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Transcending Boundaries Abroad
Christal Fitzgerald
A year has passed since I began my college and baseball adventure. And in that year I have learned and seen many things, both on and off the field. The most important thing I have learned is that if you have a passion and a goal, don’t let anyone deter you from your destination, even if it leads down the path least followed. The journey is truly more important then the destination -- and my journey has been nothing short of extraordinary.
I always dreamed of playing baseball in America, but it just seemed such a far off concept. Before I came to America to play in the North American Women’s Baseball League (NAWBL), I had never heard of women traveling to America for baseball or playing at the college level. I knew a lot of women who played softball and received college scholarships, but baseball still has a misconceived perception of being a man’s sport.
The Executive Director of the league, Robin Wallace (her national team jersey is in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame!), had played college fall ball for her college and encouraged me to at least tryout for some teams and see where it went. The following year in 2006, I met the coach from Daniel Webster College, Jim Cardello, who took a chance after seeing me play in the NAWBL and asked me to tryout for the college team.
In my first few weeks at Daniel Webster College in New Hampshire, I was finding my feet and started meeting the baseball players that I would soon be spending almost every day with in the spring. I was a little nervous about meeting the team. It’s unnerving enough to be a freshman coming onto a team, but a female as well!!! I was expecting a lot of resistance, but when the captain called me and asked if I wanted to join the players for some batting practice, I began to feel a little better.
The next week we started fall ball practice. I remember being very nervous at the first practice, because I just wanted to show the boys that it wasn’t some attempt to get extra media coverage for the college. I love baseball and am very competitive; I wanted the guys to know that I was simply another ball player and not just a “girl”.
We practiced almost every day for three weeks. There was a lot of running involved and every aspect of the practice moved at a quick pace. Before practice started, Coach would run through the plan for the day, and then we would just go through it without missing a beat. At first, it was a little tough to keep up with, but it didn’t take long for me to get right in there with the guys until going through the motions at practice was second nature.
In the fall, I was playing 3rd base and pitching. I threw a pen twice a week, and we would focus on a particular thing for each session. For example, one session we would just work on throwing outside, and the next just off-speed. It was great to focus on a certain aspect; it really helped with my confidence on the mound because I knew I could throw any pitch over and over again like I had in practice.
My college life isn’t just about baseball though! The academic aspect is incredibly important. Actually, athletes have an academic responsibility and must keep at least a 2.5 GPA to continue to play any sport. You also need to make sure you organize your classes around practice. It’s an NCAA violation to miss any class for practice but if you miss too many practices, you jeopardize your amount of playing time. It wasn’t too hard to keep up with in the fall because it was just 3 weeks of practice and a day full of games. But the spring was very different and a lot tougher!
We started regular season practice at the end of January. We practiced 6 times a week on top of extra hitting practice every day and pitching once a week as well. Sometimes we would practice at 6am and other times we would finish at midnight. Because of the snow, we practiced indoors until we left for Florida in March for Spring Training. It was very different coming from a background in Australia where we get to play outside all year round. I didn’t step on a baseball field from November through March!
Spring break was spent at the Wide World of Sports at Disney World in Florida. We had a week of games against some of the top ranked teams in New England. I was very excited to play because I would be playing in my first official game as a college player. The Wide World of Sports was amazing, and to see so much baseball was very exhilarating after many months of snow and below zero temperatures. I was reasonably happy with my performance in Florida. I pitched 2 innings only allowing 2 hits and 2 earned runs against the 2nd ranked team in New England. I also got a hit, 2 walks and a HBP.
The team took me in as one of the guys in the fall and nothing changed coming into our regular season. I am very fortunate to have such a great team. This was partly due to such a supportive coaching staff. Coach Cardello always treated me with respect and like a ball player and the other coaches and players followed his lead. The funniest moment was during a TV interview when the captain of the team snuck up behind me with a handful of soap bubbles and pulled the “Pie in Face” prank! Some may consider this a mean prank. It only made me feel more a part of the team. This is not to say all they did was play pranks on me, because that was the only one they pulled. But, the guys felt comfortable enough to joke around like they would any other teammate.
While in Florida, I also earned a little respect from the boys in a game against Curry College. While at bat, I took a pitch in the middle of my back. At the time, I was very frustrated because the catcher had just walked out to talk to the pitcher and the next pitch hit me. So the next batter hit a ground ball to second base and as the shortstop turned the double play, I made sure he wouldn’t make the throw to first by sliding in hard and knocking his feet out from under him. This is obviously something you should do every time to break up a double play, but the team respected that I could hold my own and it would take a lot more to intimidate me than being hit by a pitch.
As the regular season continued, my respect for all spring athletes grew. The amount of work these athletes have to put in both on and off the field is often unseen and undervalued. Even though there is a schedule, due to snow or rain, we rarely stick to it. You could plan to miss some classes one day, only to have that game cancelled and play the next day, so organization and time management becomes a priority. Fortunately, the Professors at Daniel Webster College were very understanding as long as the work is completed. A few times, I had to have my class work in at 7am because we had to change the schedule and were leaving at 7:30am the following day. We ended up playing 38 games in 45 days. And, some of those games were the coldest games I’ve ever played in. When you have three layers of clothing on underneath your uniform and still struggle to warm up, you know you’re in trouble. Most of the time we were playing while there was still snow on the ground! It definitely adds another aspect to the game, because if you aren’t a starter you have to stay warm right from the beginning of the game, a quick jog down the line and some warm up throws or swings will not cut it. I was fortunate to get a lot of relief work as a pitcher and started at second base in about 10 games. My best relief inning was against the team that eventually won the conference. I came in to the game with 0 out and loaded bases and got the next three hitters out, allowing 0 runs. My best hitting statistics in a game were when I went 2-3 with 3 RBI’s.
The social aspect of college was very interesting as well. Being a female ball player is unique enough. Coming from Australia just tops it off! Because Daniel Webster is such a small college, everyone knows if there is someone a little different around campus. It was fun to hear everyone give their best attempt at “G’day” or “Crikey!” When the legend Steve Irwin passed, everyone also sent their condolences. Other than the Australian clichés, the most common question was of course “Why don’t you play softball?” But the question was never in a negative manner; more out of curiosity.
The season finished late April and unfortunately we did not make the conference play-offs. As quickly as spring baseball came, it departed, leaving only final exams to complete before my freshman year of college was finished and summer began. Although college baseball has finished for this year, my baseball life continues with the NAWBL in the summer and my volunteer work with the Nashua Pride Professional Baseball Team.
My love for baseball continues to grow as I continue to work hard, create opportunities and do as we Australians do… Give it a go! The adventure has not been easy and at times I miss my family terribly, but with the support of my friends and family both in Australia and America, and some great teammates, I look forward to another great year at Daniel Webster College and playing on the baseball team.
Christal Fitzgerald in action for NSW at the 2004 National Championships | 
