September 13, 1948: Eleanor Callow’s clutch hits give Rockford Peaches commanding lead in Western Division finals

The Racine Belles, needing a win to tie the best-of-five All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Western Division championship series against the Rockford Peaches, took a slim 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning of Game Two.

Rockford slugger Eleanor Callow (née Knudsen, later Litterick) was not about to let Racine pull even. She laced a two-out RBI single in the sixth, and in the eighth she blasted a two-out double to drive in two more runs. The Peaches held on for a 3-1 victory, taking a stranglehold on the series in front of 3,703 exuberant fans at Beyer Stadium. It was Callow’s third consecutive game-winning RBI in the playoffs.1

Callow, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, had joined the AAGPBL as a 19-year-old catcher in 1947. She hit .245 for the Peoria Redwings in her rookie season – a promising start considering the league batting average was just .197. Callow’s playing time in Peoria was initially limited because of two more experienced catchers on the roster,2 but she eventually saw more action as a right fielder.3

In 1948 Callow was assigned to the expansion Chicago Colleens and earned a role as a starting outfielder.4 When the Colleens stumbled to a 1-13 start, the league bolstered their roster with eight veteran players, including the popular Rita Briggs from the Peaches.5 The unheralded Callow was sent to Rockford as compensation for losing Briggs, and Peaches fans were not pleased – at first.6 Callow eventually settled in as Rockford’s regular left fielder and cleanup hitter, hitting .251 with 52 RBIs in just 387 at-bats. She also flashed an impressive speed-power combination by setting a league record with 15 triples,7 finishing second in the circuit with six home runs,8 and stealing 19 bases.

Racine had built up a healthy lead in the standings in late July,9 only to have the Peaches go on a 30-12 run from July 27 to September 4, which made the season-ending three-game set between the two teams a winner-take-all affair for the divisional title.10 The Belles won two of three and claimed their third pennant since the league began play in 1943.11

The Belles and Peaches both swept their best-of-five Western Division semifinal series. Rockford’s pitching was dazzling, as Lois “Flash” Florreich tossed a no-hitter in Game One and Marge Holgerson (later Silvestri) duplicated the feat in Game Three.12 The Kenosha Comets managed only two hits and two unearned runs in the series, all of which came against Game Two starter Helen Nicol Fox.

Rockford faced Racine looking to avenge its pennant loss and a heart-breaking defeat at the hands of the Belles in the 1946 playoff final. Racine won the deciding game of that series − perhaps the greatest AAGPBL game ever played – because of the speed and daring baserunning of its All-Star second baseman and leadoff hitter, Sophie Kurys. But Kurys had suffered a serious ankle injury in the first round of the 1948 playoffs and was unavailable for the first two games of the Western Division finals.13

Despite being held to three hits in Game One by All-Star hurler Joanne Winter, the Peaches beat the Belles, 2-0. Callow recorded two of Rockford’s three hits, drove in the game-winning tally, and scored an insurance run. Florreich continued her dominance by throwing a complete-game one-hitter.14

Rockford manager Bill Allington, sticking with his stellar three-woman rotation, tapped Nicol Fox to start Game Two.15 The 28-year-old righty from Ardley, Alberta, had a regular-season record of 17-13 and a 2.61 ERA.16

Eleanor Dapkus (later Wolf), a 24-year-old right-hander, got the start for Racine. The Chicago native had been primarily an outfielder before becoming a two-way player in 1948,17 which was the AAGPBL’s first season with overhand pitching.18 Dapkus had gone 24-9 with a 1.55 ERA, while ranking second on the Belles with 46 RBIs and tying for the team lead with 4 homers.19

Nicol Fox got off to a rocky start in the first inning. Racine shortstop Betty “Moe” Trezza singled with one out, but was gunned down trying to steal second on a “perfect peg” by catcher Jean Lovell (later Dowler).20 Center fielder Philomena “Phil” Gianfrancisco (later Zale) followed with a triple, and then Edie Perlick (later Keating) drilled an RBI single through the box, bringing home the first earned run against Rockford in the playoffs. The inning ended when Lovell recorded her second caught stealing of the inning by throwing out Perlick at second base.

