360 Degree Video View of 'Lettes Field' in Mineral Springs Park

Home of the Pekin Lettes Since 1959

This Video Will Get You In the Mood  !!!

News Release - September 19 - 2009 

Oldest - Continuous SoftBall Team in America - Established in 1930

Our Home Games are Held at Our Own "LETTES FIELD"

at Mineral Springs Park and at the "DRAGONS DOME" in Pekin Illinois 

EP Rage captures crown

A state championship is a state championship, even if only three teams are involved in the tournament.

The East Peoria Lady Rage won all three of its games Saturday in the women’s fast pitch softball state tourney at the Dragon’s Dome and captured the crown.

The final victory was a 4-2 decision over the host Pekin Lettes. The Lady Rage held off the Lettes down the stretch, shutting them down after the Lettes had runners on second and third base in the fifth and sixth innings.

Lori Pancratz suffered the hard-luck loss on the mound. Two of the runs she allowed were unearned.

The Lady Rage went undefeated in the pool play portion of the tournament, beating the Decatur Misfits 3-2 and the Lettes 6-2.

The Lettes beat the Misfits in pool play and the first playoff game by the same 7-2 score. Pancratz was the winner of the pool play game, and Shaleigh Jansen won the playoff game.

Tournament director Fred Reader is hopeful the tourney will rebound next year. Nine teams played last year in the inaugural event, called the Tri-State Tournament.

“I’m going to try to bring in some out-of-state teams, and perhaps some 18-under teams,” he said.

After playing a doubleheader Wednesday against the Bloomington Lady Hearts in Bloomington, the Lettes will finish their season at the National Softball Association World Series next month at the EastSide Center in East Peoria.

 The Wolrd Famous "LETTES FIELD" in Mineral Springs Park

Special Thanks to the PEKIN PARK DISTRICT for

Being a Long-Time Supporter of the PEKIN LETTES

 CITY of PEKIN

Women's Invitational Fast Pitch Tournament

Saturday - June 27 - 2009 - 8 a.m.

