Carol Perroz was a softball standout among the three sports she played at Freeport, and she continued in softball in college at Slippery Rock.
Though she was dedicated to her school teams in the spring, her diamond exploits didn’t end when her scholastic seasons came to a close.
Many of her summer days, starting in the late 1970s and into the early ’80s, were full of softball for amateur club teams locally and throughout the region.
With more than 45 years of competition under her belt, Perroz, now 63, doesn’t expect to slow down any time soon.
Her love of the game and her passion drives her desire to still play.
“It is just a part of me. I enjoy it so much,” said Perroz, who grew up the youngest of seven siblings.
“It’s been a part of our family for as long as I can remember. My brother, Dick, and my brother, Bill, still play in their senior league. I also play in a guys league Mondays and Fridays in the summer at Kunkle Park (in Washington Township). That also keeps me competitive and keeps me going.”
Her longstanding, dedicated, and accomplished career as a shortstop and her success at the plate has earned her many accolades, and USA Softball of Pennsylvania recently celebrated her with induction into its hall of fame for an “outstanding ability as demonstrated in softball competition, sportsmanship, integrity, character and contribution to the sport of softball.”
“Growing up, you never expect something like this,” Perroz said of the hall-of-fame honor.
“I just played the sport because I loved it. To get that call and to have people recognize you for what you’ve done, it was just a wonderful feeling.”
Perroz’s Amateur Softball Association experience continued to take off while playing locally for Wiegands Brothers from 1982 to 1984. She helped Wiegands win multiple state titles.
“I joined the Wiegands team because of a girl I played with in college,” Perroz said. “We were a team all from around here. It was a fun time meeting up with college friends in the summer and playing with them.”
Perroz continued to rise up the amateur ranks to the Major level and played for the Pittsburgh Debs after graduating from Slippery Rock in 1985.
“Major was the top level you could play,” Perroz said. “The Debs’ storied history went back a long way, and I came along at the end of it. They were ‘the team’ in Pittsburgh back in their heyday. Those were the ladies you looked up to and wanted to be like. It was what you knew. When I played for Wiegands, we would play Debs. From my standpoint, they carried themselves differently.”
When the Debs closed operations in 1988, Perroz joined the Conneaut Lake Lakerettes and enjoyed more than a decade and a half of success which included Class A national titles in 1998 and 1999 and championships in the 35-and-over league from 1999 to 2004 and also in 2006.
Perroz twice was named nationals Most Valuable Player, first in 1999 and again in 2004.
“Back then, the seasons were from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and some seasons, we would play a total of 100 games, just on weekends, because of all the local and regional tournaments we went to,” she said.
“There were times where we would get home at 12:30 or 1 in the morning after a long tournament and have to get up and go to work the next day. The next weekend, we would do it all over again.”
Perroz is a member of the ASA All-Time team, received numerous ASA All-American honors and was named to the ASA All-Decade team for the 1990s. She was part of a 2010 Class C national championship team.
Perroz now plays for Homegrown Legends, a senior tournament team based in Arkansas.
“We have players from Ohio, Michigan, Texas, all over,” she said. “We have our next tournament in two weeks in Alabama. Our tournaments are all over the country as opposed to local travel. We have to do what we can to get there.”
The USA Softball of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame enshrinement comes 13 years after her softball accomplishments were honored with induction into the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame.
At that time, Perroz was in her ninth season as Valley’s coach while closing in on 30 years of coaching area athletes in multiple sports, including basketball and volleyball. She led the Vikings to several section titles and WPIAL playoff appearances. Valley captured WPIAL titles in 2007 and 2010 with the crown jewel being a PIAA state title in 2011.
She stepped away from coaching in 2023.
“I really appreciated my time as a coach and working with all the kids, but I try to stay away from the fields because I know I would be right back there because it’s just something that is in me,” Perroz said.
“I am definitely enjoying just playing the game right now. It is a lot less stressful and demanding.”