When Larry Peterson, 77, starts ticking off stats about the Nebraska Senior Softball League, it quickly becomes clear that some numbers matter to him and some do not.
Two. That’s the number of remaining players from when the league was first founded way back in the year 2000. That’s when a fresh-faced, 52-year-old Peterson and his then-60-year-old friend, Joe Barrientos, joined Dave Banghart’s fledgling league.
As one of the remaining two original players, and the league chaplain, Peterson can readily list off the amount of teams in the Nebraska Senior Softball League (17, as of this past summer season), the games that teams play (50-60 in a given season), or any other figures related to the league.
What makes the league unique, however, are the kind of numbers not found on a spreadsheet or on the back of a baseball card or a birth certificate; the kind that have an impact felt on the diamond and off.
“The relationships are what matter,” Peterson said. “For instance, as a minister, I’ve done about a half dozen funerals for the players that I grew a relationship with. I’ve done one wedding and it’s just really great and I love being a part of that. When Dave Banghart (the league’s founder) asked if I’d be the lead chaplain, I take that seriously.”
Fun, fitness, and fellowship—that’s what Peterson signed on for, back when there were only two teams in the league and Bill Clinton was still the president of the United States.
Those three pillars have endured as the league has expanded, with a little help from word of mouth and, according to Barrientos, a little local political news coverage.
“What happened the second year is that Mayor Daub came in and that got front page coverage,” Barrientos, now 84, recalled. “And all of a sudden it picked up to, instead of having two teams, we had six.”
The players may be aging, but their competitive fire burns as hot as a Nebraska July afternoon.
“People will say, ‘this is a very competitive league,’ and we have people play in their 50s up into their early 80s,” Peterson said. “We’re still playing competitive softball against each other. You can see that each one of us has grown older, but the skills are still there.”
Fun and fellowship are core tenets, but how the game is played still matters in this league.
The league holds a draft for incoming players, after assessing their skill set through a tryout process. Players are chosen for teams to spread out the talent and, though there are accommodations made to keep everyone safe, the players to stay active year-round.
“We have batting practice during the wintertime,” Barrientos said, a catcher whose love of the game kept him coming back for 24 years. “A lot of us guys go down Tuesdays and Fridays, just batting practice for an hour. So we have fun for about an hour of playing ball.”
While there may be air quotes around “young” in this league, the youth help to keep things fresh, and the various ages of the players allow for wisdom, as well as stories to be passed on to future generations.
“25 years later, we can look at the new recruits that we’ve had that have joined in their early 50s. We call them ‘the kids,’” Peterson said. “There’re a lot of young people that do look up to the seniors, not only just for their playing abilities, but for the wisdom that they share with them, just about life. But at the same time, the older ones, we look to the youth. Because we love to see it when we break down the barriers that some people would see between the youth and the older people. There’re barriers of just talking, relationship, respect, and certainly the talent is there.”
Both Peterson and Barrientos grew up with softball in their lives and neither show any signs of leaving it behind. Not even with a double knee replacement for Peterson last season or Barrientos’ flirtation with retirement from the game.
“I thought I was going to give it up last year,” Barrientos admitted. “I thought it was going to be my last year, and I said, ‘no, I got to keep going.’”
As for Peterson, he’s going to continue playing the game that he loves and sorting through the numbers, some that, admittedly, matter more than others.
“We’ve had something like 300 different players that have enjoyed at least one season, since the league started,” he said. “I’ve ministered to a bunch of the players. I prayed with them in the stands, with them when they’ve had some family member pass away, or for the player themselves, and to comfort the family when the player passes away. It’s a very positive community.”
For more information, visit neseniorsoftball.com.
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2025 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
