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Announcements:
 
 Playing the game they love Sunday, July 13, 2003 Last Sunday, Fraser Field in Lynn was filled as usual with the sounds of baseball -- the ball popping into the catcher's mitt, the shouts of encouragement from the dugout, and the umpire calling out balls and strikes. But instead of the North Shore Spirit, the diamond was inhabited by another group with big league dreams -- the players of the New England Women's Baseball League. Top women players from the US and Canada have come to Lynn to test their talent. The rosters of the league's four teams -- the Eagles, Falcons, Ravens, and Seahawks -- feature some names familiar to local sports fans: Donna Mills of Lynn, Robyn Mazin of Chelsea, and Janet Miller of Swampscott. Other players who made the cut, such as Robin Wallace and Michelle Cunningham, who journeyed from Alabama and Virginia, respectively, came just for the summer to pursue their dreams. The players come from all walks of life. There are chemists, college professors, emergency medical technicians, police officers, ESPN staffers, law students, and other young women who have one thing in common -- a passion for baseball. ''It's totally been a dream come true,'' said Cunningham, who was recently named head softball coach at Randolph-Macon Woman's College. ''As a girl, ever since Little League, people expect you to move on to softball, but I still loved baseball,'' she said. ''Fifteen years I've been waiting for this.'' Cunningham almost had to wait a little longer. Before Lopardo stepped in with his sponsorship offer, NEWBL, which was founded in 1999 under another name, the Women's New England Baseball League, was on its last legs. ''We were down to the last straw,'' said Christina Burrill, who is known to teammates as ''Scrappy.'' ''We were either going to fold the league or enter a men's league in Andover, which none of us wanted to do because playing with men wasn't going to help women's baseball.'' Then Burrill, a Lynn native, had an idea. She had read about the Spirit and decided to ask the team owner for help. ''It was a last-ditch effort,'' said the 20-year-old. ''I didn't expect much.'' What the Lynn Classical alumna got was a meeting with Lopardo and Al Melanson, one of the Spirit's minority partners. The women presented three proposals: the use of Fraser Field for a few games, for the Spirit to help sponsor a traveling all-star team, and a dream scenario in which the Spirit would sponsor an entire league. Lopardo agreed to do all three. Megan Zuckerman, one of the league's captains, walked out of the meeting stunned. ''I was smiling for weeks,'' she said. Lopardo said he believed the women deserved a place to play just like the men. ''When we talked about bringing professional baseball back to Lynn and the North Shore, we didn't talk about just bringing professional men's baseball back,'' said Lopardo. ''We talked about bringing professional baseball, and that is what these girls are all about.'' Lopardo said the league had an operating budget of $20,000 last year and that he plans to double that this year. But even with Lopardo's help, the players, who are not paid, are involved in everything from running the scoreboard and public address system during games to putting the tarp on the field. But you won't hear them complain, because they are thrilled just to have a league of their own. ''This is like a revival for the league,'' said Mills, who has been playing in the league since its inception and is a member of the US women's national team. A talented shortstop and pitcher, Mills played Little League baseball but was forced to switch to softball when she reached her teens. There have been women's leagues before, the most famous of which is the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, formed during World War II and immortalized in the movie ''A League of Their Own.'' After a successful 11-year run, the league folded in 1954. Almost 50 years later, the women of the NEWBL know skepticism and sexism still exist when it comes to women's baseball. ''As women [playing], some people shy away from us because baseball is considered a man's sport,'' said Mills, one of the league's top players. ''But I think we've opened a lot of eyes, including the coaching staff.'' Salem State College baseball coach Ken Perrone, who was recruited by Lopardo, admits he was leery when first approached about coaching in the league. ''I was a skeptic before I saw them play,'' said Perrone. ''I was thinking the catcher wouldn't be able to reach second base or that on a ball hit to the shortstop deep in the hole, the throw wouldn't reach first, but they proved me wrong.'' During a recent game, both former St. Mary's star Mazin, a catcher for the Falcons, and her counterpart on the Ravens, Judy O'Brien, made snap pick-off throws to first base. And last Sunday, Falcons shortstop Cheryl Milligan turned an unassisted double play that would have made Nomar Garciaparra proud, pirouetting around the second base bag before firing to first base. Most of the women were multiple-sport stars in high school and went on to play in college. There are players in the league who played collegiate softball at Division 1 schools such as Michigan State, Tulane, and Princeton. Keri Lemasters, who played at Michigan State, said she only played softball so she could get a college scholarship. ''Baseball will always be in my blood,'' said the former Raleigh, N.C., police officer. ''I think there are a lot of young ladies today playing softball because there is no other outlet,'' said Lopardo. The NEWBL is one of a handful of leagues operating across the country, according to Tom Giffen, chairman for Amateur Athletic Union women's baseball, which has taken a leading role in promoting the women's game and sponsors a national tournament in Florida, which the Lady Spirit plan to compete in. Giffen said there are similar leagues in New York, New Jersey, Denver, San Diego, the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area, the San Francisco Bay area, and the Midwest. There is also a 30-year-old Pawtucket, R.I., league, called the Slaterettes. A youth-oriented league that plays with modified rules, it has expanded recently to include adults. Giffen, who plans to come to Lynn soon to check out the revamped NEWBL, said it is hard to calculate how many women are involved in organized baseball across the country because the status of teams and leagues is ''fluid from season to season and week to week.'' Those involved with the Lynn-based league hope they can show young girls that they don't have to abandon baseball when they reach their teens. ''There is no reason there should be a different game for girls than there is for boys,'' said Burrill. ''It isn't that way in basketball or soccer, even ice hockey is played in the same fashion.'' Zuckerman, who helped sell Lopardo on funding the league, said she'll measure its success not by money, but by the impact it has on the next generation of female pitchers and catchers. ''I think it is important for girls to come and see us play,'' said Zuckerman, ''and see that they can be a part of America's pastime.'' Information on the New England Women's Baseball League, including the remaining schedule, is available at www.newbl.com. Admission to the league's games at Fraser Field is free. Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com |