Softball Never Gets 'Too Old' for Madison Players

By Jack Kramer, Patch Correspondent

MADISON, CT – One of the premier softball leagues for players 60 years and older is getting ready to “Play Ball’’ for its 16th year with a record number of players. The Madison Senior Softball League’s first pitch will be on April 18th, according to Ken Conlon, one of the commissioners of the league.

“It’s been a busy winter,” said Conlon. “We kick off the 2017 season on April 18th, with three doubleheaders.

“We have 105 players on seven teams. We increased to a 36-game season so we have three full rounds,” Conlon continued. “Everybody plays everybody six times or one doubleheader each round. (To sign up for Madison breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

“Each team has one bye round,” Conlon added.

Conlon conceded that one problem with an older softball league is “we had approximately 10 retirements.

“But,” he quickly adds, the league added “10 new players.”

The wildly successfully league started in 2001 when five former softball players who just wanted to play catch and bat a bit as they got older started the league.

The league boasts teams and more than from a few dozen towns, mostly in New Haven, Fairfield and New London counties. The players, who range from 60 years old to some close to 90, hail from a variety of backgrounds and include executives, coaches, teachers, ironworkers and more.

Conlon said he would guess 70 was the average age in the league. The teams began playing at the end of April and will continue to early October, with a double elimination playoff tournament for the league championship.

Conlon and his fellow players bristle, a bit, when asked whether there are any special concessions to protect the “older” players.

"We play serious softball,'' said Conlon, though he conceded there is one safety measure: a protective net in front of the pitcher so he won't be hit by balls flying off the bat.

Most of the players are former high school and/or college athletes who still enjoy the competition.

After league games, always on Tuesdays at three different fields in Madison, a group of the players get together at Willoughby's Coffee & Tea in downtown Madison to talk over that day's games and get in some good-natured ribbing.

Besides the weekly morning league games, the softball players also get together each Thursday "until the snow comes,'' said Conlon, to play pick-up softball.