By Ray Hamill — The annual Joe Oeschger Day will be held in Ferndale next weekend and this year’s event will honor local softball legend Hailey Dolcini.
The annual event is hosted by the Spirit of Ferndale — a local volunteer group which promotes and supports community events in the Cream City — and is held in remembrance of Joe Oeschger, a Ferndale native who holds the record for the most innings pitched in a Major League Baseball game.
Every year, the day’s activities include a couple of youth games and an old-timers game, as well as recognition of someone who has made a lasting contribution to local sports.
Dolcini’s contribution to softball in Humboldt County is unparalleled.
The former Fortuna Huskies star, who grew up in Ferndale, left a lasting legacy in the H-DNL after dominating for four years in high school.
She was a four-time Big 5 MVP.
She would go on to star in the college game for both Fresno State and the Texas Longhorns, leading the latter to the Women’s College World Series Championship Series in June 2022 and becoming the first-ever H-DNL player to play in and win a game in the NCAA Division-1 championship series.
The festivities will take place at Firemen’s Park and get under way at 10 a.m. with a youth softball game featuring girls aged 7-9 from Ferndale.
Dolcini will be on the field to work with the young girls, along with her father Bobby, who will host a pitching demo.
A second game will take place at 11 a.m. featuring a travel team of girls from the Eel River Valley, along with longtime local coach Eric Helms.
The Oeschger Day Ceremony will take place at 12:15 p.m. and will recognize Oeschger and Dolcini, before the ever-popular old-timers game at 12:45 p.m.
County supervisor Rex Bohn will announce the old-timers game, which has “gotten to be quite an annual event,” according to event organizers.
Oeschger was born in Illinois but grew up in Ferndale and represented the Ferndale Wildcats.
He famously pitched all 26 innings in the longest-ever MLB game back in 1920 and has long since been revered as the town’s greatest ever baseball player who enjoyed 12 seasons in the Majors.
Submitted photos – Hailey Dolcini pitched four years for the Fortuna Huskies and was a four-time Big 5 MVP..
Oeschger’s MLB career featured stints with five different teams, including the New York Giants, who would eventually move west and become the San Francisco Giants.
It was during his four seasons with the Boston Braves that he set the MLB record for most innings pitched in a single game on May 1, 1920 against the Brooklyn Robins (the predecessors to the Dodgers).
Incredibly, Oeschger and Brooklyn pitcher Leon Cadore both threw all 26 innings and only allowed one run apiece, before the game was called due to fading light in days before floodlit stadiums.
Things were different back in those days.
Years later, Oeschger would tell the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that “if a pitcher couldn’t go the distance, he soon found himself some other form of occupation.”
Remarkably, he gave up just nine hits in the 26 innings.
In 2020, the Spirit of Ferndale decided to honor the 100th anniversary of his most famous game with a special Joe Oeschger Day, but COVID 19 unfortunately forced a postponement of the event for two full years.
The event was finally held in 2022 and was such a huge success that the Spirit of Ferndale decided to make the occasion an annual event.
Last year, at the second annual Joe Oeschger Day, local baseball legend Buster Pidgeon was the guest honoree.
