SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The Rockford Peaches held a reunion bash Sunday.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of "A League of Their Own,'' stars from the movie gathered at a minor league ballpark for a reunion softball game.

As per the edict, there was no crying.

But it did get a little emotional.

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Six of the real-life female ballplayers from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, including a 90-year-old pitcher, trotted out to home plate before the first pitch to a sustained ovation at Arvest Ballpark.

"They're so proud of this movie,'' said Geena Davis, who played star catcher Dottie Hinson in the film. "They are so happy to have their story told because history had forgotten about them.

"We do anything we can do to honor them. They're the real deal. We're just the poor imitation."

Released in 1992, "A League of Their Own" pays homage to the women's league that thrived during World War II.

Davis, 61, was the biggest name among the returning Rockford Peaches on Sunday, here at the minor league home of the Northwest Naturals. There was no Madonna swooping across the outfield to make a catch in her cap, no Rosie O'Donnell making plays at the hot corner.

There was also no Tom Hanks, who as manager Jimmy Dugan uttered the film's most famous five words: "There's no crying in baseball!"

But Kit Keller was here. And Marla Hooch. And Betty Spaghetti. And several other of the Peaches now immortalized as dirt-in-the-skirt ballplayers after their movie made a cinematic Hall of Fame, of sorts. "A League of Their Own" was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2012. The Library of Congress deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Davis hardly needed the official proclamation. She said Sunday that she feels the historic significance of the film every day.

"My fellow teammates and I were just talking about how we have the same number of girls and women who approach us about the movie as when it came out 25 years ago,'' Davis said.

"They come up and say, 'I play ball because of that movie. I play sports because of that movie.' So, we're just grateful that it's had that kind of impact."

Tracy Reiner, who played Betty Spaghetti, said the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown still gets more questions about its women's baseball exhibit than about Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth. She called it part of the movie's "ripple effect."

The Peaches looked dominant again Sunday, with a 20-12 victory over the Belles in a game that also featured celebrities such as Terry Crews and Olympic hockey player Eric LeMarque.

The Peaches were a little slower this time around, so there's no need to update the highlight reel. But they had a blast suiting up again.

Megan Cavanaugh, who played Hooch, the switch-hitting second baseman, said she had a feeling that "A League of Their Own" would endure as a classic when she started seeing it make the rounds on the airwaves every spring.

"Then people were asking us to come to places and make appearances,'' she said. "That's when we were like, 'This is going to go on and on and on.'''

Maybelle Blair, the 90-year-old pitcher, said the movie is a surprisingly accurate depiction of what life was like for the female ballplayers of the 1940s.

Blair wasn't a Peach. She was a hard-throwing right-hander for the Peoria Red Wings in 1948. ("Nolan Ryan had nothing on me,'' she said. "Absolutely nothing.")

(Daniel Brown for Sporting News) https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/sporting_news/48/23/league-of-their-own-25-reunion-050717-daniel-brown-ftr_1cw9uykx9cx4d1e0tuvp9oslqh.jpg?t=-456172693&w=500&quality=80

Members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (Daniel Brown for Sporting News)

Blair said the movie captures the essence her playing days, right down to the uniforms.

"It was so outstanding because after we quit playing ball, nobody knew anything about the league,'' the Palm Springs, Calif., resident said. "After the league (folded), we were supposed to go home and put on our aprons and wash the dishes.

"We couldn't do anything. And then when the movie came out, it brought back women to be able to do what we wanted to do — and that was play ball and enjoy our lives."

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Davis was the center of attention again Sunday, as if she were Dottie Hinson all over again. She grounded out in her only at-bat, but this whole thing was her doing. The reunion game capped the weeklong Bentonville Film Festival, an event she co-founded to promote diversity and gender equality in film.

Aisha Tyler, who is in town to promote her movie directorial debut, "Axis," came to the game in part to grab a hot dog and check out the scene.

"Who isn't a fan of 'A League of Their Own'?" Tyler said. "What a sensational collection of actors. And such an important story."

Daniel Brown covers sports for The San Jose Mercury News and has seen "A League of Their Own" more than 50 times.