Kelsie Whitmore throws to warm up at a preseason tryout for the Oakland Ballers at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., on April 6.

Kelsie Whitmore warms up at a pre-season tryout for the Oakland Ballers at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., on April 6.

Libia Duarte Crespo during the Sntecd (National Syndicate of Teachers and Scientists Trade Union) vs Roberto Amaran CPA (Farm Organization) baseball game on Jan. 7, 2024 in Pinar del Rio, Cuba.

Local youth take part in the Baseball At Heart Clinic and Game on Dec. 10, 2023 in Gayaza, Uganda.

Team USA catcher Danae Benites went 3-4 with a home run to lead the offense for Team USA in a 13-4 win over host Team Canada in Thunder Bay at the 2024 World Cup Finals.

A Team Canada player makes a diving catch during the 2024 Women’s Baseball World Cup on July 29, 2024. This image is featured in the book “See Her Be Her” by Jean Fruth.

Members of the USA women’s baseball team hold a “Baseball 5” clinic at Doors Primary School on Dec. 3, 2023 in Nsambya, Uganda.

In the early 1970s, I played sandlot baseball with the boys and a few girls in Troy parks. We sometimes took over the nicer RPI fields on hot summer days until someone chased us away.

I played catch with my brothers and father. I watched baseball on TV with my mother and grandmother. I learned how to keep the scorebook at Little League games, where my brothers played.

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To this day, when I attend an MLB game, I buy a program and scorecard to record the day’s stats.

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My dad was a Little League baseball coach. I remember him getting my hopes up, telling me “you might be able to play in Little League.” I loved baseball. My skills were right up there with all kids my age.

In 1971, I was 9 years old when Maria Pepe became national news. She was two years older than me and trying to break the gender barrier of Little League Baseball. After playing three games with her New Jersey team at age 12, Pepe was told she couldn’t play. Thanks to legal representation from the National Organization for Women, Pepe won her lawsuit against Little League baseball in 1974, but by the time the courts decided in favor of Pepe, it was too late for both of us.

I remember moving on to softball as well as other........

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