There may be nothing better than sitting in the bleachers on a cloudless, 80-degree day, watching a ballgame.
But in mid-October? The day after the Chicago White Sox season ended in Cleveland – a game I didn’t get to see because the wi-fi went out at my house?
Yes, Saturday night was a tough evening for me on many levels, but the next afternoon, I felt like I was watching two Sox eras play each other, in softball.
On one side of the diamond at North Riverside’s Veterans Park was the Windmills 12U fastpitch squad, made up of players primarily from Oak Park, River Forest and Riverside.
They were wearing uniforms reminiscent of the Sox’s 1983 “Winning Ugly” crew, with the bold blue horizontal stripe with red trim across the white jersey. I was just a kid back then, but I remember well Ron Kittle, LaMarr Hoyt and the rest of that team … and the disappointment I felt when they fell in the playoffs. A little like Saturday night, come to think of it.
On the other side was Amateur City Elite, or ACE, with the current vertical Sox logo on their white jerseys, apropos because the team is sponsored by Chicago White Sox Charities. This is a group made up of players primarily from Chicago’s South Side and is in its first year of existence.
If you’re sensing a theme, you’re perceptive. Even though their 2026 season is over, the White Sox played the starring role in this contest, which ACE won 10-3. But this isn’t your typical game story; it’s one about family, personal and professional.
“It’s definitely a full-circle moment for me,” said Amy Sheridan, Windmills’ vice president and a team parent. She used to work for the Sox in game operations and helped pull together Sunday’s game with ACE coach Anthony Olivo, senior director of ACE and community baseball programs for the team.
The two worked together for years for the White Sox and when it so happened Olivo launched the ACE 12U team, it only seemed appropriate that they should face off on the field. That was Sunday.
(Interesting factoid: Sheridan’s husband, Trent, started his career in ticket sales for the White Sox. He was Sunday’s head coach for the Windmills. Olivo’s wife, Julianne, is the PR director at Brookfield Zoo, someone I’ve worked with plenty. She, too, used to work for the Sox.)
Enough setup. There was indeed a game Sunday, and it was competitive. ACE jumped out to a 7-0 lead by the top of the fifth inning, which included a 200-plus-foot home run over the left field wall. A true no-doubter.
The Windmills clawed back, though, tallying three in the bottom half. Evie Pisano and Sheridan’s daughter, Tegan, both from Riverside, each walked and came around to score, the latter on a wild pitch.
But ACE got three insurance runs in the top of the sixth that set the final score.
No matter. Again, this was more than a just game of softball.
“I felt like there was a lot less pressure,” said the Windmills’ Mae Zalewski, from Riverside. “It was kind of like a friendly game, we were just having fun.”
Tegan Sheridan, also from Riverside, lamented the fact that the White Sox lost to Cleveland on Saturday, but that didn’t diminish her joy for the game.
“It was fun,” she said. “I got to get out of the house and I got to play the sport that I love, and it was fun spending time with my team.”
Perhaps Oak Park Windmiller Quinn Schneider said it best: “It was a chill game.”
It was an educational experience for some. Sheridan’s other daughter, Talia, is a sophomore at Riverside-Brookfield High School. She brought her digital camera and I asked her to snap photos to accompany this story. I think you’ll agree she did well, but she acknowledged there were some nerves.
“I was nervous that my photos wouldn’t turn out really good or wouldn’t be good shots,” she said.
Let’s not forget ACE. How did Olivo get his team to play so “together” after only a few months of existence?
“We do a lot of practice,” he said with a smile. “We practice three days a week.”
Former Fenwick girls basketball coach Dave Power was in attendance in support of his friends’ daughter. The man won over 1,000 girls basketball games as a coach, but you might not know that he’s also a member of the Illinois Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, class of 2006.
How has the game changed?
“Back in the day, it was methodic,” he said. “Now, you see a lot of people rolling the dice, a double steal, hit and run, and it’s more action.”
Which brings up a good point. How many of these kids will go on to play high school softball – and maybe beyond?
“That’s a tough one,” Trent Sheridan said. “I don’t know. We’re seventh grade, so you’ve got two more years. We’ve got a lot of girls in other sports, so they’ve got to make some decisions.”
But that’s a discussion, and a story, for another day.
Sunday was about sun, softball and memories. And the White Sox – then and now.