2 weeks Ago By Katie Ringer
JAMESTOWN — Jim Clark's 55-year long slowpitch softball career started as a way to fill a void. "I played a lot of baseball," Clark said. "I played Little League baseball, Babe Ruth baseball, American Legion baseball, amateur baseball.
I played a lot but baseball is a hard sport to keep playing as you get older. ADVERTISEMENT " ..
. baseball is 90% about who you have throwing that day," he said. "Softball is a game where it allows a lot of people to play and maybe demonstrates their abilities better.
" On April 5, Clark was officially inducted into the North Dakota Softball Hall of Fame. The former head coach for the University of Jamestown cross-country and track-and-field teams was one of seven Hall of Fame inductees. "Two years ago one of my teammates who I played with for a while was inducted into the Hall of Fame and I went into his induction ceremony," Clark said.
"After that, he nominated me. It's always nice to be recognized that's for sure especially with being as old as I am now. There were probably seven or eight of my teammates who have all passed away now and it would have been nice to have them there to share it with.
"You are on a team and then something like this happens and it kind of brings that team up again," he said. "It gets publicity for them. It's a chance for them to celebrate too — we had a lot of teammates there and that was kind of fun.
" Clark is set to open up the 2025 slowpitch season on May 5. Clark currently plays for the Knights of Columbus slowpitch team. "The numbers for my hits have kind of dwindled as I've gotten older but I figure I have had at least one hit every year for 55 years," Clark said.
"I'll get a bat in my hand a couple of times this summer and see what I can do. Clark has been playing recreational softball since the 1970s. ADVERTISEMENT "I grew up in a family that really loved sports so that made it a lot of fun," Clark said.
"I played a lot of co-ed softball. I played with my three sisters and two brothers so there were six Clarks on the same team and we would go to tournaments and do really well. That was a highlight.
" Clark also stepped up to manage teams in the early days of his career. His team based out of Woodworth, North Dakota, placed as high as third in the AA State Tournament. His All-Region performance with that team helped earn a national tournament berth and a chance to compete in Cincinnati.
The team managed a 70-12 record, won five consecutive tournament championships and produced 29 straight wins. Clark also served as the vice president for the North Dakota Softball Association. In his 55 seasons, Clark said he has played for 12 different sponsors.
"(Our team) is probably too old to really contend with the best teams in the league but we always give them a pretty good game it seems like," Clark said. "This whole thing, looking back on it, it makes me appreciative of all the people who are helping run the leagues," he said. "For a guy like me who really didn't have much of a high school career, I've had a really fun and good career in softball to look back on.
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