Editor’s note: Ethan D. Bryan is a Springfield native and author on a quest to play catch every day of a full calendar year for the second time in his life. His first “Catch 365” journey is chronicled in the book “A Year of Playing Catch.”
OPINION|
For the sheer fun of it, in March of 2023, I decided to host a “30 Days of Catch Challenge.”
I posted basic information about it on my blog and across the internet, without any prior knowledge if anyone would actually choose to participate. Thanks to wondrous serendipity and gracious algorithms, Allie Lacey came across the story and reached out to me.
Allie knows all about the joy and power of playing catch.
Allie has played catch with an Olympian in front of the pyramids in Egypt. I’ve seen the video.
She has also played catch with Kiké Hernandez, Andrew McCutcheon, Aaron Judge, and more MLB players than I can possibly list in the constraints of this article.
Dreams of the Major Leagues
In 2018, Allie tried out to be a ball girl for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
She was hired.
Allie wore the uniform and stepped on the field and got paid to play catch. The former college softball catcher used her skills inspiring those on and off the field.
“When I took my first foul ball, Kiké Hernandez was playing second. He saw me and gave me a thumbs up,” she said.
Allie did confide in me that she had one bad day on the job, when she left her game day glove at home.
“The only glove I had in my car was my 9.5-inch trainer,” she said.
Even while playing catch with outfielders who liked to warm up throwing the ball hard, no one else in the stadium could tell she was playing catch with a training glove. Allie Lacey has serious baseball skills.
Ball Girls Baseball born from a desire to play
Allie has been around baseball her entire life. Her earliest memory is when she was playing in a game and her grandmother was there to cheer her on. After getting the chance to help coach a girls baseball team in December 2021, Allie combined her knowledge and love of the game with her master’s degree in sports management, and in January 2022, launched Ball Girls Baseball.
“I want to give girls a place to play and a team to play for as long as they want to play,” Allie said. “I still want to play ball myself, but there just aren’t that many opportunities for me. Creating a team for these girls to play on, for girls who want to be girls and ball girls, a team where they aren’t the only girl on the team — that makes a difference.”
Even with the support of players like Maybelle Blair of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and Kelsie Whitmore, now of the Oakland Ballers, it hasn’t been easy creating and leading an all-girls baseball team.
There are those who think girls should only play softball. There have been opposing coaches who have made derogatory and deprecating remarks during the pre-game rules meeting. And there have been some tournaments where the Ball Girls have competed not only against the other team, but also against the bias of umpires who intentionally made calls to benefit the boys team.
“One tournament director saw the calls personally and he refunded us our fees as an apology,” Allie said. “I want everyone to know that these are girls playing baseball. I don’t want them to hide who they are. They play good baseball and play it hard.”
With Captain, her red Labrador at her side, and one of the ballplayers for company, Allie left California and drove three days to Branson to coach her 13-and-under team in a tournament at the Ballparks of America.
Girls came to Missouri from all over North America
The Branson team is comprised of girls from seven different states — Utah, New Jersey, California, Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania — and one player from Canada.
Sally Schmidt is a second baseman from Minnesota. She fell in love with the game while attending her older brother’s practices and games. At the practices, her dad, the coach, used to wheel her to the mound on top of the portable pitcher’s mound.
Nicky Schmidt is Sally’s mother. She graciously entertained all of my questions over the course of multiple stressful innings during the team’s fourth game of the tournament.
“Playing for Ball Girls Baseball provides our daughter the opportunity to meet girls, just like her, and play a sport they all love and are equally passionate about,” Nicky Schmidt said.
We watched Makena hit the second pitch of the game for a home run and a quick 1-0 lead. Five and a half exciting and emotionally-exhausting innings later, the Ball Girls lost by a final score of 7-5.
“The connection they have is truly something magical to witness. They are each other’s biggest fans and their bond runs deeper than just baseball. They are forming friendships that will likely last a lifetime,” Nicky said.
‘I don't like softball'
Before the tournament started, Allie invited me to the team’s practice. I agreed immediately.
Allie and I played catch before the Ball Girls took batting practice.
“These girls, these ballplayers, are aggressive and confident, and they are also friends. They are developing those relationships that only playing ball together can build,” she said.
Olivia Glasser is a New York Yankees fan from New Jersey. She fell in love with baseball at the age of 5, wears No. 7 as a tribute to Mickey Mantle, and is an outfielder and catcher.
“The difference between playing on an all-girls team compared to playing as the only girl on a team is that I have a better friendship with all the girls, with all of my teammates. I can talk to them easily, I fit in better with them. They all understand the struggle,” Olivia said.
Playing devil’s advocate, I asked, “Why not just play softball?”
“I don’t like softball,” Olivia answered.
I understand the feeling completely.
The thrill of victory in Branson
During batting practice on the Chicago Field, Sally wouldn’t let any balls past her for me to field in the outfield. And she kept score. And she reminded me that my score was, “Zero.”
I relocated and eventually caught a few fly balls to get on Sally’s scoreboard.
After batting practice, Olivia and Chloe joined me for a game of catch in right field while the other girls threw a football in left field.
We laughed and joked and shared stories and had an absolute blast.
Because that’s what ballplayers do.
The Ball Girls played six games of pool play, then had a day off at the local recreational water park to reset before bracket play. They ended their off-day huddling in a hallway while the tornado sirens sounded outside. Tornados in the Midwest — wonderful memory-makers.
Jamie and I drove to Branson to cheer them on in their first game of single elimination bracket play. In the top half of the last inning, the Ball Girls had a precarious one run lead with two runners on and Chloe Cresson stepping up to the plate.
Chloe, a Fernando Tatis, Jr. fan and outfielder from northern California, delivered. A two-RBI shot to the right side, which put the Ball Girls up 7–4. That ended up being the final score.
The Royals developed a mantra for this season, “The boys are playing some ball.”
The Ball Girls Baseball team could adopt and modify it, “The girls are playing some ball.”
Keep playing and keep dreaming, Ball Girls, it is a joy to watch you play ball.
