Scene and heard: Town ball

Thursday, October 7, 2010

It’s 7 p.m. on a Tuesday evening, and a game is being played at Water Tower Park. This game is a lot like baseball — there’s a bat, a ball, and what appear to be four bases. But if you watch and listen carefully, you’ll notice it’s something else entirely.

Let's play ball: The Lawrence Town Ball League, a game similar to baseball, was formed after being introduced to students in a class.

The game being played is town ball, an early form of baseball, and the people playing it are part of the newly formed Lawrence Town Ball League. The league began after some of the players were introduced to the game in an Early American Culture class. Now the league meets on Tuesday nights.

The historical Town Ball game uses a slightly heavier bat, a cloth ball and stakes for bases. Town ball rules vary slightly from the rules of baseball.

Synthia Somerhalder, Burlington senior, says it is more laid back and easygoing than baseball. Anywhere from eight to 30 players will show up, and Somerhalder says that no matter how many players are there, they make it fun. “The only thing that we really require for people who want to play is good sportsmanship, a smile and being able to take insults — we try to be gentlemen, but we also like to give people a hard time oncein a while,” Somerhalder says.

The players also give each other nicknames — Somerhalder’s is Squeaks, and Sarah Bassett, Hays senior, is known on the field as Hammerlord. Bassett says not only does town ball increase the players’ knowledge about early American history, but it’s good exercise and a lot of fun, too.

To learn more about the Lawrence Town Ball League, visit their Facebook page or attend a game at Water Tower Park on 1225 Sunset Drive on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m.

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