May 27, 1994: Lee Anne Ketcham pitches Silver Bullets to win over Richfield Rockets in women’s baseball first

On the evening of Friday, May 27, 1994, 3,954 fans gathered at Municipal Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota, to watch the Colorado Silver Bullets, a pioneering all-women’s team, take on the Richfield (Minnesota) Rockets.1

The Silver Bullets, coached by 318-game winner and Hall of Fame inductee Phil Niekro, were in the midst of their inaugural season. Established to “provide a nurturing environment for top women athletes to learn and play professional baseball against existing men’s teams within the ranks of minor league, semipro, college, and amateur baseball,” the team comprised 24 women who had finally realized their dream of playing professional baseball.2

They dropped their first six games, all against men’s teams, and struggled to find their footing. They scored just one run while allowing 57, including 19 in their season opener against the Northern League All-Stars in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Despite the lopsided loss on Opening Day and the defeats that followed, the team remained resolute, confident in their ability, and understanding that overcoming challenges was a necessary part of their new journey. “We can play with men. I really believe that,” pitcher Gina Satriano, a native of Santa Monica, California, asserted after their Opening Day loss. “This is what we’ve been fighting for.”3

“It’s been discouraging at times, because we know we’re very good athletes. But people see our determination and skill, and they understand we haven’t been playing baseball for years, like the guys have. … We’re doing what we love, and we’re giving little girls a lot of hope,” said first baseman Allison Geatches.4

The Richfield Rockets were a part of the Federal Baseball League, an amateur hardball league for men 35 and older that was established in 1986 and was still active in 2024.5 One of the founders of the league, Ron Cottone, renowned as “Mr. Baseball” in the hardball-rich community of Richfield, organized the Rockets in 1989.6 Cottone was the manager and third-base coach for the Rockets for 34 seasons until his death in 2022.7

Toeing the rubber for the Silver Bullets was their ace, Lee Anne “Beanie” Ketcham. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Ketcham was a four-year letter winner in softball at Oklahoma State University, where she led the team to four Big 8 championships, two regional titles, and two third-place finishes in the Women’s College World Series.8 She was named to the Academic All-Big-8 Team three times as a shortstop and earned the OSU Fellowship of Christian Athletes Female Athlete of the Year award in 1992.9

Equipped with a fastball, curveball, and changeup, with a slider and cut fastball still a work in progress, Ketcham estimated that her pitches reached “from the mid to upper 70s.”10 But she emphasized that the key to her success on the mound lay in knowing how to “change speeds and hit your spots.”11 On that night in St. Paul, Ketcham did just that. She effectively used all her pitches and consistently hit her spots, keeping Rockets batters off balance.

In the stands that evening to watch the Silver Bullets compete were three legends of women’s baseball: Kay Heim McDaniel, Jean Havlish, and Nancy Cato.12 All three had played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), a pioneering all-women’s league in the 1940s and 1950s.13

After throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, McDaniel, Havlish, and Cato spent time chatting, laughing, and embracing the Silver Bullets, before settling into their seats behind home plate. Their presence did not go unnoticed, as fans eagerly surrounded them, seeking autographs. Amid the attention, McDaniel remarked, “This is a little humbling.”14

Acknowledging the unique challenge the Silver Bullets faced by competing against men, McDaniel observed, “This is totally different. And I just hope and pray they don’t get discouraged. We played against girls right off the bat, and the competition was great and intense.”

Cato offered insight into what she believed motivated the Silver Bullets. “I wasn’t playing to beat the boys, I was playing to compete for all I’m worth. My hunch would be that these girls are doing that now. They love the game. It’s not that they are trying to prove something.”15

Ketcham led the Silver Bullets to a 7-2 victory, which was believed to be the first win by a professional women’s baseball team over an all-male team.16 She delivered a dominant complete-game performance with 14 strikeouts, allowing just five hits and two unearned runs.

Ketcham struck out the last four batters she faced, which earned her a standing ovation. “I threw sliders and off-speed stuff early. I just pulled my hat down and went to work,” she recalled.17 “Then I got stronger as the game went on and threw a lot of fastballs.”18

While Ketcham’s performance rightfully grabbed the headlines, her teammates also helped secure the historic victory. Though their bats were cold during the first five innings, with Rockets pitchers Brock Kiecher and Brian Kispert keeping them scoreless, the team came alive in the sixth inning. The Rockets were up 2-0 at this point, having scored in the second and fourth innings.19

Stacy Sunny,20 a native of Lake Arrowhead, California, who split time behind the plate and at third base for the Silver Bullets, delivered a two-out, two-strike line-drive single off Rockets pitcher and former Minnesota Twins minor leaguer Kevin Sevcik to drive in two runs in the top of the sixth inning.21

The Silver Bullets extended their sixth-inning rally with the help of former California State-Fullerton All-American softball player Melissa Coombes. Coombes had hit .359 with 29 RBIs during her junior year at Fullerton, but she was primarily used as a pitcher for the Silver Bullets.22 Against the Rockets, she stepped up to the plate and hit an infield popup that should have been an easy out but instead resulted in two runs.23 It was 4-2, Silver Bullets.

