Stumpf also announced the release of Rella Swamp, infielder from Milwaukee.

The opening game of last night's twin bill with South Bend gave Olive Little, the Canadian pitcher, a chance to make her debut to home town fans in style, and she set the Blue Sox down with a pair of hits.

The Rockford girls scored twice in the opening frame, Betty Jane Fritz slashing a single to right field to bring home Eileen Burmeister and Mildred Warwick. They picked up another in the third inning, Gladys Davis scoring on Fritz's infield out, after having been given free passage to first and advanced by means of a walk and a stolen base.

Score Two in Fifth

Warwick singled and Davis walked to open the fifth and both scored on Lois Florreich's error in handling Ethel McCreary's tap. South Bend scored one run in the fifth without benefit of a hit, and three more in the sixth with the aid of two hits, a walk, a hit batsman and a passed ball. The first game was a seven-inning affair.

The South Bend team batted around in the second inning of the afterpiece when a pair of hits and four Rockford errors gave them a total of five runs. Rockford got one run back in the second frame, Davis again scoring, this time on McCreary's infield out. A walk two infield singles and a couple of rollers gave South Bend three more runs in the third inning. Davis scored again for Rockford in the fourth on Fritz's fly to right field after having reached first by the error route, but South Bend pushed two more runs across in the fifth and tallied one more in the eighth before quitting for the evening.

Clara Cook, the Rockford southpaw, was relieved in the ninth after having yielded six hits and being made the victim of bobbies behind her. Doris Barr, the South Bend southpaw, went the route.

Tonight's game starts at 7:30. Last night's box scores:

FIRST GAME
South Bend (4)				Rockford (5)
	AB	R	H		AB	R	H
Wilson lf	4	0	0	Jackson lf	4	0	1
Stefani 2b	3	0	0	Burmeister 2b	3	1	1
Floreich 3b	4	0	0	Warwick 3b	2	2	1
Hageman 1b	2	1	0	Kamenshek cf	2	0	0
D'Angelo cf	3	1	1	Fritz rf	3	0	1
MacLean c	2	2	0	McCreary	3	0	0
Jochum lf	3	0	1	Green c	3	0	0
Schroeder ss	1	0	0	Little p	3	0	0
McPadden p	2	0	0
Coben p	0	0	0
Barr x	1	0	0
Totals	25	4	2	Totals	25	5	4
x - batted for McPadden in 6th.
Score By Innings
South Bend ................. 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 - 4
Rockford ..................... 2 0 1   0 2 0   x - 5
Summary
Errors: Floreich 2, Davis 1.
Stolen bases - Stefani, Schroeder 2, McPadden, Jackson, Davis, Fritz.
Struck out by Little 7.
Bases on balls - Little 3, McPadden 6.
Hits off-McPadden 4.
Umpires - Ullenberg and Porter.
Double plays: Floerreich to Stefani, Tronnier to Hagemann, D'Angelo to Schroeder, Davis to McCreary.
Stolen base: Hageman.
Hits off Coben 7 in 7 2-3 innings.
Umpires: Ellenberg and Porter.

SECOND GAME
South Bend (12)				Rockford (2)
	AB	R	H		AB	R	H
Jochum lf	5	0	0	Jackson lf	4	0	1
Stefani 2b	5	1	0	Burmeister c	1	0	0
Floreich 3b	5	0	0	Green c	2	0	0
Hageman 1b	4	0	1	Nelson c	1	0	0
D'Angelo cf	4	3	3	Warwick 3b	4	0	0
Baker c	5	2	2	Davis ss	3	2	2
Barr p	4	3	0	Kamenshek cf-1b	3	0	1
Schroeder ss	5	2	1	Fritz rf	4	0	0
Tronnier rf	5	1	0	McCreary 1b	3	0	1
				Sawyer cf	1	0	0
				Wuetrich 2b	4	0	1
				Cook p	3	0	0
				Skokan p	1	0	1
Totals	42	12	7	Totals	34	2	6
Score By Innings
South Bend ................. 0 5 3 0 3 0 0 1 0 - 12
Rockford ..................... 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 2
Summary
Errors: Rockford 6, South Bend 1.
Two base hits - Baker, Schroeder.
Left on base - by South Bend, 5; by Rockford, 6.
Hit by pitcher - Cook 1.
Bases on balls - Cook 2, Barr 3.
Struck out - Cook 2, Skokan 1, Barr 3.
Hits - Cook 5 in 8 innings.