The 1964 edition of Erv Lind Florists softball added another chapter to the team’s incredible history by winning the program's second world championship of fast pitch women's softball.
The Florists were in the middle of an amazing 29-year run of league, state and regional championships and annual trips to the ASA World Championships. The teams won over 77% of 1,100 games over that stretch. Erv Lind (then also known as Lind-Pomeroy) won the 1944 world title. Now it was time for the next generation, backed by Erv Lind and coached by Lois Williams. The Florists roared through another marathon season of travel, finishing 60-16-1.
Of course, the inevitable end was a trip to the World Championships in Orlando, FL. The Florists rode the arms of Jackie Rice and Hap Piper to five shutout victories. Seven of the nine Florist starters were named to either the first or second World All-Star Teams, including the entire infield.
Rice pitched in all five games, sharing a no-hitter with Hap along the way. Four of those games, including the final, were complete game shutouts. In the final, Erv Lind faced another all-time powerhouse, the Raybestos Brakettes from Stratford, CT.
The Florists scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning. Hap Piper drove in Marlene Piper with a broken bat single Jackie Rice threw a two-hit shutout, striking out two. She was named MVP of the tournament but passed the trophy to her opposing pitcher, iron woman Bertha Ragan-Tickey who pitched in all nine games plated by Stratford.
Erv Lind shortstop Carolyn Fitzwater had a solid tourney at the plate, 6-13 with 2 RBI and two runs scored.
1964 Erv Lind Softball: Lois Williams-coach, Chris Pettina, Marlene Piper, Jackie Rice, Carolyn Fitzwater, Shirley Dobie, Hap Piper, Irma Penwell, Erv Lind, Sheron Bredeen, Montie Wallis, Becky Sisley, Sandy Seaman, Dot Dobie, Roma Menold.
Erv Lind and Becky Sisley are all individual members of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.