# Jane Stoll

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{{Infobox baseball biography
| name          =  Jane Stoll
| image         =  Jane Stoll.jpg
| image_size         = 175px
| caption       =
| position      = 
| birth_date= {{birth date|1928|08|08|mf=y}}
| birth_place= [West Point, Pennsylvania](/source/West_Point%2C_Pennsylvania), U.S.
| death_date= {{death date and age|2000|05|27|1928|08|08}}
| death_place=  [Phoenix, Arizona](/source/Phoenix%2C_Arizona), U.S.
| bats          = Right
| throws        = Right
| debutyear     = 
| finalyear     = 
| stat3label    = [Runs scored](/source/Run_(baseball))
| stat3value    = 319
| stat4label    = [Hits](/source/Hit_(baseball))
| stat4value    = 651
| stat5label    = [Runs batted in](/source/Runs_batted_in)
| stat5value    = 12
| stat1label    = [Batting average](/source/Batting_average_(baseball))
| stat1value    = .247
| teams         =
*[Peoria Redwings](/source/Peoria_Redwings) (1946)
*[Grand Rapids Chicks](/source/Grand_Rapids_Chicks) (1947)
*[Springfield Sallies](/source/Springfield_Sallies) (1948)
*[South Bend Blue Sox](/source/South_Bend_Blue_Sox) (1949–1952)
*[Kalamazoo Lassies](/source/Kalamazoo_Lassies) (1953–1954)
|highlights=
*[All-Star Team](/source/All-American_Girls_Professional_Baseball_League_All-Star_Team) (1953)
*Three Championship teams (1947, 1952, 1954)
}}
'''Jane''' "'''Jeep'''" '''Stoll''' (August 8, 1928 – May 27, 2000) was an [outfielder](/source/outfielder) who played from {{baseball year|1946}} through {{baseball year|1954}} in the [All-American Girls Professional Baseball League](/source/All-American_Girls_Professional_Baseball_League) (AAGPBL). Listed at 5' 2", 135&nbsp;lb., she batted and threw right-handed.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll>[https://www.aagpbl.org/profiles/jane-stoll-jeep/581 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Jane Stoll]. Retrieved 2026-02-20.</ref>

An All-Star and veteran of three champion clubs, Jane Stoll was a steady player whom managers could use as a starter, utility, or [pinch-hitter](/source/pinch-hitter). She could play well in all three [outfield](/source/outfield) positions, mainly at [center field](/source/Center_fielder), and was noted by her enthusiastic, positive, and hard team working. She made the most of her opportunities and averaged .247 lifetime during her nine-year career in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A .140 hitter in her rookie season, she gradually improved her hitting to go along with her defense, batting over .300 in each of her last three years in the league. In addition, her career 312 [runs batted in](/source/runs_batted_in) ties her with [Joanne Weaver](/source/Joanne_Weaver) for 12th on the all-time list.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/>

==Early life==
A native of [West Point, Pennsylvania](/source/West_Point%2C_Pennsylvania), Stoll played softball in the local teams during her high school years, where an AAGPBL [scout](/source/scout_(sport)) spotted her and decided to talk to her parents about joining the league. She attended to [spring training](/source/spring_training) in 1946 after graduating from school and was rewarded with a contract to play with the [Peoria Redwings](/source/Peoria_Redwings).<ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/peoria-redwings/1946 1946 Peoria Redwings]. Retrieved 2026-02-20.</ref>

For the first time in 1946, league pitching rules were relaxed enough to allow for a limited sidearm pitch from an underhand delivery with certain restrictions. The season saw the rapid development of many pitchers as the adoption of the new pitching style became general. Stoll struggled in her rookie season, hitting .164 in 58 games for last-place Peoria (33-79) in the eight-team league.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/>

In 1947 the AAGPBL moved its [spring training](/source/spring_training) camp to [Havana, Cuba](/source/Havana%2C_Cuba), and Stoll was one of the two hundred girls who made the trip, this time as a member of the [Grand Rapids Chicks](/source/Grand_Rapids_Chicks). The girls trained, played eight days of exhibitions, and were cheered by more than 75,000 fans during games at the [Gran Stadium](/source/Estadio_Latinoamericano). The new rules applied during the regular season permitted a full sidearm pitching delivery, and many players who developed hitting underhand pitching had problems adjusting to the new pitching style. As a result of the pitching domination, [Dorothy Kamenshek](/source/Dorothy_Kamenshek) was the champion bat with a significant .306 average, [Audrey Wagner](/source/Audrey_Wagner) was the leader with seven [home run](/source/home_run)s, and [Elizabeth Mahon](/source/Elizabeth_Mahon) topped all hitters with 53 [runs batted in](/source/runs_batted_in). That season, Stoll collected a .163 average with 16 [runs](/source/run_(baseball)) and 12 RBI in 71 games, while Grand Rapids finished second (65-47) and advanced to playoffs. In the first round, the Chicks disposed of the [South Bend Blue Sox](/source/South_Bend_Blue_Sox) in five games, and beat the [Racine Belles](/source/Racine_Belles) in seven games, to clinch the championship.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/grand-rapids-chicks/1947 1947 Grand Rapids Chicks]. Retrieved 2026-02-20.</ref>