Dapkus protected Racine’s 1-0 lead in the first five innings, limiting Rockford to two harmless singles.21

Nicol Fox settled down after the first and held Racine to two hits and two walks in the next seven frames. The only time the Belles threatened was in the sixth when Gianfrancisco walked and Perlick singled, but Callow threw out Gianfrancisco trying to go from first to third.22

In the bottom of the sixth, first baseman Dorothy “Dottie” Kamenshek walked and stole second on a pitch that struck out Dorothy “Snookie” Harrell (later Doyle) for the second out of the inning.23 Callow came through in the clutch, launching a screaming line drive just out of the reach of second baseman Georgette Vincent (later Mooney), and Kamenshek raced home with the tying run.

The score remained knotted, 1-1, until the bottom of the eighth. Center fielder Dorothy “Dottie” Ferguson (later Key) – the third Canadian on the Peaches24 − reached on an infield single with one out. After Ferguson stole second, Dapkus intentionally walked Kamenshek, the AAGPBL batting champion in 1946-47. The next batter, Harrell, hit a long fly ball that left fielder Perlick caught in foul territory, and neither runner was able to advance on the play.25

For the second consecutive time, Callow came to the plate with two outs and a chance to drive in at least one baserunner. Callow hammered a double into the gap,26 scoring Ferguson easily. The Belles’ throw home was too late to nail Kamenshek, and Rockford led, 3-1.27 Racine was suddenly down to its last three outs.

The Belles could only muster Gianfrancisco’s one-out double in the ninth.28 Nicol Fox buckled down and retired Perlick and Dapkus for the final two outs, giving Rockford a two-games-to-none series lead.

Although Racine outhit Rockford, 6-5, Callow’s timely hits were the difference. “With her clutch hitting, Eleanor Callow is making Rockford Peaches fans forget the early June trade that sent Rita Briggs to Chicago,” wrote the Rockford Register-Republic. “The deal was not popular at the time, but Callow … quickly set about making herself a favorite with the fans here. She enhanced her popularity last night with a single and a double that batted in three runs and pulled a playoff game out of the fire against Racine.”29

With the Belles facing elimination in Game Three, Kurys had novocaine injected into her ankle and made a valiant return to the lineup. It was all for naught.30 Rockford defeated Racine 1-0 on Holgerson’s two-hit shutout and game-winning squeeze bunt, sweeping the series.

Rockford breezed through the best-of-seven playoff final, defeating the Fort Wayne Daisies in five games. Once again, the Peaches’ pitching was spectacular. Nicol Fox hurled a pair of complete-game victories against the Daisies and finished with a postseason record of 4-0 with just three earned runs allowed. The trio of hurlers used by Rockford in the playoff combined for a 10-1 record and a stunning 0.37 ERA.31

Callow knocked in a remarkable 10 runs in 11 postseason contests – no other Peaches hitter had more than four RBIs. She also chipped in with four runs scored, two stolen bases, and an outfield assist. The performance had the Grand Rapids Press dubbing Callow “the hitting star of the 1948 playoffs.”32

The league’s beat writers recognized Callow’s breakout season by voting her onto the first All-Star team.33 It was a sign of things to come. Her career continued on an upward trajectory and she was named to an AAGPBL All-Star team every season until the league ceased operations in January 1955.34

Powered by outstanding pitching and Callow’s slugging, Rockford went on to win three consecutive playoff championships from 1948 to 1950. The Peaches, who had also won the 1945 playoff title, surpassed Racine as the most successful team in AAGPBL history.35 Rockford was the only team to win more than two playoff titles in the league’s 12-year run.36

Callow was just 27 years old – and still with the Peaches − when the AAGPBL folded. Despite missing some of her prime years, she is still the AAGPBL’s all-time leader in home runs (55) and triples (60), and her 407 RBIs rank third despite having just 2,765 at-bats.37 She finished her career with a splendid .273 career batting average and 217 stolen bases.

Callow was even better in the postseason, hitting .322 with 32 RBIs in 171 career at-bats. She holds the AAGPBL playoff records for most career RBIs, doubles (nine), and triples (three).

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Stew Thornley and copy-edited by Mike Eisenbath.

Photo credit: Eleanor Callow, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted AAGPBL.org, The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book, NoNoHitters.com, Baseball-Reference.com, and the SABR biography of Eleanor Callow. Unless otherwise noted, all play-by-play information was taken from the article “Peaches Need One More Win as Playoff Switches to Racine,” in the September 14, 1948, edition of the Rockford Register-Republic. Box scores and standings were referenced in the Rockford Register-Republic and the Racine Journal-Times.

