NORMAL, Ill. – The Redbird softball program is bringing back the national runner-up squad from Illinois State for the 50-year reunion of the team's performance at the 1969 Women's College World Series (WCWS) on Saturday.
The Redbirds played in the first-ever WCWS in 1969, as the event was held in Omaha and Fremont, Nebraska, and sponsored by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA), before the NCAA took it over in 1982. Illinois State was one of nine teams that participated in the championship tournament, securing wins over Kearney State, St. Petersburg Junior College, Colorado State College and Missouri State (formerly Southwest Missouri State), before falling to John F.