Softball legend returns

And as high school, junior college and Division I caliber players hit the diamond, Deanna Earsley-Bowers knows that perhaps this generation of stars probably won’t have a clue who the 40 year old standing in the circle hurling fastballs at them is.

"It’s been really fun to still be involved and sit in dugouts with girls that were born the year that you graduated college,” Earsley-Bowers said jokingly.

The fact is, Earsley-Bowers is Peninsula Athletic League royalty and a living softball legend and starting this weekend, the Carlmont High School Hall of Famer will be one of many taking to Bayside Park as the part of the ASA NorCal Women’s Summer Fastpitch Travel League, directed by Bill Smith of the West Bay Nuggets.

Play this weekend begins at 10 a.m. and runs to 4 p.m. with a similar schedule planned for the weekend of July 21 and 22.

Now in its eighth year since completely disbanding in 2001, the NCWSPTL commences after collegiate programs have finished and conducts play through late July.

Games are full-tilt contests on quality diamonds with top-notch umpiring crews, Smith said. Players and teams that wish to maintain, grow or tinker with the skill set of up-and-coming college hopefuls are served by the league, as well as ongoing collegiate participants. Equally welcome are those whose eligibility has passed but not their desire to play.

With local players and some from a cross-section of the country representing DI, DII and DIII programs, NAIA, junior colleges and more, Smith said the range and depth of experience is quite the collection.

Earsley-Bowers certainly fits that category. She owned PAL softball for four years as a Scot, graduating as part of the Class of 1989. And she left Carlmont after posting some remarkable numbers. She was a four-time team Most Valuable Player and placed fourth all-time in school history with 159 career hits. Earsley-Bowers also hold the school for highest single-season batting average with a .638 clip. In the circle, she is second all-time in wins (79), innings pitched (651) and games pitched (102), posting 50 shutouts along the way.

Earsley-Bowers left Carlmont and enjoyed a successful career at Utah State, where she was named an All-American in 1993.

Now a math teacher at Napa High School, Earsley-Bowers cherishes the opportunity to throw on cleats and hit the field with the newest crop of softball talent.

"It’s very fun,” she said. "I know a lot of the younger ones have no idea who this 40 year old is who’s coming out. But it’s fun to mix it up. It’s fun to get out there, but man, it’s a different game now. The girls are bigger, stronger and I think even watching the younger athletes, the girls are taken just as seriously as the boys. And that’s kind of fun to see. [The league has] been good and it’s provided an opportunity for some of the kids that never went to college, are coming out high school or even kids that are in high school to rub elbows players from like the University of California.”

Despite the address change, Earsley-Bowers keeps strong ties to the Carlmont community and credits her time as a Scot for the success she’s had in her life.

"I owe him huge,” Earsley-Bowers said specifically about legendary Carlmont coach Jim Liggett. "Going through his program and the contact he put out for me, he was instrumental in leading me to my softball scholarship. I was the first kid in my family to complete college. He changed my life. I owe that whole high school experience to Mr. Liggett, for sure.”

It’s that debt that she feels that keeps her coming back, even now as a mother of two, to tangle with the local youngsters.

"If it’s able to change one other girl’s future path like softball did for me, then it’s worth it,” she said. "It’s worth every penny. Sports was my way out. I wasn’t all the all-star 4.0 student, I was a good student but [softball] definitely bolstered my confidence getting through college and really being able to study my passion.”

Smith said this weekend’s game are open to all players.

"If a local player gets a hold of me, I’ll get her a uniform and put her in the lineup,” Smith said.