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<p>FOSTER TWP. &#8212; In the village of Orangeville, if you asked someone about Sarah Sands, he or she might respond: &#8220;Sarah who?&#8221; But, if you call her by her nickname, &#8220;Salty Sands,&#8221; they&#8217;ll know right away who you&#8217;re talking about.</p><p>That&#8217;s &#8220;Salty&#8221; Sands &#8212; former professional baseball player, former school bus driver, former Civil Service worker at the state Capitol in Harrisburg and former employee of a U.S. Navy Research Center, where the original astronauts trained, and now, mother of two.</p><p>Sands appeared Sunday as a featured speaker at a program that coincided with a World War II re-enactment at historic Eckley Miners&#8217; Village, and her message &#8212; especially to young people &#8212; was simple: &#8220;If you have a dream, then go for it. You can fulfill that dream if you remain determined. I had a dream and I got to live it.&#8221;</p><p>She recalled the sacrifices made by Americans during the war, the victory gardens, rationing, and news on the radio of Allied combat successes.</p><p>But Sands said her dream as a young person in the 1940s was to play professional baseball. She was a batgirl for the Orangeville baseball team in Columbia County. She also warmed up pitchers and even shagged flies in the outfield, but she wanted to play full-time.</p><p>This opportunity came in 1952 when, through a scout from Allentown, Paul Schuler, she signed a contract with the Rockford (Illinois) Peaches of the All-American Girls&#8217; League. She said she signed for $200 per month, plus a per diem of $3.50 per day in meal money which was paid when the team traveled. And, the team traveled to destinations in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.</p><p>The league was featured in a 1992 film entitled &#8220;A League of Their Own&#8221; which starred Tom Hanks and Geena Davis.</p><p>Sands said she had a small role in the production and recalled traveling in 1990 to Skokie, Ill., where filming was being done.</p><p>For the most part, Sands played right field for the Peaches, although at times she also filled in at catcher. She said she batted .210, but was known for having a &#8220;rocket arm.&#8221; Sands told of leading the league in put-outs in throwing out baserunners from rightfield.</p><p>In speaking of World War II, Sands reminisced that the All-American Girls&#8217; League grew out of the military draft. She said Phil Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, feared that baseball was endangered because a large number of players were summoned into military service and the sport would pass from the public focus.</p><p>In order to sustain national interest in the game, Sands said Wrigley decided to organize a women&#8217;s league. Teams were formed in such midwest cities as South Bend, Kalazamoo and Skokie, besides Rockford.</p><p>Sands said, &#8220;I was so blessed in my life. I fulfilled my dream. I got to be in the movies and now our league is enshrined in the baseball hall of fame.&#8221; She said that in response to a public petition, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., created a display featuring the teams and players of the All-American Girls&#8217; League.</p><p>Sands added that many of the players &#8212; 150 0f them in 1982 in Chicago &#8212; meet annually at a reunion. This year, she added, it&#8217;s in Sarasota, Fla.</p><p>Another aspect of the World War II re-enactment was the depicition of a 1940s radio broadcast which featured Gina Gibbon, of Hanover Township, as a lead singer and James Guydosh, of Wilkes-Barre, as an announcer/master of ceremonies. Gibbon performed the war era song &#8220;Kiss Me Once, Kiss Me Once Again,&#8221; and led a patriotic series which saluted the five branches of the military.</p><p>A rendering of the adventure western program &#8220;The Lone Ranger&#8221; was also part of the overall presentation, entitled &#8220;The Eckley Hour.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Sarah Jane &#8216;Salty&#8217; Sands, of Orangeville, Columbia County, recalls her playing days with the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during a program this past weekend at Eckley Miners&#8217; Village. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080716Eckley_7.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sarah Jane &#8216;Salty&#8217; Sands, of Orangeville, Columbia County, recalls her playing days with the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during a program this past weekend at Eckley Miners&#8217; Village. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Sarah &#8216;Salty&#8217; Jones also had a role in &#8216;A Leage of Their Own&#8217;</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Huntington</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

A Peach recalls playing 1940s pro baseball, and in ‘A League of Their Own’