Imagine, if you will, an 11-year old who loves everything about the game of baseball- the precision, the raised red stitching, the stats, the cards, the names and the history- and imagine her showing up for a summer recreational league and being told by the coach, who hasn't even seen her play, that she should have come to the earlier tryout for 6-9 year olds. Imagine her being insulted as only a young person can be, not yet hardened to life's disappointments, and then imagine her coming back the next day anyhow and making the 11-12 year old team anyhow and letting the 4-week season become her whole life, anyhow.

And then imagine that same girl, twenty years later, seeing the Colorado Silver Bullets take the field at Fenway Park against a men's team, and even though they only play seven innings and even though they lose and even though, by this time, life's indignities and disappointments have knocked more frequently at the door to her heart, imagine her flinging that door wide open.

It can be lonely for a girl who wants to play baseball. Historically, girls and women have been discouraged, turned away, even banned, from playing the game and have been steered towards softball instead. In 1952 Major League Baseball formally banned the signing of women to contracts, a ban that remained until 1992. Little League, founded in 1939, officially banned girls from playing in 1951 and didn't open the game to girls until 1974, when Title IX and legal challenges forced the League to allow girls to play. Girls were then accepted into Little League but were mostly encouraged to play in the newly created girls softball division instead.

The effects of this discrimination and the diversion away from hardball have been long-lasting. The opportunities for girls to play baseball have been few and far between and if a girl finds a way to play, the narrative is usually the same - look at this one girl good enough to play with the boys - as if it were the first time, each time. But this tired narrative is finally beginning to change.

In 1994, when I began this project, there was only one women's baseball team in the entire country and they played against men because there was no one else to compete against. Today, across the country, there is a burgeoning network of girls' baseball teams and tournaments. It's an exciting time to be a young female baseball player. These athletes are the very first generation to grow up playing hardball with and against other girls, where they can be baseball players and not just the “only girl on the team.”

With the support of organizations such as Baseball For All, these young players are finding each other, redefining what a baseball player looks like and rewriting the narrative of baseball. Their grit and determination are compelling and the camaraderie between them is exhilarating. They are intense, joyful, and skilled. They are game changers. They are not alone.