Women's Baseball Team in Nationals

By Tom King

Monday, October 23, 2006

Telegraph, The (Nashua, NH) 
Section: Tom King

Three cheers for the Nashua Pride Pioneers. It's the women's baseball team, a collection of All-Stars from the North American Women's Baseball League, who will be competing in Ft. Myers, Fla. next week in the Women's National Championships.
 Pride owner John Stabile is sponsoring the team - hence the name - and it's just another step in the move to enhance the game of baseball among its women athletes.
"It's the top tournament in the U.S., with the top players from all over the country," said Pride general manager Robin Wallace,who will pitch and play second base. "It's going to be a fun event, but it's also going to be very competitive."
The event, taking place this Tuesday through Sunday, will consist of 10 teams, with a potential for eight games in four days. There will be pool play, and then the survivors will be seeded. Top players for the Pride Pioneers, besides Wallace, include Naomi Greckol-Herlich and 40-year-old third baseman Kathy O'Connor, who hails from Northfield. The locale will look familiar for Red Sox and Minnesota Twins fans, as the City of Palms Park facility will be used.
Actually, the women are part of a larger men's amateur tournament, the Roy Hobbs World Series, so there will be a lot of baseball played. It's pretty much the icing on the cake for Stabile & Co., who besides rescuing the Pride last year also rescued the NAWBL, after it was determined it wouldn't be playing in its former home in Lynn, Mass.
"I think on a whole, it worked well," Wallace said of having the games at Holman Stadium and other local spots this past summer. "We had some crowds and got a lot of PR. Some games had over 200 people, which we certainly didn't have in Lynn. And we have some fans who are flying down to Florida to see us play. That's super."
It will be interesting to see how the Pride Pioneers stack up against other teams nationwide, because it could be a barometer for the NAWBL. It would also back up Wallace's assertion that "I think on the whole, the best women's baseball league in the country is right here." Stabile is into this. He and his wife pushed it all spring and summer, and without him this team wouldn't be going to Florida.
"We'll have some fun," Stabile said. "We're going to have some fun with this team."
"Everyone here is extremely thankful for the opportunity given us by John Stabile, and we also thank the city of Nashua for the opportunity," Wallace said. "For keeping this thing alive. Also, I think we've also tapped into a new level of player. Hopefully, there's some good young kids looking to someday have a league of their own."
Indeed, Wallace said the NAWBL had at least seven high school age players, "and every year we pick up a couple of more."
But this tournament should be a good showcase. "It definitely is," Wallace said. "It's a lot of baseball, a lot of people there, a lot of people see it. It's good exposure for the sport."
Stabile is hoping for even more exposure. Next summer is an "off year" for international competition, but the Pride owner is putting a proposal before city officials to have the city sponsor and host an international tournament of its own in late July and early August.
Under a proposal he is in the process of formulating for the mayor's office, Stabile plans to have a U.S. team, a Pride team, a wild-card team, and teams from Australian, Canada, Japan and China right now.
He hopes to work with Daniel Webster College to house the players during the event, which he hopes can be at Holman Stadium.
"It's an opportunity for all these countries to keep (women's) baseball going," he said.
Nothing official yet, but stay tuned.