# 1945 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season

The 1945 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the third season of the circuit. The action began with six teams, like the previous season. But the Milwaukee Chicks and the Minneapolis Millerettes franchises were renamed the Grand Rapids Chicks and Fort Wayne Daisies respectively. The measure took effect for poor attendances in the cities of these teams the year before. At this point, the new clubs joined the Kenosha Comets, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox, all founding members of the league. The six teams competed through a 110-game schedule, while the split season was dropped in favor of a longer playoff format with the Shaugnessy format: the one seed facing the three seed and the two seed against the four seed. In addition, the pitching distance increased from 40 to 42 feet during the midseason.
Nevertheless, the pitchers continued to dominate the league as an all-time record eight no-hitters were recorded in the season. Rockford's Carolyn Morris hurled a perfect game against Fort Wayne, while South Bend's Betty Luna threw four shutouts in a stretch, including her first career no-hitter. Grand Rapids' Connie Wisniewski led all pitchers with her 32 victories and a 0.81 earned run average, rivalizing with Fort Wayne's Dorothy Wiltse who recorded 29 wins and a 0.83 ERA. But the other side, Mary Nesbitt of Racine was the only hitter to top the .300 mark (.319) while Fort Wayne teammates Helen Callaghan and Faye Dancer tied for the home run title with three a piece. Wisniewski was honored with the AAGPBL Player of the Year Award.
In the playoffs, champion Rockford played third place Grand Rapids and second place Fort Wayne took Racine. Rockford and Fort Wayne ended up facing each other in the finals, with Rockford becoming the first team to win both the season title and the championship in league history. Morris, who went 28–12 with a 1.08 ERA in the season, defeated the Chicks three times in the first round and repeated her feat against the Daisies in the finals, proving that good pitching is most important that hitting during a short series.
The AAGPBL drew 450,000 fans during the 1945 season, which represented a 19 percent raise over the previous year.

## Teams

1945 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Teams :
| Team | City | Stadium |
| Fort Wayne Daisies | Fort Wayne, Indiana | North Side High School |
| Grand Rapids Chicks | Grand Rapids, Michigan | South High School Field |
| Kenosha Comets | Kenosha, Wisconsin | Lake Front Stadium |
| Racine Belles | Racine, Wisconsin | Horlick Field |
| Rockford Peaches | Rockford, Illinois | Rockford Municipal Stadium |
| South Bend Blue Sox | South Bend, Indiana | Bendix Field |

## Final standings

| Rank | Team | W | L | W-L% | GB |
| 1 | Rockford Peaches | 67 | 43 | .609 | – |
| 2 | Fort Wayne Daisies | 62 | 47 | .569 | 4½ |
| 3 | Grand Rapids Chicks | 60 | 50 | .545 | 7 |
| 4 | Racine Belles | 50 | 60 | .455 | 17 |
| 5 | South Bend Blue Sox | 49 | 60 | .450 | 17½ |
| 6 | Kenosha Comets | 41 | 69 | .372 | 26 |

## Postseason

| First round Best of five series | First round Best of five series | First round Best of five series | Second round Best of seven series | Second round Best of seven series | Second round Best of seven series |
| 1 | Rockford Peaches | 3 | | | |
| 3 | Grand Rapids Chicks | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Grand Rapids Chicks | 1 | 1 | Rockford Peaches | 4 |
| | | | 2 | Fort Wayne Daisies | 1 |
| 2 | Fort Wayne Daisies | 3 | 2 | Fort Wayne Daisies | 1 |
| 4 | Racine Belles | 1 | | | |

