Patterson Irrigator | Your Local Paper - Coed softball makes a bigtime return

December 2, 2008 Patterson, CA

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Coed softball makes a bigtime return

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Written by Marc Aceves \| Patterson Irrigator
Saturday, 19 July 2008
Patterson’s Benji Lozano lobs an underhand pitch toward the plate during a coed softball league scrimmage Thursday evening at T.W. Patterson Sports Park. After nearly a decade, the city once again has a coed league, and participation is flourishing. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator Most sports fans can rattle off the criteria needed to build a good baseball lineup, but what about one for coed slow-pitch softball? In a traditional baseball lineup, the leadoff hitter is a guy with speed, one who takes pitches and can get on base and shake up the pitcher. Generally, a contact guy bats second, trying to get the leadoff hitter into scoring position — and then the meat of the order follows. But coed slow-pitch softball is different. The first thing to understand is that in this game, unlike in baseball, everyone generally has a puncher’s chance of getting a hit. Even the least-skilled player can usually make his or her bat meet the ball, even if it’s just for a slow roller up the line. Perhaps that’s what makes the sport so appealing to Robin Matteri, Mike Castillo and the more than 120 players set to take the field today in the city’s first coed slow-pitch softball league in nearly a decade. “Initially, I was told that if I could get four teams together, then we could start a league,” Matteri said. “I was surprised. It seemed so easy to me.” Matteri started the ball rolling one May afternoon. Leslie Boschi raps a base hit. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator She persistently went from business to business, asking: “Do you have friends at work, in your church or in your club or neighborhood who would like to organize a coed slow-pitch softball team to play in town?” The response was a virtual explosion, according to Matteri. Not only were residents keen on the idea of re-forming the league, but they were also eager to actually take the field. Matteri joined up with Castillo to produce and organize squads. “People told (Mike) and me that it was impossible to get the league started,” Matteri said. “Nobody thought that we could do it.” Within a month, the duo had the minimum four teams. Michael Castillo just misses a fly ball to the outfield. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator Two weeks after that, the league more than doubled in size to 11 teams, though three of those had to be cut because of scheduling conflicts. “To say that people have wanted to come out and play for quite some time now would be an understatement.” Among the eight squads readying to square off at T.W. Patterson Sports Complex are teams of both employees and patrons from Blues Café, Johnny’s Club and J&M’s Barbershop. The challenge that lies ahead for both Matteri and Castillo is keeping players interested in future versions of the league while generating even more interest from the community. Jason Hayward, recreation coordinator for the city of Patterson, said timing has prevented the league from being successful in the past. This time around, Matteri’s persistence has paid off, he said. “She took the time to go door-to door, and that was something that we hadn’t done in the past,” he said. Games will be played Saturdays and Wednesdays through August at T.W. Patterson Sports Complex. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 226 Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.