Photo from Google Images
Since 1947, the Little League World Series has been held every August in South Williamsport, PA. The Little League Baseball Inc. runs the international baseball tournament for players 11 to 13 years old.
This years international bracket will include defending champions; Japan, along with Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Australia, Venezuela, British Columbia, and South Korea. The red, white, and blue will be represented by the states of Pennsylvania, Washington, South Dakota, Texas, Nevada, Rhode Island, Illinois, and the great state of Tennessee.
The team to watch is the Taney Dragons from Philly, mostly because of their female pitcher Mo’Ne Davis. This ponytail started out as a basketball player who had dreams of playing in the WNBA and then slowly fell in love with the diamond and the beautiful game of baseball. As an outfielder, she was called to the mound and her first pitch was a homer. She didn’t like it, so she worked on her game and now her 70 mph fastball makes her one of the most dominating players in the LLWS.
She didn’t just make the team, at times, she’ll carry the team said Taney manager Alex Rice. Rice also said that she’s so skilled he feels comfortable putting her at any position.
The 13-year-old will become the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series in 68 years. Davis will be joined by another ponytail, Emma March of South Vancouver Little League in British Columbia, Canada. This will be the third time in LLWS history where two girls will be playing in the same tournament.
Does this mean that one day there could be a female in playing Major League Baseball?
In 2010, ESPN’s E:30 (the best show on TV) discovered Chelsea Baker and her knuckleball. Now, she is 17 years old, pitching for her high school team and known as “the Knuckleball Princess” in Japan. They have offered her a $50,000 annual contract. (She’s still working on finishing high school.)
Baker is a petite, right-handed pitcher who throws mostly knuckleballs. According to Florida’s Plant City Times & Observer, Baker learned from Joe Niekro who pitched in the major for 22 years and 2009 MLB All-Star Tim Wakefield; two of the best knuckleballs pitchers.
In June, Baker was asked by Rays skipper, Joe Maddon, to pitch batting practice at Tropicana Field and Rays Pitcher David Price stepped up to plate. After watching a few strikes, he swung on an outside pitch and missed. “That was sick,” Price said.
“She knows what she’s doing out there,” said Maddon. “It’s not a gimmick.”
More females are taking the mound on Little League and High Schools teams, but so far the collegiate and professional levels are still ‘no girls allowed leagues’. We may not ever see a female ponytail reach the next level, but any female who knows that baseball diamonds are a girl’s best friend is a female with a shinny future ahead of her.