In 1948, Peppas attended to
spring training at
Opa-locka, Florida, and was assigned to the
Fort Wayne Daisies, playing for them one and a half year before joining the
Racine Belles (1949–50),
Battle Creek Belles (1951) and
Kalamazoo Lassies (1951–54). She spent most of her time at first base and pitching, eventually appearing at
outfield. According to the new league's regulations, Peppas had to make the transition from underhand to overhand pitching. Her unfamiliarity with the style and the ball size caused her negative results. In her
rookie season, Peppas posted a 4–12 record with 39
strikeouts and 91
walks in 113 innings for the Daisies, including a 4.62
ERA which ranked her near last place between the league pitchers. Nevertheless, she still had a respectable .264
batting average. In 1949, she played more games at first base and overcame her pitching control problems, going 3–4 with a 2.25 ERA while hitting .150 in 50 games, though she was bothered by two knee injuries. In 1950, once Peppas overcame her injuries, her career blossomed. She hit .268 with a career-high 52
runs batted in, including 11
doubles, five
triples, and four
home runs. As a pitcher, she had a decent 4–4 record with a 4.57 ERA. But her control problems returned, as she walked more hitters than she struck out in 1950 (41-to-20) and 1951 (31-to-20). Her most productive seasons came with the Lassies, when she was selected at first base for the
All-Star Team in 1953 and 1954, even though she often pitched. From 1952 to 1953, Peppas improved her batting averages from .262 to .271. In 1954 she drove in 54 runs and posted career-numbers with a .333 average, 16 home runs, and her only pitching winning season with a 6–4 record and a 3.32 ERA in 13 appearances. Her .333 average was a team's best and the league's fifth highest mark for players who played at least 80 games. When Kalamazoo had to face the
Fort Wayne Daisies for the AAGPBL Championship Title, Peppas came through with a stellar performance.
1954 championship In Game 1 of the AAGPBL Series, the Lassies defeated the Daisies 17–9 behind a four-hit, seven strong innings from Peppas, who also helped herself by hitting 2-for-4, including one home run. Her teammates
Carol Habben,
Fern Shollenberger and
Chris Ballingall, who hit a
grand slam, also slugged one each.
Katie Horstman connected on two home runs for the Daisies in a lost cause, and her teammate
Joanne Weaver slugged one.
Maxine Kline, who had posted an 18–7 record with 3.23 ERA during the regular season, gave up 11 runs in six innings and was credited with the loss. The Daisies evened the Series against the Lassies winning Game 2, 11–4, after hitting five home runs off two pitchers. Horstman started the feat with a two-run home run to open the score in the first inning. In the rest of the game,
Betty Weaver Foss added two homers with five RBI, while her sister Joanne and Geissinger added solo shots.
Nancy Mudge and
Dorothy Schroeder homered for Kalamazoo, while Peppas, who played first base, hit a solo homer in three at-bats. In Game 3, the Daisies defeated the Lassies, 8–7, fueled again by a heavy hitting by Joanne Weaver, who hit a double, a triple and a three-run home run in five at bats, driving in four runs. Peppas went 1-for-4 to spark a seventh inning three-run rally, but Fort Wayne came back in the bottom of the inning with two runs that marked the difference. In another close score, the Lassies evened the Series in Game 4 with a victory over the Daisies, 6–5, behind a strong pitching effort by
Gloria Cordes, who hurled a
complete game. Peppas contributed with a single, a double and one RBI in four at-bats. In decisive Game 5, Peppas pitched a clutch complete game and went 3-for-5 with an RBI against her former Daisies team, winning by an 8–5 margin to give the Lassies the Championship title in the AAGPBL's last ever game. She received support from
Mary Taylor (5-for-5), Balingall (3-for-4) and Schroeder, who drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eight. Peppas finished with a .450 average and collected two of the three Lassies victories, to become the winning pitcher of the last game in the league's history. ==Personal life==