The 1944 Lind & Pomeroy Florists softball team brought home a world championship from the ASA Championships, the first of two world titles for the florists.
Sponsored by Erv Lind and Seley Pomeroy Florists, the team won all five of its tournament games by shutout and beat the Arizona Ramblers in the final in Cleveland, Ohio. The tournament was referred to as the World Championship prior to 1969.
The title came a year after the team reached the championship tournament for the first time, powered by a standout battery of pitcher Betty Evans Grayson, who graduated from Franklin High in the summer of ’44, and catcher Dorothy “Dotty” Moore, who graduated from Willamette University in 1941. Evans went 3-0 in the circle for the tourney, throwing two no-hitters and striking out 42 batters in 25 innings pitched. The final game against Arizona took 11 innings before Nira Deputy single scored Dottie Moore. Deputy was 3 for 5 at the plate in the championship game.
Other players on the team included Norma Eby, Pat Carson Nadine Hoard, Irens Maas, Jerry Burroughs and Martha Howell. Prior to the tournament, the team added three all-stars from the Seattle area: Alyce Johnson, Vivian Bonner and Kay Gianini.
The Florists' final record was 44-8, including a 30-5 record against men's teams, mostly from military bases. The team’s success, during an era when women’s sports were beginning to blossom, helped bring the national tournament to Portland in 1948, ’49, ’55 and ’61 at the brand-new Erv Stadium at Normandale Park.