The very first baseball game was played in the animal and wagon parking area of the St Marys Catholic church in 1866. A Benedictine monk started playing the games with local farm boys. The early nines began in the 1860s. The first official team was created in 1868 consisting of Joseph Rosenhoover, Henry Loeffler, Charles Volk, George Rettger and a few other boys. One day when they wanted to play a game, they walked twelve miles to Ridgeway just to catch a game. At one time there was a team, a nine, for each street in town and numerous leagues were formed. Incidentally , any street or road named after a surname is usually where an early farm was located. Some examples include Evers Avenue, Rightmeyer Street, and Benzinger Road. Some of the early team names include, Benzinger Nine, whom Ed Wurm was a member, Michael Street nine, Ed Worm was a member here as well, the Sugar Hill nine, the Daisy Cutters, the Sabbaths, the Experts, and the Modocs. A local sports writer in the 1930s named Jack O’Brian said “There were more (baseball) teams than streets in St.Mary’s.
There were six baseball fields in St Marys and the Benzinger Township area. Benzinger township is really where the sport of baseball took off. There were impromptu fields created in factory parking lots, farmers fields and empty lots. The first official field was at the Trotting Park on Theresia Street, across from the former Speer Carbon Company, The field was in the center of the horse race track. This is the field that was used before Berwind Park became the official baseball field. There was a lot more open space before World War Two. Impromptu fields were found behind factories, in farmer’s fields and between streets. Look between Washington Street and Erie Avenue, there was a field there. In the Berwind Heights neighborhood there was always a field there, but an official field was not built there until 1914. At Kaulmont park there was a baseball and softball park. This field was primarily used for the Carbon League. St Marys and the former Benznger township had multiple leagues. Memorial Park, where the local little league is played today, was originally a farmer’s pond, where ice war harvested. In 1916, St Marys had a minor league team that was part of the Interstae League. They were called the St Mary’s Saints. Their home games were held at Memorial Park. There was a field between Fourth Street svd Washington Strett, and finally one between Rightmeyev Stteet and Washington Street.
St Mary’s and the former Benzinger Township has quite a bit of fascinating sports history. However, baseball was the first sport played here and the citizens fully embraced it. There is so much forgotten baseball history and it is the people who played it that make the sport worthwhile.