Bandits channel the past at new home

Gabby Samperi, an 11-year-old travel softball player from Mount Prospect, sat on the edge of her seat at the Chicago Bandits' inaugural game Saturday in their new Rosemont Stadium.

She and her friends Jasmine Avalos, 12, of Wheeling and Hannah Graff, 11, of Mount Prospect all had their gloves ready for foul balls as they sat in their prime, front-row seats located down the first-base line, above the Bandits' dugout.

But it wasn't the souvenirs they were after; it was the technique they soaked up.

“Did you see the way she slid?,” Gabby asked her friends. “I want to slide like that.”

The Bandits got off to a roaring start in their new $6 million, 2,000-seat facility, putting two runs up on the board in the first inning and six more in the second. They eventually defeated the Bloomington Lady Hearts 10-0, in the exhibition game.

Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens took part in the opening festivities, during which the team honored members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from the 1940s and 1950s.

“I think the location (of the new stadium) is really going to help,” Bradley said. “It's a great product, with all the fun and entertainment value for families.”

He pointed to the nearly 1,000 fans who attended Saturday's inaugural game and the 1,000 tickets already sold for their home opener June 16.

“I think it's gonna be a hit,” Stephens added.

Dolly Konwinski, who played second and third base with the Chicago Colleens, threw out the first pitch, while another former player on hand, Peggy Fenton of Palos Hills, played first base for the Muskegon Lassies in 1948.

Fenton said seeing the Bandits dressed in the green throwback uniforms from the Colleens brought back memories.

“The players told me they think they're airier to play in,” Fenton said. “I told them, ‘Wait till you try and slide.'”

Michaela Mooney, a 14-year-old travel player from Libertyville, described herself as one of the Bandits' biggest fans. A standout pitcher with the U-14 Libertyville travel team, she liked the combination of the artificial grass outfield and turf infield featured in the new field.

“I'm just glad (the Bandits) finally got their own stadium,” Mooney said. “It's got to be a much more fun place to play.”

Her father, Kevin Mooney, noted how the artificial turf on the infield absorbed Saturday's rain before the game.

“It seems to absorb weather a lot better, and you're seeing a truer bounce,” he said. “It's just a faster game, and with these stands, it puts you much more on top of the action. I think it will really captivate people.”

The Bandits' stadium is located at 27 Jennie Finch Way — named in honor of the retired Bandits' pitcher — on the Northeast corner of Bryn Mawr Avenue and Pearl Street, west of the Tri-State Tollway.

“What a transformation from the industrial site this used to be. It's beautiful,” John Vahey of Elk Grove Village said.