Longmont\u2019s boys of summer looked puzzled as a petite freshman carrying a bat and glove walked past the dugout.<\/p>\n
Evie Mumm was out of place. Every time she\u2019s joined a new baseball team, she\u2019s had to prove she belongs. The fact is, Evie is a girl. And this has long been a boys\u2019 game.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually, I kind of have to work and prove myself for about a week,\u201d the Longmont High School junior said. \u201cAnd then they see how well I can ball, and it\u2019s good vibes from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Evie arrived at her first summer baseball workout for the Trojans as a freshman, her mom and dad couldn\u2019t help but feel nervous. Evie, on the other hand, just wanted to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and I were so impressed with her guts,\u201d her dad Erik said. \u201cTo walk on that field and pass the dugout with, you know, 17- and 18-year-old guys, almost men, sitting there wondering, \u2018What the heck is going on?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Baseball has evolved over the centuries, but Evie remains an uncommon sight.<\/p>\n
Her dad played at Nebraska in the late 1990s, but Evie didn\u2019t discover baseball herself until about five years ago. She calls it serendipity. After missing the sign-up period for another softball season, her mom asked if she wanted to try baseball instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching her out there, she just wants to be on the baseball field,\u201d Erik said. \u201cI mean, we\u2019ve tried other sports. She\u2019s a great volleyball player, for example, and we love the fact she still plays volleyball. But, you know, it\u2019s so obvious that baseball is her love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Less obvious, however, was whether the game would ever accept her.<\/p>\n
There were growing pains, as expected. Erik reminded Evie that difficult times are just part of the game. \u201cEveryone struggles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Erik still remembers Evie going hitless through her first eight or nine games.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, one game, it clicked,\u201d he beamed. \u201cI could tell by her body language in the batter\u2019s box. I turned to my wife and said, \u2018She\u2019s going to get a hit here.\u2019 And sure enough, she put one over the shortstop\u2019s head. And from that point on, she was just a force to be reckoned with.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were still some on the diamond who\u2019d rather not reckon with a girl.<\/p>\n
Evie has been heckled and whispered about, and at times she can\u2019t help wondering if there\u2019s more bubbling beneath the surface.<\/p>\n
While playing on the freshman team for Longmont two years ago, she said she was hit by a pitch \u201c14 or 15 times\u201d during the season \u2014 enough for her to believe it was intentional.<\/p>\n
Asked why she thought she\u2019d be getting hit on purpose, she answered without pause. \u201cI don\u2019t think they wanted to have to admit I got a hit off them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other acts of sexism have been more explicit.<\/p>\n
Liam Forsythe, Evie\u2019s teammate over the past few seasons, has seen it firsthand.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter games, I\u2019ve seen a lot of umpires ask her why she\u2019s not playing softball, which I think is dumb,\u201d the incoming senior said. \u201cAnd then there\u2019s some stuff guys on other teams say. Some will make jokes about getting her number and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evie bats left, throws right and is equally strong in the middle infield as she is behind the plate. Last season, she played at the junior varsity level for Longmont. Next spring, she and Liam are vying for a spot on varsity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m pitching, there\u2019s nobody I\u2019d rather have catching,\u201d Liam said of Evie. \u201cShe\u2019s just a fun teammate to be around, and she\u2019s so encouraging and funny. After almost every practice and every game, a few of us go hang out or grab food together. She\u2019s an amazing person, and I really enjoy playing alongside her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Fobes, the Trojans\u2019 head coach for the past 26 years, has also embraced Evie.<\/p>\n
Initially, he said, he wasn\u2019t sure how it would play out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never even had a girl try out,\u201d Fobes said. \u201cThere was one year when there was a rumor a girl was going to come out for the program, but she never did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The longtime coach said the only girl he remembers playing varsity was in the summer of 1998, when he was an assistant. He couldn\u2019t remember her name but said she pitched and was impressive.<\/p>\n
That same summer, women took another step forward in the sport when Ila Borders became the first female to start and win a men\u2019s professional baseball game. With the Duluth-Superior Dukes of the independent Northern League, she pitched six scoreless innings against Sioux Falls to earn the win. The lineup card is housed at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.<\/p>\n
Evie enters her junior year with a chance to become the first girl to play varsity baseball at her school. The jump could come as soon as this spring thanks to a new opening at second base \u2014 Evie\u2019s primary position.<\/p>\n
Evie\u2019s dad, for one, likes her chances.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows boys are bigger, they\u2019re faster, they\u2019re stronger,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that\u2019s part of the beauty of baseball. You know Jose Altuve (the second baseman of the Houston Astros)? He\u2019s what \u2014 5-6? And he\u2019s a major leaguer.\u201d Altuve is also a nine-time MLB All-Star.<\/p>\n
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, more than 470,000 students play high school baseball nationwide. About 1,300 are girls \u2014 roughly 0.28% of all players.<\/p>\n
Last week, for the first time in her baseball life, Evie wasn\u2019t the only girl on the field. At Major League Baseball\u2019s Girls Development Camp in Florida, she was one of 64 players from across the U.S. and Canada to attend an event led by Team USA women\u2019s baseball players, coaches and alumnae. The camp is part of MLB\u2019s initiative to bring more girls into the game.<\/p>\n
Evie and Windsor\u2019s Elena Sagebiel were the lone attendees from Colorado.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first time playing with all women,\u201d Evie said. \u201cMy entire career, I\u2019ve been playing with men. So, it\u2019s been really great out here. It\u2019s really great competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a sight she likely won\u2019t see again anytime soon. Though she\u2019s proven time and again that she belongs, baseball remains dominated by boys.<\/p>\n
For now, she has her own Field of Dreams.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to be the first girl to play baseball at my high school, and it would be pretty cool to be able to be the first to play varsity for my school,\u201d Evie said. \u201cBut I\u2019m really just here to play ball and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n