GOING TO BAT FOR HER=20
COUNTRY
By Chris =
Gasper=20
Thursday, June 17, 2004
LYNN As a pint-sized Pine Hill Little Leaguer, Lynn's =
Donna Mills=20
never thought that one day she would be trying out for the =
women's=20
national baseball team in her hometown. "I never imagined =
being at=20
Fraser Field just as a woman playing baseball," said Mills, =
a Lynn=20
native. But there she was at Fraser Field on June 5, along =
with 33=20
other hopefuls, all clad in T-shirts that replaced their =
surnames=20
with the slogan, "Women Play Baseball Too!" They were =
basking in the=20
glow of a landmark moment for the women's game the tryouts =
for the=20
inaugural USA Baseball-sanctioned women's national team. The =
US team=20
will compete in the Women's World Cup in Edmonton, Alberta, =
from=20
July 30 to Aug. 8. American women have played in =
international=20
competitions before Mills was a member of the teams that =
represented=20
the United States at the Women's World Series in 2001, 2002, =
and=20
2003 but never with the imprimatur of USA Baseball, the =
country's=20
governing body for international baseball competition. "It's =
a huge=20
step," said North Shore Spirit owner Nick Lopardo, an =
advocate for=20
the women's game and the general manager of the national =
team. "We=20
couldn't do this without the sanction. . . . It gives it =
legitimacy=20
and an open environment, something that has been missing in =
women's=20
baseball and something the girls wanted." With family, =
friends, and=20
former players from the famed All-American Girls =
Professional=20
Baseball League looking on, players who were plucked from =
four=20
regional tryouts across the country competed for one of 18 =
spots on=20
the national team and their place in history. Mills, a =
30-year-old=20
court officer in Lynn Juvenile Court, got both. The former =
Lynn Tech=20
and University of Massachusetts at Lowell softball star was =
the only=20
player who hails from the North region to earn a roster =
spot. "To=20
represent this country is incredible, especially with the =
state of=20
the world and the war and everything," said Mills, who =
returned to=20
baseball five years ago after spending the previous 11 years =
playing=20
softball. "To wear that USA jersey is something special." A =
third of=20
the US roster consists of players from the New England =
Women's=20
Baseball League, a four-team women's league funded by =
Lopardo that=20
played at Fraser Field last summer. Mills was joined on the =
roster=20
by California transplant Keri Lemasters, now a Salem =
resident; Robin=20
Wallace, the executive director of the women's league; =
recent Boston=20
Latin graduate Ashley Cook; Judy O'Brien of Reading; and Amy =
Stinton=20
of Wallingford, Conn. All six were members of the league's =
traveling=20
all-star team, the Lady Spirit, which finished second at the =
Amateur=20
Athletic Union Women's National Championships last year. =
Spirit=20
minority owner Al Melanson, who served as the commissioner =
of the=20
Lynn-based women's league, said he and Lopardo are thrilled =
to see=20
their investment in women's baseball pay off. "To have so =
many girls=20
from the league make the team is really something special," =
said=20
Melanson. "We're proud of them." Wallace, an Alabama native, =
said=20
she thought that the competition level and organization of =
the New=20
England women's league, which drew players from all across =
the=20
country last year, was the reason a half-dozen players from =
the=20
league were chosen. She does not believe Lopardo's role as =
GM=20
factored into the decision. "I don't think that helped at =
all," said=20
Wallace. "I think the process was fair from the get-go. The =
girls=20
had always complained that there was no fair tryout process =
or no=20
structure to the tryouts and that is what Nick and Al =
created. The=20
coaches picked the team and there were a couple of girls =
from our=20
league that didn't make the team that I thought should have =
made=20
it." "We're looking for 18 women that can go win a gold =
medal," said=20
Lopardo, who sat in on the selection process but did not =
have final=20
say on roster decisions. That belonged to head coach Marty =
Scott, a=20
former Texas Rangers farm director, and his staff, who were =
hired by=20
USA Baseball executive director Paul Seiler to assemble the =
team.=20
The coaching staff and the committee spent about five hours=20
evaluating players last Saturday and then brought them back =
for a=20
shorter session on Sunday. It was the first time that a US =
women's=20
baseball team was picked using such a rigorous process. =
Mills=20
certainly didn't need any preferential treatment. She shined =
on her=20
own. The slugging third basemen, who made the long throw =
across the=20
diamond look easy, went 3-for-3 at the plate, including a =
booming=20
triple to center field, and fell just a home run short of =
the cycle.=20
She also pitched a 1-2-3 inning on the mound. "I definitely =
see her=20
competing for a starting spot and being an integral part of =
this=20
team," said Scott. Lemasters turned in a pair of defensive =
gems from=20
shortstop, scooping up a high chopper on the run and making =
an=20
off-balance throw to first to take away an infield base hit, =
and=20
leaping to snare a line drive. Mills, who said that playing =
in front=20
of her family and friends on a familiar diamond was an =
advantage she=20
joked that she knew where all the holes were. But she said =
that even=20
if she hadn't made the squad, just being able to say she was =
at the=20
first-ever official tryout was incredible. Wallace, who =
never=20
converted to softball, spoke for all of the players selected =
when=20
she called the experience a dream come true. "I was dreaming =
about=20
this before there even was a national team," she said. "I =
still=20
can't even believe it's real. I keep thinking am I going to =
wake=20
up?"
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