Making her pitch

Ila Borders looks for a sign during his historic college debut on Feb. 15, 1994

Thirty-one years ago today, 18-year-old Ila Borders becomes the first woman to pitch in a college baseball game, crafting a five-hitter as Southern California College of Costa Mesa beats Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College 12-1.

The 5-foot-10, 150-pound Borders goes on to pitch professionally for three seasons in the independent Northern League, where she plays for three teams from 1997-99 before retiring in 2000 after pitching in five games for Zion of the independent Western League.

“Two things help me be a winner,” Borders later says.

Ila Borders pitching professionally for St. Paul

“One is I try to stay on an even keel. I don’t get too high or too low. Two is I do a lot of visualization. I never see a bad pitch. I always see a good one.”

Borders now is a firefighter in the Pacific Northwest.

“Anytime you’re a woman trying to break into a male-dominated field you spend time trying to prove yourself,” Borders says.

“Once [my teammates] realized I wasn’t there to pick up guys or for the publicity – I was just there to play baseball – I’d see them diving for balls for me, encouraging me. They know how hard it is to play this game.”

Borders has a chance to stay in baseball after she stops playing, but turns down an offer from St. Paul Saints owner Mike Veeck to become the pitching coach for his independent league team.

“I loved the game, and never really felt like what I went through wasn’t worth it until my last year, and that’s why I decided to retire,” Border says.

“Mike Veeck offered me a job as a pitching coach, but I said no because my head wasn’t in it at the time. That’s the one thing I regret.”