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New Tampa Little League throws an all-star curveball

At 11, a girl playing baseball rather than softball surprises some. But Rachel Carlson's going to play as long as she can.

By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN
Published July 6, 2007

No. 11 stood on the mound and peered at the batter.

The pitch was perfect.

Swoooosh.

Strike three.

From the dugout, boys taunted the batter: "Aahhh, you got struck out by a girl."

As the only girl playing baseball in the New Tampa Little League, that's usually the reaction Rachel Carlson hears when she strikes out a batter.

She thinks it's funny.

"If I go to a game and it's against a team I've never seen before, they stare at me, " said Rachel, whose long brown ponytail sticks out beneath her helmet. "They think I can't pitch well because I'm a girl."

At a time when most girls her age are playing softball, 11-year-old Rachel can not only pitch, she also made the New Tampa All-Star team.

"She does not throw a ball as most girls do ... no offense, " said 11-year-old Clayton Smith, who has played with Rachel for three years. "She's better than some of the boys."

Clayton said he and his teammates laugh when they see other teams react.

"They get all hussy fussy, " he said. "We just smile and cheer her on."

Most girls go straight to softball for the camaraderie and to hone their softball skills, said Monica Wooden, president of the New Tampa Little League. For those who choose baseball, their journey usually ends around age 12, as Little Leaguers move to regulation-size ball fields. That's because most girls do not have the power to play on the bigger field.

But don't tell Rachel that.

She has been competing against boys since she was 6, playing backyard baseball with her older brother and his friends.

Her mom, Diane Carlson, said she was able to put bows in Rachel's hair as a toddler. But all of the frilly, girly stuff ended at 2. Instead of dolls, she played with balls. She learned to ride a bike at 4. She liked to inline skate and play soccer.

She started playing Little League when she was 8, joining a bunch of boys. She's not rowdy and cheers quietly. Often times, she's so focused, she doesn't say a word.

"I think it's awesome that she's playing with the boys, " said Carlson, a former athlete herself and now a personal trainer. "She's a very independent girl."

On the field, she fits right in, said Larry Moore, the manager of her All-Star team.

"She's a great player with a great personality, " he said. "She's just one of them."

Moore said she apologized to Rachel once for addressing the team as "you guys." Rachel didn't mind. She and her friends use that term for each other, too.

A rising sixth-grader at Liberty Middle School, Rachel also plays on a girls' soccer team. She and her girlfriends shoot hoops, jump on the trampoline and play Dance Dance Revolution.

The Carlsons spend their summers at their house on a lake in Maine, where Rachel romps around in the woods with her golden retriever, Sonny. She has an older brother, Alex, who plays soccer and enjoys water skiing.

Rachel practiced with a softball team recently, but decided to stick with baseball. Her mother says the family will try to keep Rachel in baseball until she gets to high school.

"At this point, she wants no part of softball, " Carlson said. "She knows that she's going to need to switch, but she's a strong-willed kid. She knows what she wants. She doesn't give in until she gets what she wants. Unless we absolutely put our foot down."

Until that day comes, the quiet pitcher with the brown ponytail will continue to throw strikeouts. Her teammates will just smile and cheer her on.

Dong-Phuong Nguyen can be reached at nguyen@sptimes.com or 813 269-5312.

. let's play ball

New Tampa Little League

Number of children: 1, 050

Ages: 4-16

Number of baseball teams: 67

Number of softball teams: 19

Fall season sign-ups: 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 15; 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 22; and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Kinnan Street Park, 18050 Kinnan St. in Cross Creek.

Information: Call (813) 994-0074 or go to www. newtampalittleleague.com.

[Last modified July 5, 2007, 08:54:43]