The PCA Blog - Los Angeles

Local Trailblazer Plays In National All-Girls Baseball Tournament

by Taylor Bennett

05.30.2018

My name is Taylor Bennett. I am a twelve year old girl who loves to play baseball. Usually, I am the only girl on my team, but I recently had the opportunity to play in the Trailblazer Series which was held at the MLB Compton Youth Academy. Almost 100 girls from around the country came together to play in the this all-girl baseball tournament. It was really cool to meet other girls who share the same passion for baseball as I do. We played three games over the weekend and our coaches were from the Women’s National Baseball Team.


It was interesting to meet them and hear about their experiences and know that there are opportunities for women to play baseball. One of my coaches was Justine Siegal who started an organization called Baseball for All which supports girls who want to play baseball. The tournament was held on the same weekend as Jackie Robinson Day and we got to go to the Dodger game on Saturday night. One of the girls on my team even got to throw out the first pitch before the game!

But, my favorite part of the weekend was getting to meet Jeneane Lesko – one of the players from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). She was a pitcher for the Grand Rapids Chicks in 1953 & 1954. I got to take a picture with her and she signed a baseball for me. I also saw her pitch a little bit and she can still throw pretty well! I still like playing with the boys, but look forward to playing in this tournament again next year.


From Taylor’s parents – Joe and Stacey Bennett – “We were extremely impressed with the tournament overall and all the resources that MLB and the Youth Academy put into it. The girls got great treatment and had a lot of opportunities to meet and hear from positive role models throughout the weekend. The games were fun to watch too. There was a lot of really good talent there, and we are excited about the future of baseball for women!”

Taylor Bennett plays in the Manhattan Beach Little League, a long time PCA-Los Angeles partner, introduced by Dodger great Eric Karros. The Trailblazer Series is an all-girls Baseball Tournament put on by Major league Baseball’s Urban Youth Academy and supported by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Dodgers Foundation.