By Jim Hagerty
Reporter

ROCKFORD – Mary Pratt, the last known remaining member of the original Rockford Peaches, has died at the age of 101.

Pratt, a pitcher who also played for the Kenosha Comets of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), died Wednesday in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Born in Bridgeport, Pratt was an accomplished athlete who competed mostly against boys. Three years into her teaching career, she tried out for the AAGPBL in 1943 and landed a spot on the Peaches roster.

“I was escorted to Rockford and joined that team,” Pratt said in an interview posted on the AAGPBL website. “That evening, Rockford was in the process of playing a league game at the 15th Avenue stadium. That was my introduction into the All-American and the start of five wonderful summers as a member of the league.”

Pratt was reassigned to Kenosha in early 1944 and played there through the 1947 season. She recalled the transaction.

“Rockford at the time was on the road,” she said. “I recall it being an adjustment at the time because all of my clothes were back at the Nyquist’s where Dottie Green and I rented our room.”

Pratt taught school for 48 years and earned degrees from Boston University and the University of Massachusetts.