Sherry Maher Presenting Mary Oakley With Her HOF Induction
2014 SOFTBALL NL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE: MARY OAKLEY (ATHLETE)
Mary Oakley’s (Shea Heights) Softball Career spanned over 32-Years from 1967 to 1998 in the St. John’s Senior Ladies Softball Leagues.
Over the course of her career Mary was a member of 5 Senior “A” Ladies Fastpitch League Championship teams, namely Harry Summer 1974, Village Cleaners 1978, Labatt’s 1981 and East End Club 1997-1998.
Mary not only enjoyed team success, but individual success and her trophy case over the years is evidence of that.
6 Senior “A” Ladies Fastpitch League Individual Awards:
3 Regular Season MVP Awards: 1970, 1975 & 1992, 2 Playoff MVP Awards: 1974 & 1981 and 1 Sportsmanship & Ability Award: 1972.
17 Senior “A” Ladies Fastpitch League Statistical Awards:
1 Doubles Award: 1970, 1 Runs Scored Award: 1973, 1 Hits Award: 1977, 2 Home Run Awards: 1970 & 1973, 4 Pitching Awards: 1973, 1974, 1992 & 1993 and 7 Strikeouts Awards: 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 & 1992.
She played on 11 Provincial Senior “A” Ladies Fastpitch Championship Teams from 1967 to 1989. She was a member of the St. John’s All-Stars team that captured eight straight championships from 1967 to 1974. Her other titles came in 1974-Village Cleaners, 1981-Labatt’s and 1989-Miller Lite. Mary won the Batting Title in 1974, 2 Sportsmanship & Ability Awards in 1975 & 1992 and 2 MVP Awards in 1981 & 1989.
She played on the Technical Sales team that captured the Provincial Senior “B” Ladies Fastpitch Championship in 1986. She was named Tournament MVP on two occasions: 1986 & 1987.
She played on 2 Provincial Ladies Slo-Pitch Championship Teams: 1994-Go Go’s and 1995-Coneheads. In 1995 she was the Tournament’s Top Batter.
Mary represented NL at 10 Senior “A” Ladies Fastpitch Championships and 2 Senior Ladies Slo-Pitch Nationals.
Other Accomplishments/Awards:
1969 Member 1st Ladies Canada Games Softball Team.
1971 Member NL All-Star Team Atlantic Softball Championship.
1977 Confederation Softball Championship Tournament MVP.
1984 St. John’s Metro Ladies Intermediate Softball League MVP.
St. John’s Senior Ladies League 2-Terms: 1973-VP & 1974-President.
While all of the Batting and Pitching stats are not available, it is obvious from the foregoing information that Mary was a dominated player over a long playing career.
Players who played with and against Mary said that she was always a force both on the mound and at the plate. They said that win or lose, Mary was always great to be around and that she was always there to help players who were feeling down because of a mistake or something else that may have affected their game.
Not only did Mary help her softball teams over the years, but she also helped many people outside the game of softball, particularly in her own community of Shea Heights.
