When the Yorkton Cardinals begin the 2011 Western Major Baseball League season this June they will have a new look, that being one with a female smile, as Ghazaleh Sailors joins the team - a WMBL first.
In 1995 Ila Borders pitched for Swift Current in the former Saskatchewan Baseball League, but Sailors will be the first female to play in the WMBL.
Sailors said a chance to play in the league is something she is very thankful for.
"I wanted to play collegiate wood bat baseball this summer, it's always been a dream of mine," she told Yorkton This Week. "Coach Sobkow was the only coach who really seemed interested in giving me an opportunity and I really want to thank him for that."
Sobkow admitted initially he was skeptical until he checked Sailor's baseball resume.
"Honestly, the minute I received the message and the request from her to play Summer Collegiate with us I thought this might be a joke," he said. "After researching the matter and seeing the success the Chico Outlaws had in the Golden League last year with the Japanese girl Eri Yoshida, I felt she would not impede our run to a championship in any way.
"I also have to mention that her skill level must have validity, as she achieved the U.S. Women's National Baseball Team in 2010 and she is currently a member of the San Marcos guys Highschool team as a senior."
That the wood bat league is in Canada only promises to make the experience a better one, offered Sailors who hails from Santa Barbara, CA..
"It's really an amazing experience to play baseball far away from home and play in places that you never thought you would play in," she said, adding she has had a good tastes of international baseball. "I got to experience that this summer at the world championships in Venezuela."
Sailors said the international experience with the American Women's Team was amazing.
"It was a life changing experience," she said. "It's the best thing that's happened to me, being able to play with other girls and women - I was second youngest on the team at age 17 - that have faced the same adversity that I have and getting to play in front of 25,000 plus fans was amazing. Also, being able to represent my country and wearing the stars and stripes, I will never be prouder to be an American. We won a bronze medal at the world championships this past year."
The World's are not the only career highlight for Sailors. Another came March 5 of this year.
"I pitched against my fellow USA teammate Marti Sementelli. Her and I are really good friends. It was really great to be able to pitch against her. Unfortunately for me, Birmingham was able to capitalize on our mistakes, and we weren't able to capitalize on theirs, which resulted in a Birmingham win," she said. "I got to bat off Marti re-entering the game in the last inning, and poked a single to left field off of her, which was really cool. It was an honour to face her, and I hope that young girls see what happened on March 5th 2011, and continue to play baseball, if that is the game that they love."
Sailors should bring versatility to the Cardinals this summer.
"I pitch and play infield, and outfield," she said. "I'm a pitcher first and that is my strong point and my strong position, however I consider myself a baseball player, not a pitcher, and love playing everywhere on the field.
"At second I love turning double plays, at third I get a kick out of charging bunts and throwing off balance across my body, and in the outfield, nothing feels better than tracking down a fly ball and throwing the runner out a home.
"I'm small. I don't throw really hard and I'm not gonna lose a lot of baseballs over the fence when I'm at the plate."
Sailor's size obviously had an influence on who she has as a professional role model.
"My favourite pro, and the person I try to emulate is David Eckstien," she said. "He's small but he never lets anyone tell him what he can and cannot do, and that's a really cool thing. He makes things happen, and does all the little things right, and because he never let anyone tell him that he couldn't do something, his career has done wonders today.
"That's how I am. I take pride in doing the little things right. I'm even smaller than Eckstien at about 5'3 and 145 pounds.
"On the mound I'm not going to blow the ball by anyone, but I know how to change speeds, and know that the most important things about pitching is control and location."
Of course Sailors has had lots of time to learn the secrets of pitching, having fell for baseball at an early age.
"I was two years old, my brother was five on a YMCA tee-ball team, one game they didn't have nine players so the coach asked if I wanted to play shortstop. I fell in love with the game since that day," she said.
While most girls leave the game as the boys grow bigger and stronger, Sailors said she has tenaciously held on to the game she loves.
"Never say die and never take no as an answer. Being a small female, I have no control over the fact that my male teammates and opponents are going to be bigger stronger and faster than me," she said. "So, I have to make sure I am very good at the little things and the things I can control, like changing speeds, hitting spots, fundamentals, and execution at bat, and to the best of my ability attack the weaknesses that were given to be based on my gender being not as strong and not as fast."
Sailors said she is excited to compete in the WMBL as a Cardinal.
"I am excited to play baseball at this competitive of a level, and hope to better myself as a player of course, but also as a person and an athlete outside of the field," she said. "I have a lot of people back home who have worked with me on things like perspective, and I think this is an opportunity to make them proud, if I do well, and this is the least I can do to show them how much I love them and appreciate them for all the time and effort they have put into me to help me have the opportunities that I have today."
And a summer in Yorkton will also get her ready for a shot at college baseball.
"I don't have an athletic scholarship, but I do have an academic scholarship. The University of Maine at Presque Isle is a dual affiliate with NCAA d3 and the NAIA and therefore doesn't give out athletic scholarships," she explained, adding what she is about to do, be a female in a male college sport is "very rare."
"The first girl to play college baseball was Ila Borders in the late '80's and early '90's. Then in the late '90's Molly McKesson was the first to get a baseball scholarship. Lilly Jacobsen, who is my USA teammate, was the last girl to play college baseball when she played for Vassar College in 2008, and is currently playing at Cal Berkley on their men's club baseball team.
"Marti will be playing baseball next year in college, she is in the process of choosing which small college to play at in North Carolina, she has a few offers.
"As of right now, this season, no girls are playing college baseball."
