Athletes
Batter
B
Up
Women’s softball league promotes
competition and bonding
WRITTEN BY JO VARNISH
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNE-MARIE CARUSO
LUNACHICKS (Left to right) Captain Marisa Christmas,
Debbie Mayo, Missy Harris and Brigid Cunningham
48
MAY 2017 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE
O
n Aug. 10, there was
much to celebrate at
Glenwood Elementary
School’s field. The
LUNACHICKS had bat-
tled the Mad Batters in
the final game of the 2016 Women’s
Slow Pitch Softball championship
series, and won, becoming the
league’s champions for the second
consecutive year.
“I tell my kids and the girls’
lacrosse team I coach, ‘Playing a
sport is fun, but it’s really fun to
win,’” says Marisa Christmas, captain
of the Lunachicks.
Eight teams comprise the league.
To be eligible, players have to be 18
or older, and either live in town, work
more than 20 hours per week in town,
or have graduated from Millburn High
School. Now gearing up for its fourth
season, the league was borne out of a
lunchtime conversation between
Pamela Rubin and Jemela Zamore in
May 2014.
“We were talking about how our
husbands and children play baseball,
so why is there no league for women?”
says Rubin. They called Chris Myers
of Millburn’s Recreation Department,
arranged a meeting, and established
the league. Word spread, teams were
formed, and within weeks, the first
games were played. “It happened very
quickly,” Rubin says. “That first year
there was a waiting list of free agents
hoping to get on a team.”