This is the third year of an annual softball game between the “Amish All-Stars” and the Sarasota Seniors in the Pinecraft community in Florida. The Amish All-Star team is, you guessed it, comprised of Amish ballplayers. The Sarasota Seniors are local non-Amish folks.
Photos: Thomas Bender/Herald-Tribune
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported on the event, which drew over 500 spectators:
SARASOTA – An all-ages crowd jammed the Softball Showdown between the aging Amish All Stars and the Sarasota Seniors Wednesday morning, in what’s turning out to be an annual event at 17th Street Park. But winners and losers were apparently a secondary consideration as this convivial clash of cultures split their doubleheader.
“What’s the score? Does anybody know what the score is?” asked a straw-hatted man in suspenders parked on a motorized tricycle along the right-field line during the seven-inning-long opener.
“Nine to 4 or 5,” replied another. “I think.”
“What inning is it?”
For the record, the Ohio Amish topped the 55-and-older Sarasota Seniors 19-10 in Game One, but the Seniors rebounded to beat the Pennsylvania Amish 21-13 in the nightcap. But clearly, the scores weren’t as important as the weather and the vibe.
So that detail suggests the Amish side were actually fielding two teams – with ballplayers from Ohio on one and Pennsylvania on the other. These are Pinecraft’s busiest months so I expect there was little problem finding enough players.
The Herald-Tribune also published a ton of excellent photos – 61 total. Here you see a few of them, all by Thomas Bender for the paper.
View from behind home plate.
Making contact.
These next two are part of sequence of several shots, probably my favorite:
Safe or out?
Scoring a run.
It looks like a lot of fun was had. The report also includes a bit of COVID commentary, which I expect will accompany most stories on public events for a while to come. Long story short, the writer observed hardly any masks.
View the rest of the photos here (or at the gallery at the top story link). We regularly see Amish children playing softball, likely the most popular Amish schoolyard game. It’s nice to see the older folks having some fun at it too.
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i know that one of my facebook friends was in pinecraft the past week it seems like a good game was had by all
Among The best
Baseball, softball, call it what you will, is played by all Amish. Young Amish kids start out playing ball at about six – and even earlier if the younger ones have siblings in school. Boys and girls in school, I find are equal in ability at the game; the girls unhampered by their long dresses. I’ve sat through many games watching in fascination the ability with which they’re endowed. Asked if I’d like to hit a couple of balls, more than once, I’ve declined with the excuse of my 86 years on this earth being too many for me to even try. The real reason being that I know that I can’t hit a ball as far as any of the young girls and I wouldn’t enjoy being laughed at. Knowing that baseball is the Amish favorite sport, I’m always on the look-out for balls and bats at yard and garage sales that I can donate to Amish schools.
Neat to hear that you’ve had that chance Kenneth. And despite what we might think, there are some competitors out there on Amish ballfields:)
An Amish-English Softball Game in Pinecraft (61 Photos)
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