Pro softball player Aubrey Leach feels a strong connection to her grandmother, one of the few stars that played for the Rockford Peaches back in 1953, Wilma Ann Williams-Leach.
She even gets motivated to play hard when she thinks about everything that her grandmother did for the sport, and for women in sports in general.
“From the very beginning, it just felt like the right thing to do. Like I was meant to play ball,” said Leach, an infielder and leadoff hitter on the Carolina Blaze professional softball team in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. “We’ve just always talked about my grandma, and what she was able to do for the sport, and for women in sports. It’s just incredible what they did back then.”
And right now there is a lot going on in the Rockford area when it comes to the Peaches, and women’s baseball. The Baseball for All girls league is holding its national tournament in and around Rockford starting this week, and beginning next week, the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage games will be played from July 22-26 at Rivets Stadium in Loves Park.
Leach’s connection to Grandma Peach
Leach’s grandmother, Wilma Ann Williams-Leach, played one season with the Peaches in 1953 before the league folded in 1954. Although her grandmother passed away just before she was born, Leach feels close to her, and has her whole life. And now Leach is a veteran in the AUSL, playing in both of the league’s official seasons and the 2025 All-Star Cup.
After graduating from the University of Tennessee with All-American honors in 2018, Leach, from the The Woodlands, Texas, has played professional softball in some form since 2019. She also earned a spot on the United States Women’s National Team, helping the national team to a pair of Pan Am gold medals, and even earning Tournament MVP in one.
And throughout it all, her Peach of a grandmother has played a role in every step along the way.
“It’s just embedded into us,” Leach said of the athletic nature in her family. “It trickled down from my grandmother to all of us without us even knowing it… I feel her with me every step of the way.”
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Pro softball star Aubrey Leach is motivated by former Rockford Peach
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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By Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star | USA TODAY Network
