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Watching the boys and girls of summer enjoy America's pastime made adults in the Clarksburg area long for the days when they were the ones swinging the bats and running the bases.
By the end of the summer they set about to organize their own softball league.
League sign-up was held at UpCounty Fine Wine and Beer on Stringtown Road, and that is where teams retreated for after-game socializing and weekly happy hours.
"One of the benefits of the sport is the socializing and networking after the game," store owner Gordon Taylor said.
Taylor helped organize the league with Clarksburg Softball coach Rusty Dillon, who served as league commissioner.
He convinced three other businesses — Bartlett Roofing and Sheet Metal, Clarksburg Animal Hospital and Weichert Realtors — to sponsor teams at a cost of $350 apiece.
Clarksburg Animal Hospital veterinarian Greta Stamberg, 37, joined a team with her husband, Dewey Miller. Team play was $25 per person.
"Things like this help bring the community together," she said, adding that through the league she had hoped to make new friends and clients.
When Mike Magee, 42, saw the announcement of the league forming, he jumped at the chance to get to meet his neighbors and play ball.
"I just moved here from Oregon," he said.
Former professional figure skater John Ziegler of Boyds, 46, said he signed up because he needed the exercise. He has had some ailments, and playing softball has helped his rehabilitation, he said.
Tim McGrath, 42, has lived in Clarksburg for three years and two of his three daughters play sports for the Clarksburg Sports Association.
"I'm finding out how old I am," McGrath said. "It takes a few days to recover."
Josanne Revoir, 30, of Clarksburg was a little nervous when a friend called her about playing, but said that "each subsequent time it felt better."
She loves that after a day of work at the National Institutes of Health she can get on her Harley and ride to the games, which were played at Little Bennett Elementary School or Ovid Hazen Wells Recreational Park.
When the weather was warm, players brought their husbands, wives and children to watch, but the cheering section at the last game of the season on Oct. 12 was down to two wives trying to keep their babies warm.
"He's going to basketball after this," Andrea Sheehan said of her husband, Jim, 30, as she bounced a bundled-up 7-month-old Celia on her lap.
Players at the last game were already thinking about the spring season when they expect the league to attract more players. Taylor also hopes to schedule some interleague play with adult teams from the Damascus Area Baseball and Softball League.
"By spring, people will have more time to fit it into their schedules," he said. "We'll add tournament teams."
