Two Iconic Events, One Historic Ballpark

League Stadium will host two special events while the Dubois County Bombers are on the road this summer. In June, 20 women will take the field in the inaugural Peaches vs. Belles Classic in direct homage to the classic, ‘A League of Their Own.’ Then, in July, the first co-ed sportstainment franchise featuring the Chicago Snowballs and Rocket Squirrels will bring their seasonal rivalry to Huntingburg.

For one night, League Stadium returns to A League of Their Own.

Written By: Matthew Crane | June, 2026

Paige Kendall’s perspective always shifts when she steps onto the field at League Stadium for the annual Belles vs. Peaches games. Her cleats sinking into the dirt, vintage dress swishing at her knees, the old-time scoreboard looming in the outfield, and the stands filled with fans, she slides back in time to the 40s, the setting for A League of Their Own.

“It was such a cool feeling,” she explained. “You just put yourself in the mindset that you were in the movie.”

For Kendall, a Southridge graduate and lifelong Huntingburg resident, that feeling is exactly why she keeps coming back to the Peaches vs. Belles Classic.

“I love it,” she said.

This year, for the first time, the game gets a stage all its own — a full seven-inning standalone event at League Stadium, home of the Dubois County Bombers and the real-life ballpark made famous by the 1992 film.

It’s a change that’s been a long time coming, according to Bombers General Manager Justin Knepp. “It’s one of the most popular nights of the season for the Bombers every year,” he said of the Classic’s run as a pregame feature. “It always drew an exceptionally larger than usual crowd for mid-July. So it’s like, gosh, why not? Let’s make this its own standalone game.”

Kendall has played in the previous two seasons when it was a 45-minute opener for the Bombers. But this year, it’s all about the women, the history and the movie. Fans are invited to step back into 1943, during the height of World War II, when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League launched its historic first season to bring great baseball to fans across the country.

Fans are invited to dress up in 40s attire, and the game will be full of callbacks to the movie. The evening ends with a fireworks show.

Highlighting the women involved in the original season of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is important for Kendall. She’s seen the impact of those opening games in the previous two seasons.

“The coolest part of playing in the past was that we’ve had so many little league softball teams bring their entire teams,” she said. “We have girls come from so far away to watch the game.”

During the game, the announcers highlight the teams with connections to the movie. At 6-feet tall, Kendall becomes Dottie Hinson, Geena Davis’s character in the film, the Rockford Peaches’ star catcher and the heart of the team.

It’s a fun reference that carries a deeper meaning for Kendall when those girls come up after the games to ask for an autograph.

“I swear, I’ve had more autographs here than I ever did in college,” she explained.

Kendall played multiple sports, including softball, for Franciscan University of Steubenville.

“I’m signing softballs for these little girls who are looking at me like I’m in the movie,” she said. “That’s one of the really special parts for me.”

When she heard about the Peaches vs. Belles Classic, those girls in the stands immediately came to mind.

“I was just picturing how many of those softball teams are going to flock to it,” she said.

Those experiences and her love for the community are why Kendall is such a strong advocate for getting players to participate in the event. She helped recruit many of her friends for the roster.

When she asks, one question comes up every time.

“Every single girl I’ve asked to play is like, ‘Oh, do I get to wear the cute dress?’” she laughed.

For her, putting on that uniform is stepping back into history, into a time when women stepped up to the plate while the country was at war and more locally, a time that helped establish an integral part of the community of Huntingburg through the movie that honored those women.

Stepping into those roles is why, when the teams take the field, they play hard, have fun and bring the fans along.

“That’s something special,” Kendall said.

Here are the rosters for the upcoming Classic.

Peaches

Arabella Fowler (catcher), Paige Kendall, Grace Mullins, Emily Ferguson, Madison Wathen (catcher), Bailey Keusch, Avery Riley (pitcher), Kaitlyn Cravens, Carsyn Sidebottom, and Brooklyn Dodd.

Belles

Taylor Bayer, Keegan LaRoche, Hannah Woodson (catcher), Daelyn Lasher, Brooke Rasche (pitcher), Maddux Marshall, Clare Neukam, Rylie Schipp, Kyndal Green, and Riley Beckman.

Chicago Snowballs take on the Rocket Squirrels

Something different is coming to League Stadium when the Chicago Snowballs take the field at League Stadium in Huntingburg this July.

The Snowballs and their rival team, the Rocket Squirrels, are part of a growing “sportstainment” movement that blends competitive baseball with music, comedy, audience participation and theatrical antics. The two teams will bring that formula to Huntingburg for a Saturday night game and Sunday matinée.

“People want to leave having had a great experience,” said Snowballs’ founder Cherie Travis. “They want to see great baseball, they want to see silliness, they want to see music, and they want to be entertained.”

Travis readily credits Savannah Bananas founder Jesse Cole with helping create a new genre of baseball entertainment, but says the Snowballs have added a few wrinkles of their own.

Each team features four women competing alongside their male teammates, making the Snowballs the first co-ed franchise of its kind.

The co-ed concept wasn’t part of Travis’ original vision. That changed after she watched a women’s basketball game and began wondering how women could become part of the experience.

“Women’s sports is amazing,” Travis said. “We thought, how can we bring women to this team?”

The answer turned out to be simple: recruit talented female baseball players and let them compete.

“They’ve assimilated perfectly,” Travis said. “They’re great baseball players. There’s no ‘let’s make it easy for somebody.’ They can compete.”

What Travis didn’t anticipate was the impact those players would have on young fans.

During the franchise’s season opener over Memorial Day weekend in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, girls lined up to meet female players for autographs and photographs.

“I knew going into it that we would inspire girls,” Travis said. “But boy, it was just incredible.”

One moment in particular stood out. Before a Sunday game, twin sisters who play for the Rocket Squirrels approached Travis in tears after learning that a young girl who played on a boys’ baseball team had called meeting them the best day of her life.

The girl had never seen women playing baseball at that level before.

“All of a sudden they realize this is so much bigger than a game,” Travis said. “They can be inspiring to kids, and it was pretty powerful.”

The teams themselves were intentionally designed with distinct personalities.

Travis wanted to avoid creating a one-sided rivalry like the one between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals.

“We wanted to make sure that both of our teams have a big personality,” she said.

The Snowballs embrace a fun-loving, good-natured identity. The Rocket Squirrels, meanwhile, play the role of mischievous troublemakers, which may be why they seem to appeal to the children in the stands.

“I described the Rocket Squirrels persona as kind of like the annoying little brother that’s always getting into trouble, always playing tricks,” Travis said. “You give them license to be even more that way, and it just makes it even funnier.”

Just as importantly, the games themselves are not scripted. Both teams are evenly matched. The outcome, Travis said, is genuinely up for grabs every night.

But for Travis, the appeal of the franchise extends beyond baseball.

“I think the world feels a little unsettled right now,” she said. “I feel like we are the antidote. People can come out, have a great time, and really leave feeling uplifted seeing players who don’t take themselves too seriously, are great athletes, and put on a good show.”

“We want people to leave feeling a little bit better about the world.”