Last year a friend told me he was helping start a new softball team up. Since he was a college ball player he was naturally excited about forming this new group of guys – I thought it was just another batch of Sunday afternoon beer drinkers. I was wrong – It was the Shady Ladies.

This group of “pretty boys” went up to bat and within weeks of their first season had other teams taking notice and changing strategies. They weren’t just gay-tuned faces and bodies but a real force on the field – chalking up win after win.

What I soon noticed into their first season was that they not only brought their A game but they brought fun and some fans back to Austin’s gay softball league. The Shady Ladies had become Austin’s version of the Rockford Peaches from a League of Their Own (minus Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell).

The Shady Ladies hit the road a few weeks ago to play in their first Gay World Series and the Ladies showed they’re bitches of ball players. Playing nearly undefeated throughout tournament play until they suffered their first loss to Fort Lauderdale. In the end they managed to bring a 3rd place trophy back home to Austin and we couldn’t be more proud of them!

Congrats to the Shady Ladies and to all the Austin teams who participated in the Gay World Series.

photo from thisweekintexasmagazine.com