With Amazon’s ‘A League of Their Own’ reboot looming, meet the Snohomish woman who played in the AAGPBL

When Jeneane Lesko was drafted as a pitcher by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League’s Grand Rapids Chicks before the 1953 season, she had never played in a single baseball game. 

Now 87 and a resident of Snohomish, Lesko (who played under her maiden name, DesCombes) was a fixture at the baseball field while growing up in rural Lakeview, Ohio. She would watch the boys play and practice with them whenever she could. 

So when the local baseball coach saw a newspaper ad for AAGPBL tryouts, he encouraged her to go. Lesko’s response: “What would I play?” Even though the league had been around for a number of years at that point, she didn’t know it existed. 

Because Lesko is left-handed, the coach suggested she become a pitcher. She knew nothing about pitching…