Evelyn Wawryshyn

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Evelyn Wawryshyn (Litwin/Moroz) was a Canadian baseball player who played second base in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) from 1946 to 1951. Born November 11, 1924, in Tyndall, Manitoba, she batted and threw right-handed and was nicknamed Evie. She stood 5'3" and weighed 130 pounds.

Wawryshyn played for four teams during her six-year career: the Kenosha Comets, Muskegon Lassies, Springfield Sallies, and Fort Wayne Daisies. She appeared in 544 games, posting a .266 batting average with 463 hits, including 37 doubles and 16 triples, and 1 home run. Her standout 1950 season saw a .311 average, 124 hits, 71 runs, and 50 RBIs, earning her a spot on the All-Star Team. Her career .266 average ranks 13th on the AAGPBL's all-time list.

The AAGPBL began in the early 1940s and evolved from softball into a full baseball league, with Wawryshyn contributing to its growth and popularity. She is honored as part of the league's legacy in Cooperstown's Baseball Hall of Fame display dedicated to the AAGPBL. Wawryshyn received induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (1992), the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (1998), and the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame (1998).

Off the field, she was the only daughter in a four-child family and was encouraged by her older brother Archie to pursue sports. She excelled in multiple sports, including hockey, track and field, and softball, before focusing on baseball. She married John Litwin in 1951, with whom she had two children, and later married Henry Moroz, with whom she had four more children. Wawryshyn worked for Winnipeg’s parks and recreation department and lived in Winnipeg until her death on February 3, 2022, at age 97. She left six children, eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.