Softball League Will Honor Memory of 'Angel' Teammate Bailee Zaker

Bailee Zaker loved softball. As a player in the Oak Forest Park District league, she stood out to her coach, Ramon Ferralez. 

"She just had that talent," Ferralez said. "She really could play ball."

Bailee, 7, excelled at first base, wearing the number five for the league's Angels team. Her talent inspired Ferralez to form a quasi-travel team for girls age 8 and under—a team Bailee would have joined. But the 2013 season would be her last; Bailee died suddenly in October 2013. 

"Anyone that had an opportunity to see her play knew she had talent," Ferralez said. 

Ferralez has planned memorial gestures in honor of the blonde, blue-eyed, feisty softball star, to keep her spirit alive on the fields and in the hearts of those who played alongside her.

Her number will be retired, with a plaque installed on the outfield fence at Don Burns Park. The league's Spirit Day parade will be renamed the Bailee Ann Spirit Day parade, and proceeds from the sale of water bottles emblazoned with her name will fund upgrades to the ballpark. 

"We wanted to keep her name out there," Ferralez said. "We want people to remember her."

Last season, Bailee's teammates paid homage to her with #5 stickers affixed to their helmets. The number will be pulled from the field for all rec and travel teams this year, and will remain retired permanently from the Vipers team, the travel team that Bailee would have joined this season.

"As hard as it is going to be to see her number retired I think it's really wonderful for them to do that for her," said her mother Chasity Maggio. It's hard though, knowing her number will never be played again. Knowing that she will never play again."

Additional plans for projects at the park have yet to be determined, Ferralez said, but possibilities include benches or another grandstand. Any tribute the league plans will be special for Maggio, a proud softball mom. 

"...they are making sure that Bailee will never be forgotten and will always have her place as an Oak Forest Angel, in more ways than just softball."

To purchase a water bottle for $6, contact Dawn Ferralez at 708-825-3428.