HURLEY -- In the 1950s, fast-pitch softball was king on the Gogebic Range.

But Lawrence Cabianca sensed the sports world in our area was changing. Interest in fast-pitch softball waned as the '50s turned into the '60s.

The history of the Range tells us that its people have always loved baseball and softball. If you turned back the pages of time 50, 60, and 70 years, a baseball player could start at age eight in the Farm League and play through Little League, Babe Ruth (or Senior League), high school, and then into the softball leagues as an adult.

Crowds at the games were usually loud and large.

Many players kept playing until they were in their 30s, and then baseball and softball became sports for a younger generation.

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