Mary Lou Studnicka

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

Pitcher

Born: July 19, 1931
Oak Lawn, Illinois

Died: November 21, 2014 (aged 83)
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

debut

1951

Last appearance

1953

Teams

Rockford Peaches

Career highlights and awards

Championship team (1953)
Three playoff appearances (1951–53)

Mary Lou Studnicka [Brazauskas, Caden] (July 19, 1931 - November 21, 2014) was an overhand pitcher who played from 1951 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Studnicka batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed "ML".

Studnicka was born in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a suburb southwest of Chicago. She was the only girl of eight children into the family of John and Marie Studnička [stood'-nicz-kuh], of Slovak ancestry. At early age, she moved with her family to a farm in Palos Park, Illinois. She was interested in participing in baseball, thanks to her brothers, and she was never too young to follow in their footsteps.

While playing in a Chicago park with the boys teams, Studnicka meet a coach that developed players for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. After that, she spent six years in the Chicago farm club until receiving a letter and a contract telling her to report for spring training and the salary she would be getting. She returned the contract signed and attended the training camp.

At the age of 19, Studnicka joined the Grand Rapids Chicks for the 1951 season, as part of a pitching rotation that included Mildred Earp, Earlene Risinger and Connie Wisniewski.The great ballplayer Rogers Hornsby encouraged me when I attended one of his baseball schools. I worked hard at learning the game because he believed I could do it, she recalled in an interview.

In her rookie season, Studnicka won her first twelve starts before losing her first game. She finished with a 15-5 mark in 23 appearances, compiling a .750 winning percentage and 72 strikeouts. Grand Rapids reached the playoffs, but lost the first round to the Rockford Peaches. In 1953 she dropped to 11-12, while the Chicks advanced to the finals despite a losing season (50-60), only to be defeated by the South Bend Blue Sox and Jean Faut, who won Game 3 and decisive Game 5.

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