For two years the best girls softball team in the U.S. was from Alameda, California. The girls of J.J. Krieg, managed by O.W. Fisher, won back-to-back national softball championships in 1938 & 1939.
In 1938 they defeated the Chicago Down Drafts 3-0 for their first championship and in 1939 they defeated the Louisville Dairy Maids 1-0 for their second in a row. In the 1939 title game, pitcher Bessie Johnson pitched a no-hitter to clinch the title. Two girls on the team, Tillie Souza and Aloha Knoblich attended Alameda High School.
The team made it back to the championship tournament in 1940 but could not bring home a third consecutive championship. Over a 3-year period the Alameda girls softball team won over 100 games in a row without a defeat and were the first team west of the Mississippi to win the title.
1938 Team Roster Betty Bajuk Gloria Hildebrand Bessie Johnson Bertha Levi Bernice Amaral Ruby Johnson Dorothy Roscoe Aloha Knoblich Doris Barskey Tillie Souza Eva Seeley Syd McFadden Jessie Leslie (Team Captain) Harriet Lucas O.W. Fisher (Manager) | 1939 Team Roster Irma Dutra Wilda Turner Bessie Johnson Bertha Levi Bernice Amaral Emily Amaral Ruby Johnson Kay Cole Maxine Grolla Doris Barskey Tillie Souza Jessie Leslie (Team Captain) Harriet Lucas O.W. Fisher (Manager) |
