DECATUR — Longtime Rochelle resident Glenn Baldwin saw his fastpitch softball achievements immortalized on Oct. 5, when Baldwin was inducted into the USA Softball of Illinois Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class. Baldwin, who received a plaque for his honor, was among the inductes recognized during a banquet at the Decatur Area Convention & Visitors Center.

Below is a narrative written by Glenn’s son, Rocky Baldwin, based on the fastpitch softball career of his father.

In 1962, Glenn was approached by Lyle Drexler, the Rochelle Pfisters fastpitch team's manager, to start playing shortstop for the 1962 Pfisters. Glenn just arrived back to Rochelle in early 1962 from Swedesboro, New Jersey, where he played one year of semi-pro baseball. Before moving to Swedesboro, Glenn had participated in the Rochelle Fastpitch City League and earned the reputation of the best defensive shortstop in the league between the years 1958-60. 

The Pfisters were competitive in the area and took over the sponsorship from State Farm in 1958, averaging about 40 games per year. There were four original members on this team from the 1967 Hall of Fame team: Lyle Smith, Roger Gustafson, Harry Berg and Lee Clegg, to include their longtime manager, Lyle Drexler.

In 1965, a local businessman took over the sponsorship of the old Pfisters and they became the Rochelle Frankies. Now with a sponsor who would finance the team into a larger and better schedule, the team played in the strong Garden Prairie City League, which had the top team in northern Illinois, Rockford Meadow Mart. 

Also, Rochelle finally was financially able to compete in the ASA Chicago Metro and came within one game of winning their first metro title, but got beat by Bobby Moore and the Rockford Meadow Mart in 1965. As a member of Frankies team, Glenn became the leading hitter, averaging well over .300 and stealing double digit bases along the way. 

Rochelle was best known for the double-play combo of Glenn at shortstop and John Dejarnette at second base. When John came to Rochelle, he had spent three years playing alongside the Alou brothers in the Giants' minor league system. Both Glenn and John made the all-star team from the Garden Prairie City League in 1965 and played against the Aurora Sealmasters for the first-time, facing John Spring in that game.

Rochelle progressed into one of the top teams in northern Illinois in 1966, as Rockford Meadow Mart lost their sponsorship and lost the services of Bobby Moore due to budget restraints. The top pitcher for Rockford now would be Ray Keller and Rochelle was able to not only win the Garden Prairie League over Rockford in 1966, but the players were now very optimistic about winning the 1966 metro. But those hopes were derailed by who would be a teammate in later years, Ernie Blackburn. 

In the first game of the metro, Rochelle played Downers Grove and faced Ernie for the first time. Ernie, who would become a part-time pitcher with Rochelle after the 1967 Metro, would blank Rochelle in a 17-inning marathon, winning 1-0. They were knocked out of the tournament by Waukegan in the losers bracket later in the tournament. That team played more games than any other Rochelle team ever played by going 45-18, with a league championship record of 17-4. 

In 1967, there was the addition of Roger Gustafson, a power hitting third baseman who played previously for Rochelle when they were the Pfisters. His brother Clark was becoming an outstanding No. 2 pitcher behind Lyle Smith, Rochelle's No. 1 pitcher. The 1967 Rochelle Frankies team was voted into the Illinois Softball Hall of Fame in 2022 and was inducted in 2023.

Everything came together in 1967, when everybody on the team was a resident local to Rochelle. Because Rochelle's team was considered one of the top teams in northern Illinois behind Rockford, the Aurora Sealmasters came to Rochelle on a Tuesday night early in the season to play a doubleheader. These were Rochelle's third and fourth games of the year and they faced Joe Lynch and Charlie Richard. In two games, Rochelle only got one hit. 

They would face Lynch and the Sealmasters three more times during the season, beating Lynch in nine innings a week after the Sealmasters won the West Central Regional tournament. The 1967 season would be the greatest season in Rochelle's history, as the team posted a record of 49-11 with four losses to the Sealmasters. They changed city leagues by joining the Rock-Love City League in 1967 and won that championship, with Glenn making the all-star team.

They went on to beat Rockford in the ASA District tournament, thus making it to the ASA Chicago Metro for the second time and winning it by beating the Aurora Sacos 7-1 in the championship game, where Glenn homered against Don Proctor to start a three-run rally in the third inning. Rochelle started the 1967 West Central Regional by beating Milwaukee 11-0 and then, having to face Richard and the Aurora Sealmasters, lost 3-1, with Glenn hitting a triple off Richard. 

Against the Decatur Rileys in their next contest, Rochelle was able to get ahead of Bobby Moore, with Glenn hitting a go-ahead home run in the sixth. But in the bottom of the sixth, the Rileys rallied for four runs and eliminated the Frankies from the tournament. Glenn made the all-tournament team and Aurora Beacon News stated, "Baldwin the nifty fielding shortstop for Frankies of Rochelle, made the all-star team with his bat as well as his fielding. Baldwin hit an even .500 with 6 hits in 12 at-bats. He had one home run and a triple in three contests."

It would be hard to duplicate the 1967 season going into the 1968 season, especially after losing Clark Gustafson, their No. 2 pitcher, to the military draft. Because the Sealmasters won the national title (and would bypass the regionals) and the district tournament was eliminated, a new format was introduced where divisional winners would play for the crown with a best two-out-of-three playoff format.