Mineral Springs Park - Lettes Field

4 Team - 3 Game Guarantee

 ~~~  2009 Lettes Headlines  ~~~

 Lettes Lose 2 at Home in 2009 Season Opener

Lettes Win 4 & Lose 2 at Bloomington Tourney

Lettes Finish 3rd. at Elgin Tourney with 6 Wins & 1 Loss 

Lettes Finish 2nd. at Illinois State Championship in Pekin

Lettes Sweep Double Header at Home Against the LGSA Lightning Squad 9 to 0 and 12 to 1

Lettes romp in twinbill over Limestone Lightning

Both coaches left Lettes Field happy Wednesday night.

Despite losing 9-0 and 12-1 to the Pekin Lettes in women’s fast pitch softball games that were stopped early because of the Amateur Softball Association run rule, Limestone Lightning coach Brad Foiles wasn’t bummed out before heading back to Bartonville.

“This was a tremendous experience for our kids. We treated it like a practice,” Foiles said. “We saw what it’s like to play against older girls. The speed of the game is faster, the pitching is better, and the athleticism is impressive at that level.”

This was a tremendous experience for our kids. We treated it like a practice,” Foiles said. “We saw what it’s like to play against older girls. The speed of the game is faster, the pitching is better, and the athleticism is impressive at that level.”

The Lightning is an age 18-and-under team.

Even though several players on the Lightning roster were members of the Limestone High School team that won the Illinois High School Association Class 3A state championship in 2008, not one has played college softball yet.

All of the Lettes are playing college softball or are former college softball players.
Lettes coach Chuck Harris liked what he saw from his team (6-4), which has won six of its last eight games.

“We’re starting to put our bats on the ball and getting used to playing together,” he said. “A couple of the girls have had to shake off the rust because they didn’t play this spring.”

Meghan Bauer wasn’t rusty Wednesday. The former Illini Bluffs High School and Illinois Central College star knocked in seven runs in the twinbill, six in the second game.

Bauer was the starting third baseman at the University of Missouri-St. Louis this spring, batting .273. It was her first season there after a two-year ICC career that featured a second team All-NJCAA selection in 2008.

The Lightning was without its top pitcher, Bradley University-bound Mackenzie Camp. The hero of Limestone’s run to the state championship is battling a shoulder problem that bothered her during the high school season.

Katie Stapleton, who pitched all five innings in the first game and the first two innings in the nightcap against the Lettes, is only a sophomore-to-be at Limestone.

“I told Katie to go out there and have fun, and not worry about what happens,” Foiles said.

The Lettes’ Jaimie Joosten did some pitching and played first base on Limestone’s state championship team.

She pitched the final two innings in the second game Wednesday, and the Lightning scored its lone run of the night off her.

Foiles led off the fourth with a triple and came home on a ground ball to the mound by Mackenzie Kelly. Joosten lobbed the ball to first base, giving Foiles time to scamper home.

The Lettes scored in eight of the nine innings in which they batted against the Lightning. They banged out 16 hits in the doubleheader and took advantage of 13 walks. Seven batters who walked eventually scored.

“We don’t have any weak spots in our lineup,” Harris said.

Lettes leadoff hitter Julie Rhodes was on base in all three of her plate appearances and scored twice in the opener.

The Lettes ended the game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Bauer and a two-run double by Raye Gordon.

Winning pitcher Lori Pancratz fanned five and walked one.

Bauer had a double and two singles in three trips to the plate in the nightcap. Her two-bagger cleared the bases during a four-run second.

Fairchild scored three runs, Gordon had two hits including a triple, and Emily Bozsoki knocked in a pair of runs for the Lettes from the No. 9 spot in the lineup.

Winning pitcher Shaleigh Jansen just completed her freshman season at Valparaiso University, where she was 3-3 with a 4.80 ERA.

She struck out a school-record 809 batters in four years on the mound for Ottawa High School.

 Lettes Win 1 & Lose 4 @ St.Louis Tournament June 20 & 21 

Tremont pair boost Lettes to split

Former and current Tremont High School softball stars teamed up Wednesday night to salvage a doubleheader split for the Pekin Lettes.

Ex-Turk T.J. Matheny threw a two-hitter and senior-to-be Danielle Burge knocked in two runs with a double in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Lettes a 2-1 win over the East Peoria Lady Rage in the nightcap of a fast pitch softball twinbill at steamy Lettes Field.

The Lady Rage won the opener 8-3 in six innings, overcoming a 3-0 deficit by scoring five runs in the fifth and three more times in the sixth. The loss in the second game was their first in 15 games this season.

“T.J. Matheny is the story tonight,” said Lettes coach Chuck Harris. “She hadn’t pitched in more than a year, and look what she did.”

What Matheny did was allow only an unearned run in the second, and she started a crisp pitcher-to-catcher-to-first baseman double play with the bases loaded in the sixth.

The Lady Rage’s lone hits were a pair of singles off Matheny in the sixth.

Matheny matched the Lady Rage’s hit total with two singles off losing pitcher Amanda Ashley, a former East Peoria High School standout.

Harris said he could tell on the Lettes’ faces that they were more focused when they came to bat in the seventh because they didn’t want Matheny’s pitching gem to go to waste.

Leadoff batter Raye Gordon was safe on an error and Emily Bozsoki singled, setting the stage for Burge’s heroics.

Her ground ball found a gap between the Lady Rage centerfielder and rightfielder, and Gordon and Bozsoki scored.

Burge is playing for the Indiana Magic Gold 18-under team this summer, but she took time out to join the Lettes (8-9) so they would have nine players.

“You can tell Danielle has talent,” Harris said.

Harris was very happy about the Lettes’ comeback. He wasn’t real happy about his team’s first-game performance, which included five errors.

Four of the errors and four of losing pitcher Shaleigh Jansen’s seven walks came in the two innings when the Lady Rage (13-1-1) scored all its runs.

The Lady Rage plated five runs in the fifth after two were out. Priscilla Delaere’s RBI double and a three-run double by April Schermann were the big hits.

Harris said a long day and a muggy night took its toll on Jansen.

