The Atlantic softball team will be welcoming two new members to the Trojans Softball Hall of Fame on Friday night. Program pioneer Mel Allen and former original team member Karen Hoffmann-Oller are being inducted in a pregame ceremony.

Mel Allen was the man who got the Atlantic girls softball town team started and then later pushed to get the sport sanctioned as a high school sport. Allen started and coached the town team in 1968, 70, and 71 seasons. As other Hawkeye Eight schools began to adopt high school teams Mel then pushed for Atlantic to do the same. His initial proposal was thwarted in 1969 but he stuck with the effort to get the sport adopted and it was on November 13, 1971. The first Atlantic High School team would begin play in the spring of 1972.

Karen Hoffmann was part of the town team under Coach Allen and was then a member of the first high school team in her senior year. She scored 28 runs, stole 16 bases, and compiled a top ten all-time batting average of .480. She would later go on to play softball, basketball, and volleyball at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS. She helped lead Benedictine to the Kansas State Softball Championship in the first year of their program her junior year. Karen moved on to a long career as a physical education and health teacher; as well as a successful coaching career for basketball, volleyball, and track and field in both Hays and Harper, KS.

The Trojan Softball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place during Atlantic’s home triangular with Kuemper Catholic and Estherville-Lincoln Central on Friday. The Ceremony will be held before the final game of the day Atlantic vs. Estherville-Lincoln Central at around 7:00 p.m. Co-Captain of the original 1972 team Deb (Wheatley) Field is set to throw out the first pitch for the evening game.

We’ll have coverage of the ceremony and game on KJAN and KJANTV.