Tag: Women in Baseball

Rachel Folden – Using a Coaching Mindset of Love

Rachel Folden – Using a Coaching Mindset of Love

by | Feb 18, 2022 | , , , | 0 |

Rachel Folden is a minor league Hitting Coach in professional baseball, the first female to hold such a position in her organization. Folden also launched EliteFastpitch.tv, the most comprehensive hitting drill library available for softball players. Now players from around the world can train with Rachel Folden and her team at Folden Fastpitch. Folden Fastpitch also partners with Elite Baseball Training to provide hitting consultation for baseball and softball teams at the professional, college, high school and travel ball level. Folden and her team put on numerous camps and clinics across the country, primarily in the skills of hitting and catching.

A former professional softball player in the NPF (National Pro Fastpitch), Folden retired after the 2012 season, after 5 years in the NPF. Folden played for two professional teams, the Carolina Diamonds in 2012, and the Chicago Bandits from 2008-2012. She finished her career with 41 home runs, 122 RBI, 101 walks, and 28 doubles, which are all-time top 10 marks. She was the Rookie of the Year in 2008, a 4-time All-NPF Catcher, and the 2011 Offensive Player of the Year. She won two NPF Championships with the Bandits in 2008 and 2011.

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Utah Sure was Salty and Red

Utah Sure was Salty and Red

by | Oct 25, 2021 | , | 0 |

We drove into Ogden, Utah and stayed at another Cracker Barrel.  I heard mommy talking to Aunt Cheryl on the phone the other day, and Aunt Cheryl told mommy that she should order a side order of bacon to go and bring it to me in the house on wheels the next time that we go to a Cracker Barrel.  So, I was really excited that we were at another Cracker Barrel!  That’s why I love Aunt Cheryl so much, she has great ideas!  Did you know that when we go to stay at Aunt Cheryl’s house that she always has a bag of bacon already cooked up just for me?  She keeps it in the refrigerator, so we just need to heat it up (or just eat it cold).  I don’t care either way.   It’s pretty awesome.  I mean she says that it’s for her and mommy and daddy too, but I know that she really does it just for me!  I’ll let mommy and daddy think that it’s for them too, but it will be me and Aunt Cheryl’s little secret that it’s really just for me.

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Ryan Woodward – How a trip to Reading, PA changed his Life

Ryan Woodward – How a trip to Reading, PA changed his Life

by | Sep 3, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Ryan is a board member of the International Women’s Baseball Center (IWBC).  We first connected back in 2016 when my old organization, the BIG Vision Foundation, in partnership with the IWBC sponsored the Ruth Hartman Memorial Girl’s Baseball Festival.

At the time, Ryan was living in Wilmington, Delaware and wasn’t a member of the IWBC board yet.  He wasn’t sure if he really should to drive up to check out the event.  After some convincing from his friend, Debbie Pierson, he did go, and it turned out to literally be a life changing event for him.

A few weeks later, he received a call from IWBC president, Kat Williams asking him to serve on the organizations board.  He accepted, and the rest is history.  Ryan was the brainchild of the IWBC’s Women in Baseball Week and has been an active member of the board since he joined the organization.

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It Might not have been Heaven, but it was Magical

It Might not have been Heaven, but it was Magical

by | Sep 2, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Anyone who knows me, knows that baseball is in my blood, so to get to visit the Field of Dreams site was pretty exciting for me to say the least.

Ever since I can remember, baseball has been a part of my life.  For me, it was always about more than just the game itself.  It was the entire experience.  From seeing a perfectly groomed field before the game begins, the smell of the fresh cut grass, the sight of the perfectly straight white lines which have been applied with mastery.  Those lines and their perfect 90-degree angles.  Their contrast on the brown infield dirt and bright green outfield grass.  It is truly about as perfect of a scene that a human could create.

The hustle and bustle of the crowd, the smell of the hot dogs, peanuts, and popcorn.  All of it combined makes it so much more than just a game for me.

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Rocky McCann – Reconnecting with another Silver Bullet

Rocky McCann – Reconnecting with another Silver Bullet

by | Aug 24, 2021 | , , | 0 |

This was the last podcast that I was able to do while Sandy and I were at the BFA Nationals in Aberdeen, Maryland.  She puts the explanation point on the ten amazing women that I was able to sit down with and talk to at that event.

Rocky is the third former Colorado Silver Bullet as well as the third member of Evolution Girl’s Baseball that I was able to sit down and talk with.

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Beth Greenwood – Wisdom Beyond Her Years

Beth Greenwood – Wisdom Beyond Her Years

by | Aug 20, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Beth and I first met back in 2018 when she was on a road trip from New England to Pittsburgh with mutual friends of ours, Erin Pappas and Jacque Reynolds to participate in an women’s baseball event that the Pirates were sponsoring.  On the way through, they stopped by the sports complex that I was managing at the time just outside of Reading, Pennsylvania.

It was a great visit, and Beth and I, who would have been 18 at the time and just out of high school, connected on Facebook.  Since then, I have been able to follow her journey as she became one of only seven young women to be rostered on an NCAA baseball team this past spring.

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Jennifer Hammond – Baseball is in her Blood

Jennifer Hammond – Baseball is in her Blood

by | Aug 17, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Jennifer literally eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball. I’m pretty sure that if you took an X-Ray of her chest, you would see a baseball beating as her heart.  At one point in her life, she said that if she could live on a baseball field, she would.  Her dream was very close to coming true when we were able to connect and talk at the Baseball for All Nationals as she was juggling her coaching duties between both the DC Force Girl’s Baseball team and the Alexandria Aces of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Summer League.

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Denae Benites – Growing with the BFA Nationals

Denae Benites – Growing with the BFA Nationals

by | Aug 13, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Denae is a member of the Evolution Girl’s Baseball 19-U program as well as a member of the US Women’s National Baseball team that won the gold medal in Mexico in 2019.

Still on location at the Baseball for All Nationals, Denae has been participating in the BFA National tournament since 2016 when she played in the 2nd annual event in San Francisco.  Even at a young age, Denae understands the importance of paving the way and helping to create more opportunities for the young girl’s that will be following behind her.

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Merrie Fidler – A Master’s Thesis Leads to so much more

Merrie Fidler – A Master’s Thesis Leads to so much more

by | Jul 30, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Merrie is also a published author.  She published the book, The Origins and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 2006.  The book was originally her master’s thesis, and as she became more involved with the players association, several of the former players were so impressed with her work, that they convinced her to get it published.  Merrie donates a large portion of the proceeds from her book to the players association.

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My Cup Runneth Over

My Cup Runneth Over

by | Jul 25, 2021 | , , | 1 |

The past six weeks have been an extremely difficult time for me emotionally, but this week, my cup overflowed with joy and gratitude.

We spent the week at the Ripken Experience in Aberdeen, MD attending the Baseball for All Nationals.  Baseball for All is nonprofit organization that was founded by Justine Siegel to help create opportunities for girls and women in baseball.  To clarify, I’m referring to baseball, not softball.

Many times, when I start out having a conversation with someone about this subject, they will stop and say, “You mean girls’ softball, right?”

I politely clarify by saying, “Nope, baseball.  Girls Baseball.”

I was first exposed to women playing baseball in 1994, when I coached a team that played against the Colorado Silver Bullets Women’s Professional Baseball team.  From that point on, I always asked myself why the sport that I loved so much was a “Boys Club?”

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