PEOPLE PLAY Games Softball combines camaraderie, competition

BY MARK MIJUSKOVIC

Blades of grass protrude from deep crevices along the concrete walkway leading to the softball fields at Liberty Park.

The yellowed outfield is reeling from a recent cold snap, begging for water and awaiting the warmth of the floodlights. The afternoon grounds crew has dragged life back into the dirt infields, the surfaces now a pristine burnt red and awaiting the arrival of players from the Brevard Senior Softball league, grown men who play in the dirt. It is impossible to separate the venue from the metaphor.

Eddie Hicks is 63 with a firm handshake and determined face. He is the pitcher for Tropical Siding. He participates in two leagues, including a travel league half-century division.

“There’s a lot of guys in this league who are on these tournament teams,” he said. “It’s a very competitive league, but it’s friendly. There’s a lot of us that go all the way back to little league.”

His eyes catch the floodlights as he talks of having a postgame adult beverage and reliving the glory days.

Hicks is pitching this mid-January night against CTS. He politely excuses himself, straightens out his ball cap and heads toward the field. The league features two divisions,

45-plus that plays Thursdays and 55plus that plays Mondays.

Former Melbourne High School Athletic Director Fred Keeney is 64 years old and began playing in the senior league when he was 50. His physique and rugged look belie his age and, in his retirement, he has turned his energy to serving as league chairman, handling player and team registrations and maintaining the website.

With bases only 60-feet apart, he sees softball’s greater speed of the game being its distinguishing factor from baseball. With the pitcher 45 feet away and lofting the ball at anywhere from a 6- to 10-foot arc, putting the ball in play is a given during any at-bat.

The league employs a five-run maximum rule for every inning except for the culminating seventh. If a team falls 15 or more runs behind by the end of the fifth inning, the game ends.

Keeney, who has played and traveled the country since he was 17, talks of a recent slow pitch resurgence.

“What I’m hearing is that with the younger kids, the 20 and 30 year olds down on Florida Avenue, it has really picked up. We’ve seen a good influx of young talent these past couple years. The great thing is we just want exposure.”

For more information on the Brevard Senior Softball League, go to SuperSeniorSoftball.com SL