Softball

Slow-Pitch

Early records mention baseball being played by Kentucky College for Women students in physical education classes or at occasional play-days, but there is little mention of softball in the Centre College records. Kentucky is one of the few states were most summer recreational softball leagues play slow-pitch. This made the game a viable sport for Kentucky college women, but limited them to playing only in-state schools. In the early 1960's a few extramural softball games were played between Centre and the University of Kentucky, but there was no regular schedule or organized team. A slow-pitch softball club was organized at Centre in 1977, and in 1978 the team was elevated to varsity status. Since there was no softball facility on campus, the team played at a local city park. When the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) was organized in 1982, only four members had slow-pitch teams. Slow-pitch softball was never recognized by the NCAA as a sponsored sport, and when one of the four WIAC schools decided to drop slow-pitch in favor of the fast-pitch game, there were no longer enough teams to continue with a conference championship. In 1989 the team was discontinued.

Fast-Pitch

In the late 1990's there was a surge of interest in softball in Kentucky when the Kentucky High School Athletic Association initiated a fast-pitch softball championship and required high schools to sponsor fast-pitch softball if they sponsored softball at all. Prior to this, almost all Kentucky high schools and colleges played slow-pitch softball. The shift was the result of litigation by high school students who felt they were denied opportunities for athletic scholarships because colleges outside the state played the fast-pitch game. Centre College sponsored a fast-pitch softball club in 1996-97. In 1997-98 fast-pitch softball was approved for varsity status, becoming the tenth women's intercollegiate sport.

Source: Baird, Kitty Rogers. Women Athletes Blazing a Trail: a History of Women's Participation in Sport at a Small Liberal Arts College. (Centre College, 2001)