Sunny remained a thorn in the Rockets’ side in the seventh inning, singling to drive in another run.24 The score was now 5-2.

Next, it was Shannan Mitchem’s turn to contribute. The Tucker, Georgia, native and Florida State University alumna drove in two more runs in the seventh inning, giving the Silver Bullets a 7-2 lead.25 Sevcik allowed all seven runs.26

With this victory, the Silver Bullets finally got into the win column and made history in the process.

After the game, Sunny remarked, “We are on a mission to prove women can play this game. This is a great moment.”27

Although disappointed by the Rockets’ loss, Cottone acknowledged the Silver Bullets’ performance with high praise: “We had no idea how good or bad they might be. Watching them warm up, we said we would be in for a tough game.”28 Reflecting on his team’s effort, he added, “We played hard, and they earned everything they got. They showed every bit of the spirit of this game.” He then noted the Silver Bullets’ discipline, commenting, “They’re well-coached, and they know the fundamentals.”29

Most importantly, Cottone and the Rockets, like the fans in attendance, recognized the significance of the moment for baseball, women’s sports, and society at large. “My hope is that young girls will see this and realize they can do this,” Cottone said.30

The Silver Bullets concluded their inaugural season with a record of 6-38. Ketcham finished the season with a 4.80 ERA, a 5-10 won-lost record, and 63 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings of work. Three Silver Bullets – Sunny, Michele McAnany, and Jeanette Amado – finished the season each with a .200 batting average and combined for 49 hits.31 Nearly 250,000 spectators turned out to watch them play, with an average of 5,687 fans per game.32

Two of the most memorable games from the 1994 inaugural season took place in early July. On July 2 the Silver Bullets faced Pueblo Spradley, a team of top Division II college players, in front of a crowd of 2,000. Despite a 3-0 loss, the team was competitive, with Ketcham striking out five batters.33

The next day, the Silver Bullets faced the Colorado Sox34 at Mile High Stadium in Denver, then the home of the Colorado Rockies. Despite the Silver Bullets’ entering the game with a 1-23 record, a season-high 33,179 fans turned out. The team played error-free baseball throughout the game and took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Although the Sox ultimately won 6-1, the Silver Bullets delivered a commendable performance. “You can’t judge this team by wins and losses. They didn’t grow up playing baseball all their lives like men do. Sure, it hurts to lose. But they also know this is the opportunity of a lifetime,” noted Niekro.35

The Silver Bullets showed significant improvement during their 1995 campaign, with an 11-33 record that nearly doubled their number of wins from ’94. They continued to build on their momentum in 1996, finishing at 18-34.

But 1997 was the Silver Bullets’ final season. “[T]here wasn’t the fan support and popularity that we had hoped. Our dreams were higher than reality,” Coors Brewing chief marketing officer Bill Weintraub observed, nearly three decades later.36

Still, the Silver Bullets achieved their first winning record in 1997 with a 23-22 finish, capping a memorable journey for the participants.

“Playing for the Silver Bullets was the time of my life. … Baseball has affected every single part of everything that I do,” Silver Bullets pitcher Shea Sloan remarked in a 2023 SABR panel discussion.37

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Lee Anne Ketcham, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted coloradosilverbullets.org, an unofficial website featuring content and photographs sourced from team programs, newsletters, and other related materials.

Notes

1 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory,” Louisville Courier-Journal, May 29, 1994: 31.

2 Isabelle Minasian, “Silver Bullets Come to Cooperstown,” Baseball Hall of Fame, https://baseballhall.org/discover/colorado-silver-bullets-come-to-cooperstown, accessed January 2025.

3 Eric Goldberg, “Women Seek Own League,” Greenville (South Carolina) News, May 10, 1994: 10. Gina Satriano comes from a rich baseball lineage as the daughter of former catcher Tom Satriano, who enjoyed a 10-year major-league career, primarily with the Los Angeles/California Angels and the Boston Red Sox. The father-daughter duo even appeared together on the podcast The 27th Inning in November 2021.