The two divisions would be in Aurora, where Rochelle was scheduled, and Cherry Valley, where Rockford was scheduled. Both Rockford and Rochelle were the winners of their divisions and would play for the Metro championship at Hinckley Big Rock. During Rochelle's third game of the Aurora Division Tournament, Lyle Smith, Rochelle's No. 1 pitcher, took a line drive off his pitching hand, breaking his fingers and missing the remainder of the season.

In came Ernie Blackburn, who pitched for Rochelle in the 1967 Regionals and was a backup pitcher in 1968 due to the loss of Clark Gustafson. Ernie came in the game with one out in the second inning and finally got the win in the 13th inning, 4-2, against the Aurora Sacos. During the semifinals and the finals of this divisional tournament, Rochelle beat Freeport twice. The first was the finals of the winner's bracket and then Freeport came back and won the losers bracket and needed to beat Rochelle twice for the title. 

The championship game was a blowout for Rochelle, winning 13-2 and giving Rochelle the divisional championship with a 5-0 record while improving the season record to 32-9. This set up a matchup with Rockford for the Metro championship. Rochelle would lose the first game in a heartbreaker by giving up an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and Rockford won in the bottom of the eighth to take the first game 2-1. 

Rochelle was able to come back and win the next two games to win the 1968 Chicago Metro Championship, but became ineligible to play in the regionals at Mishawaka, Indiana due to residency restrictions for Blackburn, who was a resident of Hammond, Indiana. Before this decision came down, Rochelle played the Sealmasters at Rochelle and lost both games to end their 1968 season with a record of 34-12. It would not be until 1978 that Rochelle would win another Metro and go to the Midwest Regionals in Bloomington. 

The 1969 Rochelle franchise was going through a transition with not only a new sponsor, but the loss of Roger Gustafson, their hard-hitting third baseman who led the team in homeruns the last two years. They did pick up an up-and-coming young pitcher from the area, Steve Sanders, who would take over as the No. 1 pitcher early in the season, as Lyle Smith trying to recover from his broken fingers on his pitching hand hurt his arm in June. The team record for the year ended up at 34-15 and a 2-1 record in the Chicago Metro Tournament.

The Rochelle team deteriorated quickly after the 1968 season with the devastating disqualification from the regional tournament and a reduced budget not to expand out of the northern Illinois area. The team did play a doubleheader against the Sealmasters for the last time, as they were going to transition after 1969 due to losing their sponsorship. During the offseason between 1969 and 1970, Harvey Sterkel contacted Glenn about playing for the Aurora Blue Seals, as Harvey was putting together a city owned team.

The Blue Seals lasted only one year, as another big, budgeted team had taken over the area while recruiting Sealmasters players. The Anixter Bombers would win back-to-back West Central Regionals in 1970 and 1971. After Rochelle lost in the Chicago Metro in 1971, Dave Timok came into the Rochelle dugout and personally asked Glenn to join the Bombers in the upcoming regional, where Glenn was able to play in his first National tournament located in Springfield, Missouri. The Bombers would place third in the nationals and disband going into the 1972 season, as Aurora found a sponsor locally owned and committed to winning for the community at the national level. 

Soon after, Glenn was invited to play for Home Savings. Glenn played four full years for Home Savings from 1972-75 with a batting average of .296 during that time. In 1972, Glenn was second to Bill Pfeifer as the team's leading hitter with batting average of .331. In 1973, Glenn made the Pikes Peak All-tournament team at third base. Glenn's season was cut short while playing against St. Paul, Minnesota in early August, when he chipped a bone in his right ankle. Even though he tried a few comebacks, he was done for the year, missing the Chicago Metro, the Midwest Regional and Home Savings’ first National Tournament. 

Glenn considers 1974 as his greatest defensive year in his playing career, as he took over the starting shortstop position and went the full regular season error free. It was ironic that Glenn's first error of the year was not a ground ball, as he lost a fly ball in the lights. This was a devastating error as it happened during the Midwest Regional finals against Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The next batter hit what looked like a game winning home run, but Bill Pfeifer made the clutch catch and robbed the home run to preserve the win as regional champions and to compete in the national tournament at Clearwater, Florida. Home Savings made it to the finals of the 1974 national tournament, where they were defeated by Santa Rosa, California.

1975 was a transitional year for Glenn, as he gave up the starting shortstop position to Terry Muck and Glenn was promoted by his employer Del Monte and would be working from Texas during the week while flying back on the weekends to play third base. Glenn had a respectable year in 1975, hitting .289. The team came up short again in the national tournament, as they were beaten by Ty Stofflet and the Reading, Pennsylvania team. Glenn started out the 1976 year with Home Savings, but got hurt early in the year with a muscle tear. At 39 years old, he decided to retire from fastpitch softball, as the traveling for work and softball was taking a toll on his body and it was not recovering.

Glenn closed out his fastpitch career by playing shortstop for the Rochelle team, where he began his career. He made a comeback in late 1976, as he was fully healed, and played in the Chicago Metro. Glenn had an outstanding Metro, but his team was defeated by Woodstock in the finals. In 1978, he was able to play alongside his son Rocky, winning the Chicago Metro for the second time in Rochelle's history. Then, in 1979, Glenn's last year, Rochelle won the prestigious Aurora City League title, but the team was defeated early in the Chicago Metro. 

After this loss, Dale Lagow, Home Savings’ manager, approached Glenn about coming back to Home Savings to play in the 1979 West Central Regional Tournament in Bloomington. Home Savings won the regional and Glenn got to play in his last ASA National Tournament. It was a great ending for a great career.