## Batting statistics

| Statistic | Player | Record |
| Batting average | Mary Nesbitt (RAC) Helen Callaghan (FW) Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC) Margaret Wigiser (ROC) Elizabeth Mahon (SB) Thelma Eisen (GR) Dorothy Harrell (ROC) Sophie Kurys (RAC) Kay Rohrer (ROC) Betsy Jochum (SB) | .319 .299 .274 .249 .246 .240 .239 .239 .239 .237 |
| Runs scored | Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC) Helen Callaghan (FW) Sophie Kurys (RAC) Mary Baker (SB) Edythe Perlick (RAC) Mildred Deegan (ROC) Faye Dancer (FW) Thelma Eisen (GR) Helen Filarski (ROC) | 80 77 73 49 47 47 44 44 44 |
| Hits | Helen Callaghan (FW) Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC) Phyllis Koehn (KEN/SB) Thelma Eisen (GR) Mary Baker (SB) Betsy Jochum (SB) Sophie Kurys (RAC) Edythe Perlick (RAC) Vivian Kellogg (FW) | 122 115 95 94 93 92 83 83 82 |
| Doubles | Helen Callaghan (FW) Thelma Eisen (GR) Margaret Stefani (SB) Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC) Vivian Kellogg (FW) Mildred Deegan (ROC) Doris Tetzlaff (GR) Margaret Wigiser (ROC) Kay Rohrer (ROC) Lee Surkowski (SB) Rose Gacioch (ROC) | 17 16 13 11 10 9 9 8 8 8 8 |
| Triples | Audrey Wagner (KEN) Gertrude Ganote (SB) Margaret Stefani (SB) Edythe Perlick (RAC) Vivian Kellogg (FW) Lois Florreich (SB/KEN) Mary Baker (SB) Mildred Deegan (ROC) Lee Surkowski (SB) Helen Callaghan (FW) Phyllis Koehn (KEN/SB) | 9 8 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 3 3 |
| Home runs | Helen Callaghan (FW) Faye Dancer (FW) Dorothy Harrell (ROC) Edythe Perlick (RAC) Kay Rohrer (ROC) Dorothy Schroeder (SB/KEN) Audrey Wagner (KEN) Margaret Wigiser (ROC) | 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 |
| Runs batted in | Rose Gacioch (ROC) Phyllis Koehn (KEN/SB) Edythe Perlick (RAC) Margaret Stefani (SB) Lavonne Paire (FW) Vivian Kellogg (FW) Eleanor Dapkus (RAC) Betsy Jochum (SB) Margaret Wigiser (ROC) Thelma Eisen (GR) Ruth Lessing (FW) | 44 43 41 39 39 38 37 36 35 34 31 |
| Stolen bases | Sophie Kurys (RAC) Helen Callaghan (FW) Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC) Shirley Jameson (KEN) Twila Shively (GR) Edythe Perlick (RAC) Penny O'Brian (FW) Thelma Eisen (GR) Elizabeth Fabac (KEN) | 115 92 60 58 46 44 43 41 41 |
| Total bases | Helen Callaghan (FW) Dorothy Kamenshek (ROC) Thelma Eisen (GR) Betsy Jochum (SB) Margaret Stefani (SB) Mary Baker (SB) Phyllis Koehn (KEN/SB) Vivian Kellogg (FW) Edythe Perlick (RAC) | 156 130 115 110 110 109 109 107 107 |

## Pitching statistics

| Statistic | Player | Record |
| Wins | Connie Wisniewski (GR) Dorothy Wiltse (FW) Carolyn Morris (ROC) Helen Nicol (KEN) Olive Little (ROC) Doris Barr (SB/RAC) Charlotte Armstrong (SB) Audrey Haine (FW) Josephine Kabick (FW) Mary Nesbitt (RAC) Elise Harney (KEN) Betty Luna (SB) | 32 29 28 24 22 20 18 16 16 16 14 14 |
| Earned run average | Connie Wisniewski (GR) Dorothy Wiltse (FW) Carolyn Morris (ROC) Helen Nicol (KEN) Betty Luna (SB) Annabelle Lee (FW) Olive Little (ROC) Doris Barr (SB/RAC) Josephine Kabick (FW) Mary Nesbitt (RAC) | 0.81 0.83 1.08 1.34 1.53 1.56 1.68 1.71 1.85 1.87 |
| Strikeouts | Dorothy Wiltse (GR) Helen Nicol (KEN) Olive Little (ROC) Nalda Bird (SB) Carolyn Morris (ROC) Doris Barr (SB/RAC) Amy Applegren (ROC) | 293 220 142 128 119 104 101 |
| Games pitched | Charlotte Armstrong (SB) Helen Nicol (KEN) Dorothy Wiltse (GR) Connie Wisniewski (GR) Elise Harney (KEN) Carolyn Morris (ROC) Josephine Kabick (GR) Olive Little (ROC) Viola Thompson (GR) Joanne Winter (RAC) Audrey Haine (FW) Annabelle Lee (FW) | 46 46 46 46 43 42 35 34 34 34 32 31 |
| Innings pitched | Connie Wisniewski (GR) Helen Nicol (KEN) Charlotte Armstrong (SB) Dorothy Wiltse (GR) Carolyn Morris (ROC) Elise Harney (KEN) Olive Little (ROC) Josephine Kabick (GR) Mary Nesbitt (RAC) Viola Thompson (GR) Joanne Winter (RAC) Doris Barr (SB/RAC) | 391 357 355 345 333 301 295 292 284 260 260 256 |