Co-ed Softball League wraps up season; Will consider competitive play in 2016

Malta's Coed Softball League wrapped up it's season last Tuesday, August 11, the way that it started, with a few rounds of batting practice.

Jo Tharp, the league's founder felt that the six week league went pretty well.

"The first meeting that we had, we only had a few people show up and we did batting practice," Tharp said. "The next week, we had quite a few people show up. We had enough for two teams."

At it's peak, the league had around 26 people.

"I think it turned out really good this year," Tharp said. "I'm hoping that this was a trial run to see the interest level."

Without a doubt, Tharp was to run the league again next season.

"Next year hopefully we can get it up and going a little more than we did this year," Tharp said.

Tharp wants to get the group going a little bit earlier in the year, though she knows that the field will also be used for the Bambino League and Tee-ball earlier in the summer.

When the league starts also depends on when players register. Next summer Tharp hopes to start registration in late May.

"I'm thinking we can start that first week in July," Tharp said.

On the registration forms from last season, many of the registries weren't opposed to playing in a competitive league, which means that a team or two can branch out.

"I have to first see how many people register," Tharp said. "If we do get enough we can do a competitive team that competes against other teams."

Of those playing in the league, many did better than they thought they would do after being away from the sport for so long.

" I think our first couple of games the players were just getting back in the groove of things," Tharp said. "As we went on, I think we all learned where we stood as players. As for myself, I think I gained a little more experience. I'm not a pro but that's not what I was looking for either."