Not all softballs in the early days were limited to 11" or 12" balls. Vintage softballs were also the size of baseballs. This is the reason why so many vintage softball gloves and mitts are virtually indistinguishable from baseball gloves but for the palm padding described below and shown in the pictures.  Most all of these vintage softball gloves have the same features as vintage baseball gloves.  Many have palm padding as additional feature.  Back in the day of softball, many of the balls used were not large and differed little from a baseball as mentioned.  Hence, vintage softball gloves used extra padding at times for catching vintage softballs.