Jeneane DesCombes was born in Springfield, Ohio in 1935. When she was ten years old, she moved to Lakeview with her mother and two sisters. Jeneane played baseball, basketball, and football with the neighborhood boys. It was as a youngster that she picked up her nickname “Lefty.”
Although girls were not allowed to play on the boys’ school teams, the coaches allowed DesCombes to practice with them. According to “Lefty,” practicing and watching the boys taught her a lot about the game of baseball and made her a better player.
In 1953, during her senior year at Stokes Local High School, the baseball coach saw a newspaper ad for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in Battle Creek, Michigan. Because DesCombes was left-handed, the coach encouraged her to try out as a pitcher. The coach worked with her over the next three months and helped her perfect a fastball, curveball and change-up.
DesCombes borrowed her sister’s car and drove to Michigan for the AAGPBL tryouts. In a 2022 interview with the Seattle Times, DesCombes recalled her first tryout game with the Grand Rapids Chicks, “I was called in to play in the middle of a doubleheader when the game was tied. I got us out of a tough spot and came up to bat and bunted in the winning run. I saved the game and that was my crowning jewel that gave me the confidence that I was really a part of the team and had something to contribute.”
As soon as she graduated from high school, Des Combes packed a suitcase and took a Greyhound bus to Grand Rapids to join her new team. The Chicks made “Lefty” a pitcher even though she did not have any experience pitching in a game. DesCombes was shocked by the short skirts the girls played in, that lipstick was always required, and long hair was preferred on the players.
The Seattle Times article also states, the first time she stepped onto the field as a Chick, they were behind in the game. DesCombes had never pitched in a pro game and did not realize they used a 10-inch ball instead of the 9-inch ball she was used to. As a result, she threw wild pitches and walked twelve players. DesCombes did not play much that first year while she worked on her pitches. The Chicks did go on to win the championship that year.
The next year, the league switched to a 9-inch ball and DesCombes’ pitches were more controlled. In her second year, she became a starter, ending the season fifth in the league for strikeouts with a 10-9 record.
The AAGPBL disbanded after the 1954 season and DesCombes joined the All-American All Stars, a traveling team, with coach Bill Allington. The team played one hundred games and traveled over 10,000 miles in two years.
DesCombes attended Ohio Northern University while she played baseball and graduated in 1957. After graduation, she taught math and science to dependent children at Ramey U.S. Air Force Base in Puerto Rico until 1962. During this time, she learned to play golf and fly a piper cub airplane. Later she taught physical education and math in France until 1965. During the summer, she traveled throughout Europe on a motor scooter and took golf lessons from an English pro. In the winter months, she spent weekends skiing in the Alps.
DesCombes returned to the United States in 1967 with the desire to become a professional golfer. After meeting Marilynn Smith, one of the thirteen founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, she joined the tour as a player. It was during this time that she met, and later married, fellow golfer Thomas Lesko.
Shortly after their marriage, Jeneane and Tom moved to Seattle, Washington and started a family. Starting in 1976, Jeneane became a realtor. She also served on the AAGPBL board, was their public relations director, and newsletter editor. In 2003, she started the Washington Women’s Baseball Association, coached the team, and served on the board.
Lesko threw out the first pitch, a strike, from the mound for the Yankees’ 100th anniversary game in 2003. She served as an honorary coach for the Australian team, the Aussie Hearts, at the Women’s World Series in 2005 and 2006.
In 1992, the film “A League of Their Own” was made about the AAGPBL with an all-star cast. Lesko has returned to Logan County on several occasions. When she visited the Logan County History Center, she posed with a replica Grand Rapids Chicks jersey and hat used by the Young Historians group to portray her in one of their reenactments of famous people.
Jeneane “Lefty” DesCombes Lesko was inducted into the Indian Lake Schools Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame in May 2023. She spent her lifetime promoting women’s sports and has been an inspiration for many girls and women to play sports.
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