A League of Her Own
This is where her journey begins, you've heard of the Boys of Summer. Well pro baseball had the girls of Summer, too. Lois Youngen was one of them, she was only 17 when she made her debut with the Fort Wayne Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional League in 1951. Lois who is originally from Ragersville talks about the league. "We played baseball, not softball. We played the same way the guys played, only we were women."
At the time, she did not realize what was happening, she was involved in a part of history. She tells us that she had fun and got paid for something that she loved to do. Lois's grandfather was Abraham Youngen, the village squire and local merchant. Her father was Elden "Ty" Youngen, caught "baseball fever" at an early age and never lost interest in sports. Her was a pitcher for Kent State in the early 1920's and he managed the successful Ragersville ballclub and pitched along with Alta Weiss.
Her story
During the summer of 1950 Lois had a tryout with the Fort Wayne Indiana Daisies, a member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. In January of 1951 her senior year of high school she received an invitation to attend spring training with the Daisies and 30 other girls in Alexandria, Virginia. At the end of spring training Lois returned to Westfield High School in Leroy, Ohio and as she says "I went to my high school prom, graduated from Westfield High School, and became a Fort Wayne Daisy" all in one week.
During the 1951 season the Daisies, one of the eight teams in the league, played a 116-game schedule. Teams played 7 nights a week with double headers on Sunday and traveled by chartered bus. Players played in a one-piece dress, high socks, and wore metal cleats.
Lois played from 1951 -1954, the last year of the leagues existence, as a catcher and outfielder. Lois tells us "If it weren't for the 1992 film "A League of Their Own" no one would have ever known that our league existed.
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While playing baseball in the summer, Lois attended and graduated from Kent State University with a B.S. in physical education in 1955. She also received a master's degree from Michigan State University and a Ph D from Ohio State University. After 36 years teaching and coaching tennis, basketball and track and field at the University of Oregon, Lois retired as Director of Physical Education and Recreation Services. In 2022 Lois was inducted into the inaugural class of the Tuscarawas County Sports Hall of Fame. Dr Lois Joy Youngen - Ragersville takes pride in this daughter who made superior contributions to the fields of education and sports.