“You could tell she was gassed by the fifth inning,“ Harris said. “Shaleigh works from 6 to 3 doing maintenance at Ottawa High School (her alma mater) and there’s no air conditioning there. We didn’t help her when she got tired by kicking the ball around.”

The Lettes were missing top pitcher Lori Pancratz, but the Lady Rage had only three of its regular players: Delaere, Schermann and Sara Loete, who caught both games.

“I thought we did pretty well, especially in the first game, considering we were without most of our players,” Delaere said.

Ashley Fauser was the winning pitcher in the opener, which ended an inning early because of the 90-minute time limit.

Fauser pitched for Morton High School and the University of Wisconsin, winning 52 games for the Badgers from 1996-99.

The Lettes got two runs off Fauser in the third on an error and a shot off Fauser’s leg by Burge that resulted in an RBI single.

Julia Rhodes walked, stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a single by Meghan Bauer in the third to give the Lettes a 3-0 lead.

Lauren Snopek caught both games for the Lettes on her 22nd birthday.

“That was my birthday present for her,” Harris said with a laugh. “I don’t think Lauren minded, though. She likes being in the thick of things.”

Harris said the Lettes are still struggling to find their identity, but they’re getting there. They’ll get another chance Saturday when they host the 14th annual City of Pekin Invitational at Lettes Field.

The Lettes will open the four-team, double-elimination tournament with a game against the Decatur Misfits at 8 a.m. The Bloomington Lady Hearts and St. Louis Saints will play at 9:30 a.m.
The championship game is scheduled for 5 p.m. A second title game, if needed, will be at 6:30 p.m. Games will be played with an 80-minute time limit.

Lettes General Manger and tournament director Fred Reader will be pulling double duty Saturday. He’s also running a two-day, six-team, 14-under fastball softball tournament at the Dragon’s Dome in Pekin.

Saints leave, title to Hearts

By Steve Stein

For the second consecutive year, the St. Louis Saints women’s fast pitch softball team marched out of Mineral Springs Park under a cloak of controversy.

The Saints left the City of Pekin Invitational early Saturday, complaining that the tournament was 90 minutes behind schedule.

So the Bloomington Lady Hearts and Pekin Lettes ended up playing for the championship instead of a shot at the Saints in what should have been the title game of the four-team tournament.

The Lady Hearts won 8-0 in a game stopped after six innings because of the Amateur Softball Association run rule. They earned the championship trophy even though they lost to the Saints 7-1 earlier in the day.

It was the fifth straight victory by the Lady Hearts (14-4) over the archrival Lettes (9-12) this season, a fact coach Joe Zimmerman didn’t want to publicize too much because “things can change in a hurry at this level of softball.”

The Saints had some help leaving Pekin last year.

The Lettes were leading the Saints 3-1 and batting in the bottom of the fifth inning in the Legends of the Lettes Tournament championship game when the Saints’ pitcher and catcher were ejected, leaving the team with just eight players.

An inning earlier, the wife of a Saints assistant coach was ejected. The game was called, and Pekin Park District police and Pekin police were called to make sure the Saints left town peacefully, which they did.

The Lettes lost 5-2 to the Decatur Misfits on Saturday in their tourney opener, then fell 2-0 to the Lady Hearts. A 6-2 win over the Misfits sent the Lettes into the title game against the Lady Hearts.

The Saints beat the Misfits 3-1 to put them into the championship game, but they decided to go home.

Brittany Stanley shut out the Lettes on five hits in the title game. She’s a star pitcher for Campbell University in North Carolina.

The junior right-hander was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year this season and was the conference tournament MVP for the second straight year.

The top four hitters in the Lady Hearts’ lineup did most of the offensive damage in support of Stanley, combining for seven of the team’s eight hits, six runs, a double, a triple, and seven RBI.

Former Olympia High School standout Lindsay Watkins, now a junior on the Bradley University softball team, had three hits and scored three runs.

Abby Olson showed why she was Illinois State University’s top hitter this season with a .338 average along with 11 homers and 30 RBI, notching two hits.

The biggest hit for the sophomore slugger from Hartsburg-Emden High School was a two-run triple that sailed far over Lettes leftfielder Ashley Winter’s head.

The Lady Hearts scored three runs in the second inning and three more runs in the fourth, all with two outs.

“We have good players who know what they’re doing out there,” Zimmerman said.

The Lettes competed the entire tournament with just nine players. Playing their fourth game of the long, hot day, they just didn’t have much in the tank in the title game against the Lady Hearts.

“We’re not hitting now, and that puts pressure on us to make every defensive play,” said Lettes coach Chuck Harris, who expects reinforcements for the rest of the season.

Lauren Snopek had two hits including an RBI triple in a losing cause against the Misfits.

Lori Pancratz pitched well in the first loss to the Lady Hearts. Olson had a single, double and triple in that game.

T.J. Matheny pitched the Lettes past the Misfits. Snopek had two hits and two RBI, and Pancratz also drove in two runs. Shaleigh Jansen and Winter each had an RBI.

After taking a weekend off for the July 4 holiday, the Lettes will return to action July 11-12 at a tournament in Elgin.

 Pekin Lettes are Now at 15 Wins & 13 Losses for 2009 Season

The 2009 Pekin Lettes

 2009 PEKIN LETTES Player Roster

Jaime Joosten

2009 Pekin Lettes Schedule

Thank You - Home Game Sponsors 

Gary Roe Home Improvement Nite at Lettes Field 2008

PEKIN LETTES NITE at PEORIA SPEEDWAY

Visit the Pekin Lettes 50th. Anniversary Site at :

http://www.freewebs.com/pekinlettes50/

 Fred Reader

Owner & Manager

 Chuck Harris

Coach

 Scott Shults

P.R. Announcer

Jessie Morrison

Fund Raising

Bonnie Swanson

Alumni Chairman

Lettes Member 1965 - 1972

 Katie Morrison

Fund Raising

 Steve Shults

ScoreBoard

 50th. Anniversary Logo

 Steve Stein

Pekin Times Reporter

 Visit our Friends at the       'Illinois Softball Report'

http://www.ilsoftballreport.com/teamprofiles.shtml

Pekin Lettes Photos Courtesy of Lem Van Laningham - 309-382-2906 

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