MiKail Stansfield switched from softball to baseball when she was in middle school. She knew that she’d be the only girl on the team and might feel like the odd one out. She was wrong. The members of the all-male baseball team at Pinnacle Charter School have welcomed her as one of their baseball family.
“I didn’t think that they would be as accepting as they are. I thought that they would wonder why I was there. It has been the complete opposite. They have been really accepting and treat me like a sister,” she said.
Now in high school, Stansfield plays outfield for the Panthers. As a sophomore, she loves the sport and plans on playing until she graduates. Her motivation for competing in a male-dominated game is to change the way others think, “I wanted to play it because a lot of people said that a girl couldn’t do it. I wanted to prove them wrong.”
Her mother, Michelle, was nervous about her daughter’s choice to play baseball. She didn’t want Stansfield to get hurt or be harassed. To her surprise, Stansfield recounted that her mother’s fears faded quickly, “Boys throughout my sports years have been very respectful. It’s like I have 12 older brothers who are all very protective. She is now very supportive and proud of me.”
Though she is the only girl on her team, several of the teams in their region- including Green River and Manila- have females in their batting line up. Fifteen-year-old Stansfield hopes that more girls will play the sport she loves as a result of her example, “I want to play hard and make my coach proud. I want to show that the old insult, ‘you throw like a girl’ is really be a statement to be proud of,” she added.
The odd one -out- IN
MiKail Stansfield