Bowling Green State University Athletics
Title IX: A Look Back at Softball
December 01, 2022 | General, Softball
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, BGSU athletics is taking a look at the history of women's sports throughout the years. The information in this series was lifted from the book 'Forward Falcons: Women's Sports at Bowling Green State University' written by Janet B. Parks, Ann Bowers, and Adelia Hostetler Muti. Forward Falcons documents and preserves the history of Bowling Green State University women's sports from 1914 through 1982. During these pre-NCAA years, women coached most of the teams, and organizations composed primarily of women set the program standards.
To read the entire book, you can go to: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bgsu_books/3/
This series will also include some of our Heritage Sports and current teams.
Softball
Softball has been popular among BGSU women for many decades. Before the women played softball, though, they played both indoor and outdoor baseball. Women began playing both versions of baseball in physical education classes at least as early as 1924. Indoor baseball, which was typically played with a large "mushy" ball, no gloves, and bases that were only 27 feet apart, was a winter sport played in the gymnasium. In the fall and spring, the physical education classes engaged in the outdoor version of baseball, which would not have been unusual for college women of those years. BG women played baseball until the mid-1940s, when "softball" began to be mentioned in the yearbook. By the 1960s, softball had become the name of the game at Bowling Green.
In the early 1950s, the on-campus enthusiasm for softball was extended into the community when physical educator Dorothy Fornia started a girls softball team in Bowling Green. The first extramural softball team at the University was formed in 1965, when Pat Peterson, who was playing on a summer league faculty/student softball team. In 1966, Coach Peterson took the helm of the varsity basketball team, and Dolores Black began to coach the softball team in the fastpitch version of the game. Black was instrumental in persuading the University grounds crew to build a softball diamond, complete with a sand infield and a backstop, at the corner of North College Drive and East Reed Street. In Black's first year, the Falcons won all three of their games, a highlight being a 22-7 defeat of Michigan State at East Lansing. After the 1969 season, Black left softball to fill the golf coaching vacancy that had been created upon the resignation of Coach Penny Boussoulas. Sue Hager then assumed the softball coaching responsibilities.
Janet Donahue succeeded Hager as the coach of the intercollegiate softball team for the 1971-72 year. When Donahue left Bowling Green after the 1972 season, the softball team was discontinued because no one on the faculty was available to coach. In the fall of 1977, fastpitch softball was revived at BG when Coach Sally Hattig sent out a call for try-outs. Over 100 women signed up, and they began practicing in mid-January of 1978. Hattig selected a 17-member team from the nearly 85 final candidates. The Falcons opened their first season in a game against Indiana State at the softball field northeast of the Ice Arena. Although supported by the BGSU department of athletics, the players had to purchase their own uniforms.
In 1978, former Falcon athlete Kathy Bole was hired to coach both softball and basketball. In 1980, Bole vacated her softball coaching position to focus on coaching basketball. In so doing, she became BG's first full-time, female coach of a single intercollegiate sport.
The 1982 season opened with 13 returning letter winners and 2 new pitchers. Head Coach Sandy Haines' optimism was well-founded as the 1982 Falcons posted a 28-19-1 showing, the best in the history of the program. Their performance earned a berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament, where they lost in the finals to the number one seed, California State-Fullerton. When Haines left BG the following year, her overall winning percentage of .557 (57-45-3) was the highest achieved by any coach since the re-emergence of the softball program in 1977. As of 2010, Haines' record remained unequaled.
To read the entire book, you can go to: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bgsu_books/3/
This series will also include some of our Heritage Sports and current teams.
Softball
Softball has been popular among BGSU women for many decades. Before the women played softball, though, they played both indoor and outdoor baseball. Women began playing both versions of baseball in physical education classes at least as early as 1924. Indoor baseball, which was typically played with a large "mushy" ball, no gloves, and bases that were only 27 feet apart, was a winter sport played in the gymnasium. In the fall and spring, the physical education classes engaged in the outdoor version of baseball, which would not have been unusual for college women of those years. BG women played baseball until the mid-1940s, when "softball" began to be mentioned in the yearbook. By the 1960s, softball had become the name of the game at Bowling Green.
In the early 1950s, the on-campus enthusiasm for softball was extended into the community when physical educator Dorothy Fornia started a girls softball team in Bowling Green. The first extramural softball team at the University was formed in 1965, when Pat Peterson, who was playing on a summer league faculty/student softball team. In 1966, Coach Peterson took the helm of the varsity basketball team, and Dolores Black began to coach the softball team in the fastpitch version of the game. Black was instrumental in persuading the University grounds crew to build a softball diamond, complete with a sand infield and a backstop, at the corner of North College Drive and East Reed Street. In Black's first year, the Falcons won all three of their games, a highlight being a 22-7 defeat of Michigan State at East Lansing. After the 1969 season, Black left softball to fill the golf coaching vacancy that had been created upon the resignation of Coach Penny Boussoulas. Sue Hager then assumed the softball coaching responsibilities.
Janet Donahue succeeded Hager as the coach of the intercollegiate softball team for the 1971-72 year. When Donahue left Bowling Green after the 1972 season, the softball team was discontinued because no one on the faculty was available to coach. In the fall of 1977, fastpitch softball was revived at BG when Coach Sally Hattig sent out a call for try-outs. Over 100 women signed up, and they began practicing in mid-January of 1978. Hattig selected a 17-member team from the nearly 85 final candidates. The Falcons opened their first season in a game against Indiana State at the softball field northeast of the Ice Arena. Although supported by the BGSU department of athletics, the players had to purchase their own uniforms.
In 1978, former Falcon athlete Kathy Bole was hired to coach both softball and basketball. In 1980, Bole vacated her softball coaching position to focus on coaching basketball. In so doing, she became BG's first full-time, female coach of a single intercollegiate sport.
The 1982 season opened with 13 returning letter winners and 2 new pitchers. Head Coach Sandy Haines' optimism was well-founded as the 1982 Falcons posted a 28-19-1 showing, the best in the history of the program. Their performance earned a berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament, where they lost in the finals to the number one seed, California State-Fullerton. When Haines left BG the following year, her overall winning percentage of .557 (57-45-3) was the highest achieved by any coach since the re-emergence of the softball program in 1977. As of 2010, Haines' record remained unequaled.
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