JEFFERSON TWP — Last month, Evelyn Tusing hit close to 10 home runs. At age 78, that is no easy feat — especially while dressed in dress slacks and orthopedic shoes.

But Tusing wasn't playing conventional baseball. She belongs to a dart league at Concordia Lutheran Ministries, which uses a dartboard designed like a baseball field.

With four teams of five, plus a few "pinch hitters," the league meets every Thursday for competition — complete with league shirts, visors and heckling.

"Come on babe, hit one," one teammate shouted during a recent game. "She got a walk, cause she sure can't run," another joked of the members' ages, which range between 70 and 92.

Although the league is in its fourth year, the group is on its fifth dartboard.

Built by Concordia resident Bill Parker, the dartboard was originally created as a way to socialize during winter months.

Recalling a church league in his boyhood, Parker thought some of the men in the retirement community might also enjoy the pastime of darts.

"There are three times as many women as men," Parker mused of the unexpected turnout of women. "It's better than reading a book or playing bingo. At least we get exercise."

Parker said his first board was created on wood, but he soon realized the wood was too difficult to penetrate with darts, resulting in a lot of "ground balls." Subsequent boards have all been painted on homosote, a fiber board once popular for home insulation.

The board, which measures about 4 feet by 8 feet, contains a 3-foot-square baseball diamond, designated with categories like strikes, balls, fouls, double plays and stolen bases. Score is kept as in an actual baseball game, with nine innings played per game.

In keeping with the group's humor, the bottom of the board also is decorated with descending stripes that read "Oops," "Real Bad" and "Try Bowling."

Although the layers equate to ordinary strikes, landing there can invite some extra ribbing. "The bases are loaded and so is the batter," one opponent remarked of a wayward dart."It gets pretty raucous," remarked Mary Lib Saxion, who joined the league this year. But Saxion and other members agree the clamor is a clear sign the group is having fun."I heard the noise, but I couldn't come," said 92-year-old Dorothy Mitchell, who became intrigued by the banter during her line dancing classes, held simultaneously with the league.Although the group keeps score each week for its four teams, the Bluebirds, Hummingbirds, Sparrows and Woodpeckers, members say they aren't concerned with winning and don't bother calculating which team wins most often.Instead, league members say they are mostly interested in the upbeat atmosphere in the room."We scream and holler and have a lot of fun," Parker explained. "There's a lot of spirit here," agreed Marie Basehore, who moved to Concordia in April."Whenever people 80 years old act like kids, there's something to it," Parker added. "They say laughing is the best medicine and exercise is good for you — so we're killing two birds with one stone."