Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Senior Softball League rated a success

Joe Everson Correspondent

Spokane business owner Morris Clark has had some time on his hands since he retired seven years ago, but he didn’t want to spend it driving back and forth to north Idaho to play softball, his athletic passion of more than 40 years.

So instead of grumbling about the situation anymore, Clark decided last fall to do something about it. With two good friends and his nephew, he founded the Spokane Senior Softball League, which will wrap up its debut season in the next couple of weeks.

“For the last 12 or 13 years, I had to drive to Idaho to get into 45-over and 50-over leagues,” he said recently. “Well, when you’re on the road that much, you have time to talk, and one of the things we talked about was starting a league here in Spokane.

“It took all winter to do it, but we came up with 100 players and eight teams for this year, and I expect that might double by next season. I’ve already heard from two or three teams who want in.”

A newspaper article kicked off local interest in the league, Clark said, and after that news traveled by the grapevine and word of mouth. Clark either knows or has played with about a third of the players in the league.

“Probably two-thirds of our players are in their 50s, and a third in their 60s and 70s,” he said. “Our oldest player is 79.

“We play 20 games in 10 doubleheaders, running from May through July.”

The regular season ends next week, but the Spokane league is hosting a first-ever senior tournament at Franklin Park Aug. 12 and 13. Clark hopes for a field of 12 teams (10 are committed so far), including representatives from Wenatchee, Coeur d’Alene and the Tri-Cities.

Clark says he started playing softball four decades ago as a diversion from business concerns – “it gave me something to look forward to at the end of the day” – and during several seasons played 70 to 80 games a year, playing on as many as four teams. He’s played fastpitch, rec league (modified fastpitch) and slowpitch.

The Spokane league is slowpitch and has several safety modifications to accommodate the physical limitations that come with age.

Sliding into bases is not allowed, players are allowed to run past bases to avoid sudden stops, pinch-runners are permitted both from home plate and from the bases, and there is a home plate diversion area to avoid collisions.

“The safety changes take some getting used to for the guys who’ve played a lot,” Clark said, “but once they’ve played this way, they love it. We haven’t had a broken bone all season, just a few pulled hamstrings for anybody who still has hamstrings.”

He’s quick to point out that Wayne Wilson, Jeff Jordan and his nephew Bart share the credit for helping to put things together and that they’re all very satisfied with the results.

“Every week I have players thanking me, and we’ve had calls during the season from guys who hadn’t heard about it before. We’ve been able to place most of them on a team,” Clark said.