Senior softballers play for fun and fitness

May 6—HIGH POINT — on't let the High Point Recliners' ages — or their laid-back name — fool you. They may be Recliners, but they're not lazy boys.

Even with a roster full of grandfathers, ranging in age from late 60s to late 70s, the Recliners — High Point's team in the Piedmont Senior Softball League — still have a little pep in their step when they take the field.

"We're a bunch of old bones with teenage minds," said 76-year-old High Point native David Mitchell. "Most of us grew up playing Little League baseball at Armstrong Park or somewhere like that, and then the ones that didn't go on to play college baseball started playing softball."

Many of them played in industrial leagues — fast-pitch, slow-pitch, wherever they could latch on with a team — until they began to age out, typically in their 40s or early 50s. Then, after a hiatus of a decade or two, they heard about senior softball and decided to see if they still had what it takes.

"I hadn't played organized ball in 25 years," recalled 71-year-old Dan Shafer, of High Point, who's playing his first season of senior softball. "It scared the crap out of me. At first you're wondering if you can do it, and then you get to the point that you start thinking, well, if these guys can do it, I can do it."

The Recliners, sponsored by East Coast Autowerks, are one of six teams in the Piedmont Senior Softball League, which kicks off a new season today at City Fields in Asheboro. Every other Saturday through October, each team — High Point, Albemarle, Forsyth County, Pinehurst, Randleman and Salisbury — will play a doubleheader.

High Point's team name, the Recliners, is an obvious but clever play on the name of the city's minor-league baseball team, the High Point Rockers. Make no mistake, though — these guys are not the High Point Rockers, but they're not ready for their rockers, either.

"They want to compete," said 80-year-old Ed Hester, who played for the Recliners last year and still practices with the team. "It's laid-back until they cross that line out there, and then it's war. They're teenagers again ... until someone pulls a muscle."

That's a fair point. Unlike the youthful Rockers, the Recliners' goal is not so much to end up in the major leagues as it is to not end up in the emergency room.

"You've just got to be real careful," Hester said. "Once you start running, your brain tells you, 'Give me only 80%,' but your muscles will say, 'Go, go, go, go, go!' And then, bam!"

During a recent practice at Myers Park in Thomasville, the Recliners took batting and fielding practice, but it was clear that taking good-natured jabs at one another is also part of their routine.

For example, when a ground ball got by Danny Loggins at third base, a teammate teasingly shouted, "Danny, why didn't you get that?"

Without hesitation, Loggins shot back, "Because I'm old and slow ... and this is practice."

A few minutes later, a line drive zipped over Loggins' head.

"Aw, man," he moaned, "I didn't know I was gonna have to jump today."

Laughter echoed across the field.

When asked what position he plays, Mitchell answered, "Just wherever they want to put me. Usually, they want to stick me in the dugout."

At which point a teammate heartily agreed, to more laughs.

"It's really fun to watch, because we laugh and carry on and have a good time," Shafer said. "Rarely do you see someone out here just getting pissed off, which is cool. We want to be competitive — we wouldn't be out here otherwise — but we have a lot of fun, too."

The team's oldest player is 77-year-old Bob Cleary, a High Point native now living in Lewisville. Even as he nears his 78th birthday, Cleary looked smooth fielding ground balls at shortstop during practice. He admitted, though, that shortstop is not his position of choice.

"It's my position of necessity," he said, explaining that he used to play in the outfield when he was younger but prefers the infield now.

One thing that helps the team is that in the Piedmont Senior Softball League's modified rules, teams can have 11 defensive players in the field.

Also, although it's a 70-plus league, teams are allowed to have players as young as 65. According to the league rules, teams can have as many 65- to 69-year-old players on the roster as they want, but they can only have five on the field at any given time.

That rule exists to try to keep the league competitive, said Ronnie McArthur, who plays for the Randleman Classics and serves as the league commissioner.

"It's a fun league, but it's also competitive," he said. "It will amaze people that have not seen any of these games. Come out and see how good these guys can still play."

jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579