Detective Senior Constable Deb Keogh decided to don the softball catcher's mitt after a six-year hiatus and her team, The Comets, almost went all the way in the C grade division, reaching the gold medal game from a pool of 85 teams.

"I played with the team from the north-western suburbs.

"We had 10 days of competition and on the last two days we had two games on each day. We needed to win the game on the final day in the morning to play off for gold.

"We defeated a South African team 9-3 in that game, but lost to a Mornington Peninsula team 5-3."

A veteran of more than 20 years of softball, the 41yearold gave up the game to focus on umpiring. She decided to make a comeback while she was still fit enough."I had a ball and it's given me a bit more legs to have another couple of years playing again."

She said she was keen to get back to her home club, the Berwick Braves, who play at Sweeney Reserve.

Her other passion is policing. She's been at Dandenong for 23 years, helping to keep the streets safe.