Notes

1 Callow recorded the game-winning RBI in the final game of the Peaches’ first-round sweep of the Kenosha Comets and the first two games of their second-round series against Racine. “Rockford Blanks Comets to Take Series, 4–0,” Kenosha Evening News, September 13, 1948: 8; “Peaches Shut Out the Belles, 2 to 0,” Racine Journal-Times, September 13, 1948: 13; “Belles Bow to Peaches, 3-1; Play 3d Game Here Tonight,” Racine Journal-Times, September 14, 1948: 11.

2 The two experienced catchers on Peoria’s Opening Day roster were Joyce Hill (later Westerman) and Terry Donahue. “AAGL Team Rosters for 1947,” Racine Journal-Times, May 7, 1947: 16.

3 Callow made 143 at-bats in Peoria’s 112 games. “Redwings Lose 5–3 to Grand Rapids,” Peoria Star, June 12, 1947: 23, 34.

4 “Peaches Triumph Over Colleens, Temperature,” Rockford Register-Republic, May 12, 1948: 2.

5 The AAGPBL reserved the right to reassign players from one team to another whenever it was in the league’s best interests. “Peaches Lose Rita Briggs,” Rockford Morning Star, May 30, 1948: 37.

6 Rockford also received rookie infielder Barbara “Bobbie” Liebrich from the Kenosha Comets as compensation for losing Briggs. Liebrich finished with only four at-bats in her AAGPBL career. She became a team chaperone for five seasons. “Peaches Lose Rita Briggs”; Dick Day, “Peaches Need One More Win as Play-off Switches to Racine,” Rockford Register-Republic, September 14, 1948: 13.

7 Callow’s single-season record for three-baggers was broken when Betty Weaver Foss slammed 17 triples in 1952.

8 The league leader was Connie Wisniewski of the Grand Rapids Chicks with seven round-trippers. Callow’s six homers tied her with Peoria’s Faye Dancer. Callow tied for the league lead in homers in 1950 and 1951 and never finished lower than fifth from 1948 to 1954.

9 The AAGPBL standings in the newspapers on July 27 were inconsistent. Rockford trailed Racine by between 7½ and 8½ games; the Peaches also trailed second-place Peoria by 2 games.

10 “Belles Beat Peaches Twice to Win Division Honors,” Racine Journal-Times, September 7, 1948: 11.

11 Racine finished the regular season with a 77-49 record, 1½ games ahead of Rockford (75-50).

12 Holgerson tossed three no-hitters from August 22 to September 11, 1948. She threw her first of four career no-hitters on August 20, 1947. Florreich’s no-hitter against Kenosha in Game One was the first of her AAGPBL career. She tossed two more in 1949.

13 “Sophie Kurys Injured as Belles Sweep Peoria Series Saturday,” Racine Journal-Times, September 13, 1948: 13.

14 “Peaches Shut Out the Belles, 2 to 0.”

15 Despite going 14-5 with a 2.21 ERA in the regular season, Rockford’s two-way player Rose Gacioch did not pitch in the playoffs. She was the Peaches’ regular right fielder in the postseason.

16 Nicol Fox was one of the few AAGPBL hurlers to transition successfully from underhand to side-arm and then overhand pitching as league rules evolved. Annabelle “Lefty” Lee (later Harmon) and Dorothy “Dottie” Wiltse Collins were two other pitchers who had success using all three pitching styles. Nicol Fox holds many of the AAGPBL’s career pitching records, including most wins (163), appearances (313), innings pitched (2,382), and strikeouts (1,076). She finished her 10-year career with a 163-118 record and a 1.89 ERA.

17 Dapkus joined the league in 1943. She began pitching in 1947, going 0-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 55 innings. The league allowed sidearm but no overhand pitching in 1946-47. Prior to 1946, all pitching was underhand.

18 In 1948 the circumference of the ball was reduced from 11 to 10⅜ inches (a regulation baseball is 9 inches) and the pitching distance was increased from 43 to 50 feet. Anika Orrock, The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2020), 62-63.

19 Philomena Gianfrancisco (later Zale) also hit four homers in the regular season. Edie Perlick (later Keating) led the Belles with 51 RBIs.

20 “Callow, Harrell Star as Peaches Edge Racine, 3-1,” Rockford Morning Star, September 14, 1949: 15.

