‘Girl Babe Ruth’
Despite being banned from American Legion ball, Gisolo found other opportunities to play baseball. Throughout the early 1930s, she played for a variety of women’s barnstorming baseball teams including Maud Nelson’s All Star Ranger Girls. Gisolo earned enough money playing baseball to put herself through school at Indiana State Teacher's College. She graduated in 1935 with a degree in physical education.
Following graduation, she was a Girl Scouts director, and then joined the Navy WAVES during World War II. After the war, she followed new athletic pursuits as she taught dance first at Indiana University of Pennsylvania then at Arizona State University, where she helped build a nationally recognized Department of Dance. In 1979, Gisolo received the Arizona State University Distinguished Teacher Award.
The following year, Gisolo retired and turned her attention to yet another sport: tennis. She played on the national senior circuit until 2000, during which she achieved top rankings in doubles and singles. Although she died in 2009 at the age of 94, the legacy of the “girl Babe Ruth” continues to live on and inspire other young women to follow their athletic dreams.
Emily Voss was a school programs associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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