Overview:
The Coronado News checked out the New Coast Senior Softball League (NCSSL), which connects seniors to community and exercise, at their Thursday morning games.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh resounds from the dugout. A player in a blue t-shirt sweeps the cement floor of dust and dirt.
Well-loved, chipped bats lean on the fence by home plate. Cones mark the outfield.
The soft thud of a softball landing in a glove lilts on the slight breeze in Coronado Tidelands Park. Chuckles and banter set the scene as knee braces are slipped on.
It’s about 9:30 a.m. and it’s almost game time.
Four teams are slated to play on the two fields: red versus blue and green versus gold. The first pitch will be thrown at 10 a.m. There are about 50 people spread out across the teams, all of them age 55-plus.
“I need water and oxygen,” one teammate calls out on the field. Laughter, in agreement, can be heard from the dugout.
While the pace of play might be a bit slower than when they were in little league, the passion and teamwork shines through.
“This is a noncompetitive league,” John Meyers, a member of the green team and leader of recruitment, explained. “We don’t keep standings, but that doesn’t mean we’re not competitive.”
While many started playing softball in retirement, this hobby is simply a continuation of the athleticism many players exhibited throughout their lives.
Take Frank Lincavage on the red team and president of the NCSSL, for example. He’s been playing with the senior softball league since 2011 but learned to play baseball many years before.
“I played little league up at Cadman fields,” Lincavage said, referring to the San Diego ballpark. “Some of the other guys around here played with me back in the ‘60s.”
Likewise, Troy Chang, who also grew up in San Diego, has played softball her whole life.
“I play five days a week now that I’m retired,” Chang said. “I’ve never stopped playing softball.”
Chang plays softball with a handful of teams (including the red team in Coronado). She’s also the red team manager, which means she sets the lineup each Thursday.
“I figure out who I have,” Chang said. “I have a spreadsheet. Whoever is not there, I color code them out, so I’m ready to go.”
For others, game-day preparation looks different. Meyers, for example, volunteers his time to set up the field. He said he connects with other players through the time spent together before the first pitch is even thrown.
“I’ve always been the kind of person who likes to do volunteer work plus it’s good exercise,” Meyers said. “Dave [Surh] and I have become very close because we both set the fields up here and on Tuesday.”
Competition and community
Many players spend their time on a softball field multiple days a week with other teams and leagues.
But the reason Paul Kotas, a player on the gold team, continues to play in this league is community (banter and all).
“We’re all leftover athletes,” Kotas said. “We’re competitive and stuff, so we come out and try to win and keep in shape. But mostly, it’s about the banter in the dugout.”
Kotas started playing softball with this league when his dad was still a part of it.
“That’s how I started coming out,” Kotas said. “They made a special rule for me because I wasn’t old enough when I first started.”
Bill Salonius, a manager and player on the green team, was standing next to him when he shared this story. Salonius quipped with a grin, “That was our first mistake. ”
Chuckles float through the group. A competitive edge and tough skin to put up with the banter are required to make it in the league, but as Kotas added, “all good company.”
Play ball
The first pitch is thrown and the green and gold rivalry begins. On the adjacent field, the red and blue teams are in play too.
“Ball one,” the umpire calls.
Early in the game, Kotas hit the ball to the outfield.
Crack
Kotas tosses his bat to the side and takes off. He makes it to first base with ease, but the umpire calls time before he can round to second. He stays at first.
“I called time. I called time,” the umpire calls out. The next batter steps up.
The rules of softball here are a bit different. Each team gets a max of five runs per inning and unlimited runs in the final inning. The goal is to keep the game moving and to level the playing field.
While the league has been around for quite some time, Meyers explained it’s not always easy to find new teammates to join the league.
“I think it’s harder,” Meyers said. “The whole volunteerism thing and people having freetime, it’s gotten harder and harder for people. But, I would say our success rate, if we get people out here, 90% of them stay, unless they get injured when they first get out here.”
The secret, he said, to staying fit and healthy: keep at it every week
“That’s the secret we’re looking for,” one teammate chuckled.
Meyers said the other thing that makes the league special is the reminiscent experience of playing as a kid.
“When we used to play as kids, people used to just grab a bat and ball and play in the morning. If your parents see you by dinner time, you were lucky,” Meyers said. “It’s just a different way of life and you sort of grew up that way. That’s part of the reason why we feel like continuing that spirit of going out and playing together as a group.”
Whether in their late 50s or clearing mid 80s, there’s a range of ages on the field working hard to catch the pop fly or hit the desired homerun.
In the second inning of the green and gold game, there was a bit of comedic chase between second and third base and even a home run scored by the gold team.
Rounding home base, a teammate yelled, “Man, you whacked that one!”
While the competitive energy and desire to win is felt across the board, at the end of the game, all of that gets swept out of the dugout, according to David Surh, who plays on the gold team.
“Most of us don’t even know the score at the end of the game,” Surh said. “We just enjoy being here and [having camaraderie] with the other team. That’s the bottom line.”
The New Coast Senior Softball League (NCSSL) plays every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Coronado Tidelands Park, located at 2000 Mullinex Drive. The annual membership fee is $80 for all players. They will still accept new players after the membership deadline passes.
Meyers said bats and gloves are available to borrow to try out if you’re new and don’t have gear.
To learn more about the NCSSL, visit https://www.ncssl.org/home.
