AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In Colorado, the country's oldest women's softball team is celebrating 35 years in the game. Oldest, as in the ages of the players. Emma VandenEinde with member station KUNC reports.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: OK.
EMMA VANDENEINDE, BYLINE: At the ripe old age of 92, Barbara Johnson grabs her bat and shuffles over to home plate in her bright, peach-colored sneakers. As the oldest player, she's earned an endearing nickname.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #1: Batter up, Mom.
BARBARA JOHNSON: Batter up. OK.
VANDENEINDE: Mom plays for the Colorado Peaches. Today, they're split into four groups for a scrimmage at a local park. Johnson's team, the Salsas, are down a couple of runs.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #2: Come on, Mom. Whoo-hoo. Go, Mom.
VANDENEINDE: Her teammates cheer her on in the dugout, all with shades of gray-and-white hair and varying amounts of protective gear. Johnson grips the metal bat and takes a swing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SOFTBALL HITTING BAT)
VANDENEINDE: But she can't quite jog over to first base in time, so she's out.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #3: Nice try. Nice try.
(CHEERING)
JOHNSON: Ah, shucks.
VANDENEINDE: Johnson has spent her Tuesday mornings with the Colorado Peaches for the last five years. She wants to participate as long as she's able.
JOHNSON: And at this age, you've got to keep this body going all the time. Otherwise, it stiffens up on you. And so Peaches is the ideal thing.
VANDENEINDE: Since they started in 1991, the games have given these senior women the chance to meet people and get moving. They're actively changing what aging can look like.
SAMANTHA FARRO: There's this picture that as you age, you do less and less. You sit at home.
VANDENEINDE: Samantha Farro is a psychologist who studies aging at the University of Colorado Anschutz.
FARRO: My hope is that the new picture of aging will be is that it's possible to have that level of quality of life, even as we get older.
VANDENEINDE: Colorado's senior population is growing. Around a quarter of the state's residents will be over 60 in just a few years. And they need to keep making social connections as they age. Research shows continued social isolation can lead to issues like cardiovascular disease, dementia and depression. Farro says socializing and exercising can do wonders for senior brain health.
FARRO: Those kinds of things we don't think of as being, I think, as important as, like, taking blood pressure medication, but they can be just as important.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #4: Go, go, go. Go, go, go.
VANDENEINDE: Social connection is part of the reason why Laura "LaMae" Clemons got involved with the Colorado Peaches.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #4: Way to go. Go.
VANDENEINDE: Some mornings can be a challenge for the 77-year-old. She has leukemia.
LAURA CLEMONS: Like, last week, I didn't really want to come. I didn't have energy.
VANDENEINDE: Yet she pushed herself to go. Once she started playing with her friends, she got her energy back and hit a milestone.
CLEMONS: I hit my first home run. So that was great.
VANDENEINDE: She's getting better. She only has chemotherapy once a month. So she's been able to play a little bit more, but she still takes it easy. Clemons says just being there is enough for her.
CLEMONS: We all laugh and talk and joke, and I love that. I don't know where I would be without them right now. I mean, this is part of my life now.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #5: Good game.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #6: Nice game.
VANDENEINDE: The game is over. Clemons' team, the Schnapps, beat the Salsas 8-7. She lines up with her teammates and shakes hands with their opponents, including Barbara Johnson.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #7: Always so glad to have you.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #8: Oh, great game, Mom.
VANDENEINDE: Johnson's bummed about the loss, but she's grateful her body is keeping up for games like this.
JOHNSON: It's getting harder all the time, but I think it's up to me to keep doing it.
VANDENEINDE: Johnson says age, just like the 24 on her jersey, is just a number. It's what you do with that number that counts.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYERS: (Chanting) Three, five, seven, nine. Who do we think's mighty fine? Salsas.
VANDENEINDE: For NPR News, I'm Emma VandenEinde in Lakewood, Colorado.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE JOY FORMIDABLE SONG, "WHIRRING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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