Mary Pratt is a former pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 who played from 1943 through 1947 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a women's professional baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. During the league's history, over 600 women played ball.-History:...

. She batted and threw left-handed.

Early life

Pratt was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Bridgeport, Connecticut

Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...

, and grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

. She attended North Quincy High School

North Quincy High School

North Quincy High School is a public secondary school located in the North Quincy neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts. The school's mascot is known as the Red Raiders, and their school colors are Red & Black.-History:...

. After graduation, she entered Sargent College

Boston University College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Sargent College)

The Boston University College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College is a unit of Boston University. The College offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs to prepare students for both research and clinical careers in health care and the rehabilitation sciences.-...

 and participated in various sports there, including basketball, softball, volleyball, lacrosse, field hockey, tennis, archery, and sailing. Pratt earned a degree in physical education

Physical education

Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....

 in 1940.

AAGPBL career

In 1941, Pratt got a job teaching in Quincy. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League formed at around that time, and after the school year ended in 1943, Pratt joined the league as a member of the Rockford Peaches

Rockford Peaches

The Rockford Peaches were a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing out of Rockford, Illinois for the entire existence of the league from 1943 to 1954....

. She played in 24 games during her first season, going 5-11 on the mound and batting .235.

The following season, Pratt was transferred to the Kenosha Comets

Kenosha Comets

Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Kenosha Comets were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team played their home games at Kenosha's Lake Front Stadium, but later moved to Simmons Field.The Kenosha Comets were one...

 team. She immediately had her best season, winning 21 games and pitching a no-hitter

No-hitter

A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...

, while leading the Comets to the league championship series. During this time, Pratt "was very effective using a controlled slingshot or windmill windup to get hitters out".

Pratt slumped in 1945, going just 1-16. She won just 1 more game in 1946 and 1947 before retiring from professional baseball.

Later life

Pratt continued to teach physical education classes in Quincy until 1986, and she also coached the school softball, basketball, soccer, and tennis teams. She won 10 softball championships in the state of Massachusetts.

Pratt has been inducted into the New England Sports Museum

The Sports Museum

The Sports Museum is a non-profit museum currently located in the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts....

, Boston University Hall of Fame, and Boston Garden Hall of Fame.

Pitching statistics

GP Games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although exceptions are made if the pitcher announced in the starting lineup is injured before facing a batter, perhaps while...	W	L	W-L%	ERA Earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...	IP Innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two...	RA Run (baseball) In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...	ER Earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...	BB Base on balls A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...	SO Strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
110	28	51	.354	2.98	825	396	273	240	131