The AAGPBL grew to an all-time peak of ten teams in 1948, representing Eastern and Western zones; just in the first year, the circuit shifted to overhand pitching. At the time, the league shifted players as needed to help teams stay afloat, and Stoll was involved in the move. She was allocated to the [Springfield Sallies](/source/Springfield_Sallies) to bolster the new squad. But the helpless Sallies finished as the worst team in the league, getting roughed up as a last-place expansion club with a 41–84 record, ending 35 and a half games behind Racine in the Western Division. The only regular to have a significant year for them was [Evelyn Wawryshyn](/source/Evelyn_Wawryshyn), who tied for sixth place in the league with a .266 batting average while ranking among the top ten hitters in [stolen bases](/source/Stolen_base), [hits](/source/Hit_(baseball)), and 126 [total bases](/source/total_bases). The pitching staff was led by the durable [Doris Barr](/source/Doris_Barr), who posted a decent 2.68 [ERA](/source/Earned_run_average) with a career-high 116 [strikeouts](/source/Strikeout) despite her 7–19 record. In her first shot as an everyday outfielder, Stoll hit .191 with 18 RBI and set career-highs with 61 runs scored and 116 games. The ill-fated Sallies folded at the end of the season, and Stoll was dealt to the South Bend team.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/springfield-sallies/1948 1948 Springfield Sallies]. Retrieved 2026-02-20.</ref>

When Stoll joined the Blue Sox in 1949 she took advantage of his new environment from the very beginning, raising her average to .232, while scoring 50 runs with 28 RBI in 99 games appearances. Throughout the regular season, South Bend waged an up-and-down battle with Rockford for first place. Although South Bend had a four-game lead in August, both clubs tied with identical records of 75–36 at the end of the year. On September 3, in the final home game of the regular season, [Jean Faut](/source/Jean_Faut) of South Bend hurled a [no-hitter](/source/no-hitter), a 2–0 victory against the [Fort Wayne Daisies](/source/Fort_Wayne_Daisies), advancing her team to a tie for first place. In the first round of the playoffs, Grand Rapids defeated Fort Wayne in three games, and the [Kenosha Comets](/source/Kenosha_Comets) were swept by the [Muskegon Lassies](/source/Muskegon_Lassies). Then, in the semi-finals South Bend beat Muskegon (3-0) and Rockford did the same with Grand Rapids (3-1). The best-of-seven-series was clinched by Rockford, who eliminated South Bend in four straight games. By edict of league president [Max Carey](/source/Max_Carey), the playoff victory also made Rockford the regular season champion.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/south-bend-blue-sox/1949 1949 South Bend Blue Sox]. Retrieved 2026-02-20.</ref><ref name=SABR-Faut>{{Cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/jean-faut/ |publisher=SABR Biography Project | title=Jean Faut by Jim Sargent |access-date=2026-02-21}}</ref>

In 1950 Stoll continued her batting progress, raising her average to .271 while driving in 50 runs and scoring 40 times in 91 games. South Bend finished fifth with a 55–55 record, out of contention.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/south-bend-blue-sox/1950 1950 South Bend Blue Sox]. Retrieved 2026-02-21.</ref>

By the time the 1951 season rolled around, Stoll was one of the established starters in the South Bend outfield, appearing in 101 of the 111 games of her team. She posted a .268 average with 46 runs and 47 RBI while sharing outfield duties with [Elizabeth Mahon](/source/Elizabeth_Mahon) and [Betty Wagoner](/source/Betty_Wagoner). While South Bend placed third in the first-half standings, the team finished first in the second half, thus giving them a playoff berth. Their complete season record of 75 and 36 was the best in the league that year. South Bend defeated Fort Wayne in the first round of the playoffs, two games to one, while Rockford swept Grand Rapids in two games. In the best-of-five championship round, defending AAGPBL champion, Rockford won the first two games over the visiting South Bend, who won the next three games. In the 10–2 finale, Wagoner paced the Blue Sox with four hits, and Faut earned the victory in a seven-inning relief, while [Charlene Pryer](/source/Charlene_Pryer) and Stoll contributed three hits each. Considering that Rockford had won nine straight games, including the first two games in the championship series, South Bend came away a surprise winner to clinch the club's first AAGPBL title in the league.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref name=SABR-Faut/><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/south-bend-blue-sox/1951 1951 South Bend Blue Sox]. Retrieved 2026-02-21.</ref>

