Peggy O’Neill Aschermann
Athlete, Coach
Peggy O’Neill Aschermann was born September 29, 1943 in Wamego, Kansas to Robert and Kathleen (Cordts) O’Neill. Peggy began playing softball as a youth, however by the time she got to high school, the team had died out so she played basketball. She attended Washburn University in Topeka and received a criminal justice degree, noting that sports help keep kids occupied and out of trouble. She was pleased when Title IX was enacted and women were given a more equal opportunity to play sports. Peggy moved to Carthage in 1982.
Peggy returned to softball as an adult, playing and coaching women’s, co-ed, and senior softball teams for more than 30 years. She played and coached the Four-States Stockyards and Carthage M&M Wrecker Service softball teams to several State Championships, and helped bring the M&M Wrecker Service Team to a Women’s National Championship in 2001.
In 2009, Peggy was one of the first five women inducted into the National Seniors Softball Hall of Fame. Her citation indicated “she hit eight consecutive at-bat home runs in the 2005 Las Vegas women’s tournament”, and “In October 2006, after undergoing a mastectomy and chemotherapy treatments, she refused to sit on the bench, saying, ‘If I’m going to feel lousy, I might as well…(be) doing something I love.’” Over fourteen months of chemotherapy, Peggy played in more than one hundred games, including tournaments in Las Vegas, Florida, and California. She was named the Softball Players Association Manager of the Year in 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016. Her Lifetime On Base Percentage in Senior Softball is .806. Since 2013, she has been a player and manager for the Senior Women’s Softball Team called Fun Bunch. The Fun Bunch held a record setting streak of 94 games in a row before being defeated and were ranked the number one 65+ team in America.
In 2000, Peggy discovered the Missouri Senior Olympics and turned her athletic talents to Track & Field. In 2001, in the 55-59-year division, she won golds and set records for the running long jump, standing long jump, 100-meter dash, 50-meter dash, and high jump. She also set state records in 2004 for the 60 and above division in the running long jump, and 100-meter dash (15.96). Peggy calls her track and field efforts a “side career.” Her Track & Field records in the Senior Olympics of Missouri and Kansas in 100-meter, 50-meter, running long jump, and standing long jump still stand today.
Peggy served on the Executive Board of Directors for Senior Softball for many years, encouraging senior athletes to get involved in Senior Sports. She regularly holds free softball clinics for area players.
Peggy and her husband Larry live in Carthage and own and operate Aschermann Charolais Cattle Company. She has two children and three grandsons and enjoys cheering them on, as well as her beloved K-State Wildcats.