4 Rachel Blount, “Counting More Than Wins, Losses,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 27, 1994: 41.

5 Jason Olson, “Rockets No. 8 Honored with Ron Cottone Day in Richfield,” Eden Prairie (Minnesota) Sun Current, August 18, 2023, https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_current/community/richfield/rockets-no-8-honored-with-ron-cottone-day-in-richfield/article_25a58fcc-3dd3-11ee-a704-979e1e4ec832.html.

6 Jason Olson, “Ron Cottone Was Mr. Baseball in Richfield,” Eden Prairie Sun Current, December 13, 2022, https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_current/community/richfield/ron-cottone-was-mr-baseball-in-richfield/article_1bdc9768-7a9e-11ed-9f83-c30716ce45cc.html.

7 Olson, “Rockets No. 8 Honored with Ron Cottone Day in Richfield.”

8 David Knox, “A Brand-New Ballgame,” Vestavia (Alabama) Voice, March 25, 2015, https://vestaviavoice.com/peopleplaces/a-brand-new-ballgame325/.

9 Samford University Athletics, “Beanie Ketcham – Softball Coach,” https://samfordsports.com/sports/softball/roster/coaches/beanie-ketcham/145, accessed January 2025.

10 Mike Baldwin, “Silver Bullets Feature Ex-Cowgirl,” Oklahoman (Oklahoma City), April 17, 1994, https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1994/04/17/silver-bullets-feature-ex-cowgirl/62428326007/.

11 “Silver Bullets Feature Ex-Cowgirl.”

12 Karin Winegar and Maria Elena Bacs, “Silver Bullets Make Baseball Pioneers Flash Back to Golden Years,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 29, 1994: 27.

13 Founded in 1943 and active until 1954, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) provided women with the opportunity to play professional baseball at a time when Major League Baseball faced player shortages due to World War II. Combining athleticism with a distinctive emphasis on femininity, the league was later popularized by the film A League of Their Own.

14 “Silver Bullets Make Baseball Pioneers Flash Back to Golden Years.”

15 “Silver Bullets Make Baseball Pioneers Flash Back to Golden Years.”

16 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

17 “Silver Bullets Better Than Rockets,” Vancouver (British Columbia) Province, May 29, 1994: 66.

18 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

19 “Bullets/St.Paul Crowd Celebrates First Victory,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 28, 1994: 30.

20 Stacy Sunny became the team leader in games played (43), runs (11), hits (22), triples (1), RBIs (11), total bases (28), doubles (4), and slugging percentage (.255).

21 “Silver Bullets Better Than Rockets.” Sixteen years before facing the Silver Bullets, Kevin Sevcik, then 21 years old, pitched in three games for the Elizabethton Twins of the Rookie-level Appalachian League. Over those appearances, he pitched a total of 8 innings, allowing 11 hits and 15 runs, 10 of which were earned.

22 Dan Clouser, “Missy Coombes – An Original Silver Bullet,” Journey of My Mother’s Son, April 24, 2020, https://journeyofmymothersson.com/2020/04/missy-coombes-an-original-silver-bullet/.

23 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

24 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

25 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

26 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

27 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

28 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

29 “Bullets/St.Paul Crowd Celebrates First victory.”

30 “Silver Bullets Shoot Down First Victory.”

31 Michele McAnany’s father, Jim McAnany, had a five-season major-league career, three seasons with the Chicago White Sox and two with the Chicago Cubs.

32 Gai Ingham Berlage, “The Colorado Silver Bullets: Can Promotion Based on ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Be Successful?” in SABR 50 at 50 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2020), 226, https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-colorado-silver-bullets-can-promotion-based-on-battle-of-the-sexes-be-successful/.

33 “Silver Bullets Lose 3-0 but Stun College Squad,” Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Florida), July 3, 1994: 43.

34 The Colorado Sox were a semipro team made up of Colorado collegiate players

35 Greg Johnson, “33,179 at Mile High See Silver Bullets Fall,” Boulder (Colorado) Daily Camera, July 4, 1994: 20.

36 Kyle Newman, “Three Decades After Colorado Silver Bullets’ Inception, Women’s Baseball Still Working Toward Its Next Collective Watershed Moment,” Denver Post, October 13, 2024, https://www.denverpost.com/2024/10/13/colorado-silver-bullets-womens-baseball-retrospective/.

37 “Watch Highlights from the Telling Their Story Panel at the 2023 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference,” SABR.org, October 8, 2023, https://sabr.org/latest/watch-highlights-from-the-telling-their-story-panel-at-the-2023-sabr-iwbc-women-in-baseball-conference/.