In 1952 Stoll topped the .300 mark for the first time, hitting .301 with 45 and 60 RBI, though she appeared in only 86 games. South Bend finished second (64-45) in the six-team league, but dissension within the Blue Sox peaked just before the season ended when infielder Pryer was disciplined following a dispute with manager [Karl Winsch](/source/Karl_Winsch). In support of Pryer, five South Bend teammates, including Mahon and Stoll, joined her in a walkout, leaving Winsch's team short-handed for the playoffs with only twelve players. Nonetheless, South Bend beat Grand Rapids in two games and later defeated Rockford in five games to win a second consecutive title in the league.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/south-bend-blue-sox/1952 1952 South Bend Blue Sox]. Retrieved 2026-02-21.</ref><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/profiles/elizabeth-mahon-lib/57 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Elizabeth Mahon]. Retrieved 2026-02-21.</ref>
Stoll played with the [Kalamazoo Lassies](/source/Kalamazoo_Lassies) for the rest of her career. Her most productive season came in 1953 when she hit a career-high .308 with 38 runs in 110 games and also posted career numbers in [at-bats](/source/At-bat) (396), hits (122), and RBI (65), being selected for the [All-Star Team](/source/All-American_Girls_Professional_Baseball_League_All-Star_Team). In the end, Kalamazoo finished in third place with a 56–50 mark and advanced to the playoffs, thanks to an improved lineup boosted by a good mixture of veteran players like [Doris Sams](/source/Doris_Sams), [Dorothy Schroeder](/source/Dorothy_Schroeder), [Fern Shollenberger](/source/Fern_Shollenberger), and the newcomer Stoll, along with younger players like [Jean Lovell](/source/Jean_Lovell) and [Nancy Mudge](/source/Nancy_Mudge). [Gloria Cordes](/source/Gloria_Cordes) and [June Peppas](/source/June_Peppas) were the top pitchers of the team. In the first round, Kalamazoo beat Fort Wayne in three games but was swept in two games by Grand Rapids in the final series.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/kalamazoo-lassies/1953 1953 Kalamazoo Lassies]. Retrieved 2026-02-21.</ref><ref name=SABR-Sams>{{Cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/doris-sams/ |publisher=SABR Biography Project | title=Doris Sams by Jim Sargent |access-date=2026-02-21}}</ref>

Stoll saw reduced playing time in 1954, but she responded with a .302 average in just 34 games, while Kalamazoo would win the only AAGPBL Championship in five years of team history. With the league reduced to five teams, due partly to financial problems and the difficulty of recruiting new players, the Lassies posted a fourth-place record of 48–49. In the first round of the playoffs, Kalamazoo defeated the second-place South Bend (48-44), two to one games, behind the strong pitching of [Nancy Warren](/source/Nancy_Warren_(baseball)) and [Elaine Roth](/source/Elaine_Roth). In the final round, Kalamazoo surprised the heavily favored Fort Wayne, three to two games, thanks to a clutch hitting of [Chris Ballingall](/source/Chris_Ballingall) and [Carol Habben](/source/Carol_Habben), appropriately dubbed the ''Home Run Twins'', and a nice hurling performance by Peppas in decisive Game 5, during what turned out to be the league's final season.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref name=SABR-Sams/><ref>[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/kalamazoo-lassies/1954 1954 Kalamazoo Lassies]. Retrieved 2026-02-21.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/June-Peppas/ |publisher=SABR Biography Project | title=June Peppas by Jim Sargent |access-date=2026-02-21}}</ref>

==Life after baseball==
After the league folded, Stoll owned her own dog grooming business in [Chicago](/source/Chicago), [Illinois](/source/Illinois) for many years. She then moved to [Phoenix, Arizona](/source/Phoenix%2C_Arizona) in 1984, where she worked for [AT&T](/source/AT%26T) until her retirement in 1995. She is part of ''Women in Baseball'', the AAGPBL permanent display at the [Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum](/source/Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_and_Museum) at [Cooperstown, New York](/source/Cooperstown%2C_New_York), which was unveiled on November 5, {{by|1988}} in honor of the entire league rather than individual baseball personalities. It was a neglected chapter of sports history, at least until [1992](/source/1992_in_film), when [filmmaker](/source/filmmaker) [Penny Marshall](/source/Penny_Marshall) premiered her film ''[A League of Their Own](/source/A_League_of_Their_Own)'', which was a [fiction](/source/fiction)alized account of activities in the AAGPBL. Starring [Geena Davis](/source/Geena_Davis), [Tom Hanks](/source/Tom_Hanks), [Madonna](/source/Madonna_(entertainer)), [Lori Petty](/source/Lori_Petty) and [Rosie O'Donnell](/source/Rosie_O'Donnell), this film brought a rejuvenated interest to the extinct league.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/><ref name=AAAGPBL-History>[https://www.aagpbl.org/history/league-history All-American Girls Professional Baseball League History]. Retrieved 2026-02-21.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104694/ |title=IMDb.com – ''A League of Their Own'' (1992 film) |website=[IMDb](/source/IMDb) |access-date=2018-06-29 |archive-date=2019-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222010124/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104694/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Jane Stoll died in her home in Arizona at the age of 71.<ref name=AAAGPBL-Stoll/>

==Sources==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoll, Jean}}
Category:Peoria Redwings players
Category:Baseball players from Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Category:1928 births
Category:2000 deaths
Category:20th-century American sportswomen
Category:Grand Rapids Chicks players
Category:Springfield Sallies players
Category:South Bend Blue Sox players
Category:Kalamazoo Lassies players
Category:American women baseball players

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jane Stoll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Stoll) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Stoll?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