21 Dapkus issued between zero and two of her four walks in the first five innings. Kamenshek walked in the sixth and eighth innings, but it is unclear when the other walks were issued. “Callow, Harrell Star as Peaches Edge Racine, 3-1.”

22 “Callow, Harrell Star as Peaches Edge Racine, 3-1.”

23 “Callow, Harrell Star as Peaches Edge Racine, 3-1.”

24 Of the more than 600 women who played (or chaperoned) in the AAGPBL, 68 were Canadian, and the Peaches benefited from a disproportionate share of the baseball talent from north of the border. The Peaches averaged more than three Canucks on their roster each season, with a peak of six Canadians on the 1943 and 1946 squads. That is a substantial percentage of the Rockford team considering rosters were typically limited to only 16 players. “AAGPBL,” Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, https://baseballhalloffame.ca/hall-of-famer/aagpbl/, accessed April 30, 2026; Gary Belleville, “The Trailblazing Canadian Trio That Powered the Rockford Peaches Dynasty of 1948-50,” Journal of Canadian Baseball / Revue du Baseball Canadien, November 1, 2023.

25 “Callow, Harrell Star as Peaches Edge Racine, 3-1.”

26 According to the Rockford Morning Star, Callow’s double was hit to left-center field; the Rockford Register-Republic reported that it was hit to right-center field.

27 Callow was tagged out trying to take third. “Callow, Harrell Star as Peaches Edge Racine, 3-1.”

28 The diminutive Gianfrancisco (5-foot-2, 134 lbs.) had three of Racine’s six hits and was a home run short of the cycle. The Rockford Morning Star reported that her hit in the ninth inning was just a single, but its box score gave her credit for a single, a double, and a triple in the game. Gianfrancisco’s four regular-season homers were tied for fourth best in the league.

29 Day, “Peaches Need One More Win as Play-off Switches to Racine.”

30 Kurys still could not put full weight onto the ankle, and she went 0-for-4 in the game. “Peaches Shade Belles, 1-0 in Third Game of Playoffs,” Racine Journal-Times, September 15, 1949: 21.

31 By comparison, the lowest team ERA in the National or American League playoffs from 1969 to 2025 was 1.10 by the 1983 Baltimore Orioles. The 1969 season marked the first time the NL or AL had multiple playoff rounds.

32 “Rockford Peaches to Be Threat for Chicks,” Grand Rapids Press, April 13, 1949: 28.

33 Callow finished in a five-way tie for the second utility outfield position on the first All-Star team. Eddie McKenna, “Wagner Tops All-Star Team with 105 out of 110 Votes,” Kenosha News, September 30, 1948: 16.

34 The AAGPBL named one or more All-Star teams at the end of every season between 1946 and 1954. Callow was selected to the first All-Star team four times (1948, 1951-52, 1954), the second All-Star team once (1949), and in 1950 she was named to the third team. Second and third All-Star teams were not selected every season and the author could find no evidence that they were named in 1953. The AAGPBL also held a midseason All-Star Game in 1943 and 1952-54. Callow was one of only nine players to appear in all three games from 1952 to 1954. Gary Belleville, “Eleanor Callow,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/eleanor-callow/, accessed April 30, 2026.

35 The AAGPBL began play in 1943. The Belles had finished first in the regular-season standings three times (1943, ’46, and ’48). They won the playoff championship in 1943 and 1946.

36 The South Bend Blue Sox (1951, 1952), Grand Rapids Chicks (1947, 1953), and Racine Belles (1943, 1946) each won two playoff championships. The Milwaukee Chicks also won in 1945 before their move to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Kalamazoo Lassies won the playoff championship in 1954, the league’s final season. Racine failed to make the postseason in 1949 and 1950 and were relocated to Battle Creek, Michigan for the 1951 season. “Racine Belles Transfer to Battle Creek for ’51 Baseball Season,” Battle Creek Enquirer and News, February 4, 1951: 12.

37 Some have referred to Eleanor Callow as the Babe Ruth of the AAGPBL. But given her speed, defensive abilities, and her penchant for triples, Tris Speaker would be a better comparison. Of the five AAGPBL sluggers who drove in at least 400 RBIs in their career, nobody drove in runs at a faster clip than Callow, who averaged 88.3 RBIs per 600 regular-season at-bats. In the playoffs, she averaged 112.3 RBIs per 600 at-bats.