Rita Briggs (1929-1994), Ayer High School’s (now Ayer-Shirley Regional High School) only female baseball player, became a catcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. In 2009 the town of Ayer commemorated her accomplishment with the dedication of the new softball field as “Rita Briggs Field,” marked by a granite bench behind the fence at home plate.

The bench is engraved with the following dedication:

Rita Briggs Field

“In a League of Her Own”

Dedicated May 2009