Inez Ferne Voyce (August 16, 1924 – July 26, 2022), nicknamed Lefty, was a first basewoman who played from 1946 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
[1] A native of Rathbun, Iowa, Voyce began playing sandlot ball with her brothers at a very early age and listened to radio broadcasts of Chicago Cubs games.
She served as a secretary to the legal officer at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, California, attaining the rank of second class yeoman, and working from 1944 to 1946.
[1][3][4] At the time of her discharge, Voyce received an invitation to attend a tryout with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1946 spring training, which was held in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
After being traded, Voyce emerged as one of the most dynamics hitters in the league, helping the Chicks to capture two titles and making each playoff in her seven-year tenure with the team.
Managed by Johnny Rawlings, Grand Rapids dispatched South Bend in the first round and defeated Racine in the finals to clinch the championship title.
She struck out Isabel Alvarez for the first out, retired Dorothy Schroeder with a pop fly to shortstop Ziegler, and beat June Peppas for the final out of the game.
A patient batter, she walked 480 times against only 144 strikeouts for an outstanding walk-to-strikeout ratio of 3.34, while collecting a .358 on-base percentage and a .329 of slugging for a solid .687 OBP.
[1][6] [10] Following her baseball retirement, Voyce worked for a small company for 32 years because of the skills she had acquired at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.