Mary Lou Studnicka

Mary Lou Studnicka [Brazauskas, Caden] (July 19, 1931 – November 21, 2014) was an overhand pitcher who played from 1951 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Studnicka batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed "ML".

At the age of 19, Studnicka joined the Grand Rapids Chicks for the 1951 season, as part of a pitching rotation that included Mildred Earp, Earlene Risinger and Connie Wisniewski. "The great ballplayer Rogers Hornsby encouraged me when I attended one of his baseball schools. I worked hard at learning the game because he believed I could do it," she recalled in an interview.

In her rookie season, Studnicka won her first twelve starts before losing her first game. She finished with a 15–5 mark in 23 appearances, compiling a .750 winning percentage and 72 strikeouts. Grand Rapids reached the playoffs, but lost the first round to the Rockford Peaches. In 1953 she dropped to 11–12, while the Chicks advanced to the finals despite a losing season (50-60), only to be defeated by the South Bend Blue Sox and Jean Faut, who won Game 3 and decisive Game 5.

Studnicka went 12–13 in 1953, her last season in the league, and the Chicks enjoyed another trip to the playoffs.

Following her baseball career, Studnicka married and had three daughters. She worked for a Chicago bank and began with the Chicago Police Department in 1962 as a fingerprint technician. When her husband died she married for the second time and moved to Arkansas, but was widowed again after 31 years of marriage to her 2nd husband. Throughout her life, Studnicka was active in bowling, softball and golf.