Jackie Bayot

#47 - 2B, P, OF (profile)

Unfortunately for the taxmen, Jackie would play only the lone 1999 season with DRS. She was working as a temporary for the agency that spring, but likely would have never heard about the team had not Maria Zayas, wife of Jerry and a friend of Jackie’s, passed along the tip that Jackie had played softball throughout high school. Jerry informed the DRS captain, and shortly thereafter, Jerry and Jim extended an invite for Jackie to join the team.

Though she didn’t play her first game until the end of June, she quickly became not only a starter, but one of the most depended upon members of the team. For by 1999, many of the original female members who helped form Team inDRStructible - Felicia Pitt, Lynne Robinson, Lisa (Coco) Polzella, Stephanie Sheff – had all stopped playing with the team. Other women who played with the taxmen - Carol Bagley and Janet Andrews - could only commit on a part-time basis. So needless to say, when Jackie joined full-time, she provided a huge lift.

After missing the early part of the year, Jackie played 15 of the team’s final 16 games. Along with Marjorie (McCoy) Terry and Peggy Jiantonio, Jackie provided a third reliable female player to insure DRS could consistently field a legal team.

In the field, Jackie pitched, played second base, and roamed the outfield – all equally well. Over the course of her brief stint with the team, she fielded grounders, caught fly balls, threw out runners from the outfield, and even turned a double play – all without committing a single error.

On offense, Jackie hit the ball hard and was quick on the basepaths. Jackie batted .351 (13-37), scored 11 runs, had 4 RBIs, and tied a team record by drawing two walks in a single game during the Easter Seals Softball Weekend, the only time all year that DRS has to deal with an umpire calling balls and strikes.

Jackie’s temp position ended in the late fall of 1999, and at that point, she left the agency. She had hoped to continue playing with DRS, but her new job had late hours and that effectively put a quick end to her brief softball career at DRS.