By Kelly Cordes

One of the main reasons for the population growth in Prescott is softball.  Over the past 50 years, Prescott has been considered by many people to be the “softball capital of the world.” That designation was especially true in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. The individual most responsible for Prescott being a softball destination was long-time Prescott Parks and Recreation Director Archie Crouch Williams, who retired in 1983. Moving from Tucson in 1957, he was Prescott’s first parks director, the same A.C. Williams Granite Creek Park in Prescott is named after. 

We can’t talk about the history of softball in Prescott without mentioning A.C. Williams. He would become a member of the Arizona Softball Hall of Fame in 1976 and a member of the National Amateur Softball Hall of Fame in 2004. Williams brought highly competitive teams to Ken Lindley Field, formerly City Park, while forging a cooperative relationship between city school athletic programs and the Prescott Parks Department.

 Jim McCasland, who succeeded Williams as Prescott Parks Director in the mid-1980s until retiring in 2007, indicated that, “Williams just loved the game of fast pitch softball and was absolutely dedicated to promoting softball.” Longtime softball scorekeeper Larry Bender said, “He really made fast-pitch softball go in this town and we had a great men’s league here.”