ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — At age 42, Mike Callihan figured he was done with softball.

That was 24 years ago.

Today, the former Chicora resident is thriving in the sport, hitting .449 with 114 hits, two home runs and 101 RBI this season.

“I’ve found a way to keep young,” the 66-year-old Callihan said.

Callihan is a member of the St. Petersburg Half Century Softball Club, a four-team modified league for men age 50 and over. He is in his sixth season in the league and his 101 RBI rank fourth in the circuit.

Callihan retired from work at 53, following a 34-year career at Armco Steel.

“I would have come down here then if I knew this league was here,” he said. “I lost a lot of years I could have been playing.”

A softball player from age 16 through 42, Callihan was part of a Pennsylvania state championship team with Point Bar. He played locally for K&R Blue for years.

He stumbled upon the Half-Century Club six years ago while he and his wife frequented a tavern in the St. Petersburg Area.

“We rented a place down here for a couple of months in the winter,” Callihan recalled. “We were a little bored, actually, and I asked someone what people our age did down here for fun.

“The man asked me if I played ball and I told him I used to. That’s when he told me about the Half Century Club. I bought a used (softball) glove for $10 at a yard sale and tried out.”

The Half Century Club consists of 44 regular players — 11 per team — and a “pool” of 10 extra players who can be selected by a team if it is short of players on a given day.

Most of the players are retirees who have moved to the area from all over the country.

“They don’t take just anyone,” Callihan said. “You show up to try out and they watch you hit, field and throw the ball. If you’re good enough, you get placed in the player pool and go from there.”

Once Callihan discovered he was good enough to join the circuit, his mind was made up.

He and his wife were moving to Florida.

“The field the league uses is gorgeous and I’m on the field with guys my own age — many of them older — playing competitive ball,” Callihan said. “I wasn’t gonna pass that up.”

He hit eight home runs in his first season with the club and was named the league’s outstanding player as his team won the championship.

Games are played on Northshore Field in St. Petersburg and players must pay dues and buy full uniforms with the player’s last name on the back.

“If you don’t have a uniform, you don’t play,” Callihan said.

The club has existed for 81 years. Each team plays a 60-game schedule, three times a week from October through the end of March.

Statistics and all-time records are kept. Larry McCurdy is the league’s all-time hits leader with 3,012 over a 23-year career.

McCurdy is one of three National Softball Hall of Famers playing in the league. Callihan, a third baseman-pitcher, received the sportsmanship award named after McCurdy when he returned to action following two shoulder surgeries.

“I dove for a ball while playing third base one day and messed it up,” Callihan said of his shoulder. “The first surgery didn’t fix it, so I went up to Pittsburgh and had it done a second time.

“I finally get back on the field, I’m pitching and I get hit in the thumb with a liner. My thumb bent all the way back to the back of my hand and the bone was sticking out.

“Now I have a steel plate and seven screws in there,” he added.

But he’s still playing — and plans to be for a while.

“There’s a 75-and-older league here when I’m done with this one,” Callihan said. “There’s a 95-year-old, Randall Smith, who plays catcher in that league.”

Callihan’s daughter, Michaelle, is a heart doctor in Pittsburgh and uses the Half Century Club as an example to senior citizens as to what the elderly are capable of doing.

The Good Morning America television show has featured the league. AARP has done articles on it as well.

“The league switched to a more pitcher-friendly ball a few years ago,” Callihan said. “A lot of guys still hit the ball hard. Sliding is allowed ... The only thing we don’t do is steal bases.”

Games are played at 9:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, often times in front of bus-loads of people.

Batting practice and warm-ups take place 45 minutes before each game.

“I learned the hard way that you have to stretch and limber up before you play,” Callihan said. “First time I tried playing without warming up, I pulled hamstrings in both legs and could barely walk.

“This league makes me feel young, but I guess I’m not,” he added, laughing.