WESTBOROUGH – After more than a decade’s absence, women’s softball has returned to Westborough as part of a league with teams from a number of area communities.
Westborough has three teams in the 2022 Central Mass. Recreation Women’s Slow Pitch Softball League, which also includes two teams each from Grafton, Southborough and Hudson. Northborough has three teams.
“There’s a little bit of friendly competition, but it’s just really a bunch of women out there having fun,” Westborough Recreation Director Jenn Kirkland said in a recent interview with the Community Advocate. “There’s a good sense of community.”
League rekindles softball tradition
Kirkland said that Westborough previously had a long history of women’s softball. The program had fizzled out, though, due to a lack of enrollment.
Years later, Northborough Recreation Director Allie Lane had the idea of forming a league with teams from different towns to ensure that programs would have enough support.
That idea garnered backing across communities, drumming up excitement in Northborough, Westborough and beyond.
In Northborough, in particular, registration for three available teams filled in 24 hours.
“I’m pretty psyched,” Lane said earlier this year.
Speaking amid the league’s first season this month, Kirkland said that games had a great, fun atmosphere and provided an opportunity for players to meet new people.
“I think, if we can sustain that kind of attitude, we’ll be able to keep this going,” she said.
Games prompt positive reaction
Kirkland said that the reaction so far has been positive, with many people who remembered the old women’s softball league in Westborough happy to see the sport return.
Others are getting a new opportunity in this sport through these new games.
Elena Moskal, one such Westborough player, said that she decided to join the team after seeing a post about it on Facebook.
Moskal said that she had not batted a ball since fifth grade gym class, and that she had never been on a team before.
“I thought this would be a great chance for me to get to know more people and to experience the joy of a team,” Moskal said.
Moskal said that the experience had been very rewarding so far, saying that she had surprised herself with her athletic skill.
Moskal said she would definitely return in the future, adding that she is looking forward to next year.
“I think a lot of it has been seeing the different women support each other,” Moskal said. “We have women in our fifties, we have women in our thirties, the skill level is very varied.”
Jocelyn Ascenzi, another Westborough player, said that the league has a nostalgic quality for her.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It brings you back to your youth and that’s a good feeling.”
League wrapping up first season
The league is currently wrapping up its first season, which began on April 24 to run through June 12.
There will be a break during Memorial Day weekend.
All games are at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Sundays, with Westborough home games held at Haskell Field.
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