The 2006 Buffalo Jills Softball Game-revisited

Autumn, Rachael, Valerie, and Kaitlin B before everyone else arrived

The city of Lockport, NY holds an annual festival featuring, among other things, restaurants from the area and, for a time, held the event at Outwater Memorial Park, also home to a baseball diamond. Not wanting to let it go to waste, the organizers put together an annual softball game as part of the festival. A normal softball game may not be a big draw to get outside interest so the games featured the Buffalo Jills in the games and pitted them against Durf's Dollies. The Dollies were the volunteer fire department dressed in drag who lacked athleticism but made up for it in humor. When I arrived, I started looking around but was soon joined by Autumn and Rachael. We took a small tour of the Taste together on our way back to the ballpark, pausing to pick up a bag of kettle corn for Autumn's boyfriend. Shortly after making it to the baseball diamond, rookie Valerie showed up to join us. Several years later, it's hard to think of Val as a rookie but she was that year but I digress. Before long, more of the Jills showed up and they began a little practice while waiting for the opposition to show up. As they practiced, it was evident that the girls were serious ball players. Rachael was showing herself to be quite the pitcher and Danielle seemed to be about as good a fielder as many Buffalo Bisons players. Shortly after the last Jills players showed up, Jessica Z , Jennifer, and Megan, Durf's Dollies showed up in their fire truck.

Rachael the pitcher

JZ, Keiyonna, Jennifer, Autumn, Kaitlin B, Rachael, Danielle, and Megan

The Dollies catcher grabbing Keiyonna's bat

After some intros were done between the Dollies and the Jills, the game got going pretty quickly. It started off pretty relaxed and normal but before long, the Jills started grabbing a lead and the Dollies started their pranks. One prank they played, when Autumn was up to bat, was to switch the ball with a water balloon. She got quite the surprise when she hit what she thought would be a home run. The next few batters were a little leary about hitting the ball after that. Even with the pranks, the Jills still held a commanding lead late in the game so the Dollies pulled their biggest prank as, with runners on base, they got a good hit and proceeded to run around the bases...not just the runners on base and the batter, though. The entire team ran the bases, piling up 9 runs on that one hit. It obviously wasn't a legit game but it was all in fun and after the game, the girls posed for photos with the Dollies and the fire truck. See all the pics at  https://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/4744

Danielle coming off the field

Team photo at the firetruck

From the Bandettes comes a photo from the Bandits game against the Colorado Mammoth played in March. Prior to the game, the Bandettes were selling autographed lacrosse balls to raise money for their program. Bandettes were stationed just inside the gates as well as up on the 100 level at the top of the escalators. Shown posing for the camera are Amanda C and Lauren K. In a few weeks, we'll find out for sure if these young ladies will be returning and who will be joining them as tryouts take place on September 14th and 15th at Catalyst Fitness in Depew!

Amanda C and Lauren K

Make sure to visit the main page of the Buffalo Pro Cheer Blog and donate to Jenn, Tammy, Julie, Kim, or Maria. All 5 of these Buffalo Jills alumni are raising money for the Alzheimer's Association and getting set to play in the 5th Annual Blondes Vs Brunettes game on September 14th.