Evansville Honors Local Softball Legend On Juneteenth

By Steve Burger, WNIN

June 21, 2021

DeLisa Chinn-Tyler also appeared in iconic scene in A League of Their Own.

From 1971-1988, the Express slow-pitch softball team dominated regional games and tournaments. Outfielder Delisa Chinn-Tyler was known to throw runners out at first base from center field and was a double threat on offense.

On Saturday, the Negro Leagues of professional baseball and the Express were honored during Juneteenth festivities at the Evansville Otters game against the Windy City Thunderbolts at Bosse Field.

Chinn-Tyler threw out the first pitch, but with over thirty years since her Express playing days, it was not exactly a strike. She say the Otters catcher was kind when he handed her the ball to keep as a momento.

“He was saying, ‘Great job’. He said, ‘That was you in that movie?’ I said yeah, but that throw wasn’t like that.”

That reference was to Chinn-Tyler’s appearance in A League of Their Own where she picked up an overthrown ball and threw it from the first base side bullpen at Bosse Field to near home plate and exchanged a silent glance with actress Geena Davis that became an iconic scene in the movie.

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