By By Chandler Myers
Softball has become a popular sport over the years with high schools, colleges, churches and the Olympics making it as routine to play as other high-profile sports like basketball and football.
A lot is involved in the sport with fielding, hitting, pitching and running, keeping any participant active throughout a game.
For Atmore’s seniors ,their experience with softball goes beyond a simple game of five or six innings and has them match their strength with other competitors at the Senior Olympics Masters Games.
Loraine Weinmann, Ron Weinmann, Jean Wilson and Ann Amerson took their arms to the Masters Games to see if they could out throw the opponents in their respective age groups.
Loraine Weinmann was the only senior to place at the district games finishing second with a throw of 68 feet.
Weinmann said she competed in the event just to see how well she could do.
Weinmann’s husband, Ron, threw the ball 91 feet, which was not far enough to finish in the Top 2. The top throw being 118 feet.
Ron Weinmann said he competed in the softball throw because he enjoys the game, which he played during his time in the Navy.
Jean Wilson has always been a fan of softball and is a former two-time state runner-up in the state competition.
Wilson said she enjoys playing the game and even accomplished a feat when she played on a team at her church.
Ann Amerson, an avid sports fan, competed in the softball throw for the same reason she did all of the other events, for those who are not able to do it themselves.
She said she plays for them because she is lucky enough to still be able to play.
Amerson, a cancer survivor, said she enjoys softball because it works out your muscles and brings back some memories from her playing days.
Loraine Weinmann also played during her time in school and continued to play once she had children.
She said she always liked playing and would sometimes play well into the night.
Now Weinmann is preparing to play for a chance to be the best in the state.
She said she is going to go and do her best, and added she will begin training soon.