SARASOTA, FL – Bay College Head Baseball Coach Mike Pankow added an additional coaching role to his plate this fall. Pankow was asked to coach in the All-American Women's Baseball Classic in sunny Florida on November 17-19 at Ed Smith Stadium and the Baltimore Orioles Spring Training facility. The tournament was in its second year, but it was Pankow's first year attending.
The tournament was run by American Girls Baseball (AGB), an affiliate of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association (AAGPBL PA). The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was immortalized in the 1992 film A League of Their Own and continues to hold reunions and gatherings. American Girls Baseball continues to fight inequity in the USA, striving to create more opportunities for females to play the great game of baseball. The All-American Girls Baseball Classic is one of the premier events hosted by the organization and this year featured women from all over the US, as well as seven Canadian players, and one from Peurto Rico, and another from Mexico. The tournament proved itself as a showcase of the talent and skills of some of the best women playing baseball today.
Pankow was first introduced to the world of women in baseball in 2015 when he was named the Head Baseball Coach at the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI). There he took over a roster that featured the only woman in NCAA baseball at the time, Ghazaleh "Oz" Sailors. During his tenure there, Oz continued her career as a pitcher and infielder, eventually being named a captain her senior year. Oz also was the starting pitcher against NCAA Division 1 Maine her senior season, though the Owls lost the game 6-0, Oz performed brilliantly allowing just four earned runs in six innings of work. It was a start that got her a call from the National Baseball Hall of Fame later that year, asking for some artifacts from that game to display.
Since their time together Sailors and Pankow have remained in close contact. "Oz is one of the most genuine and positive people you can meet," said Pankow. "Not only have I been able to follow her through her adult life, she has been my connection to women in baseball since meeting her. It has been fascinating learning about that side of the game, and through Oz I have wanted to be involved in some way, and finally something materialized that fit with everything we both do."
The first event that "fit" was a AAGBPL reunion in August. During that event, some women that had played in 2022's All-American World Classic played an exhibition game against the USA Women's National Team, who was gearing up for the World Cup Qualifiers later that month.
"Though we talk usually at least once a month, I hadn't seen Oz in years," continued Pankow. "Since I was off that weekend, it was a no-brainer to watch her go play." It was there that Pankow made connections with people associated to the AGB, eventually leading to the invitation to participate in the 2023 All-American Women's World Classic.
The tournament features four teams of 12 players and two coaches. The four teams are named after teams that were in the original AAGBPL, including the Rockford Peaches, South Bend Blue Sox, Racine Belles, and Kenosha Comets. In the months leading up to the tournament, Pankow found out he would be reunited with Oz as the coach of the Belles.
Sailors wasn't the only former player to have a reunion of sorts with Pankow. Janelle Calvet was a student at Bay and participated as a player for the Norse for a short time before being forced to leave school for personal reasons. Calvet is another person Pankow routinely stays in touch with. Despite having a few familiar faces, Pankow was set to work with ten other players and a coach he had never met before that weekend, and play games in a very short period of time of being together. Though it was a unique challenge, Pankow says it wasn't as tough as it sounds.
"To say I was nervous about it going in is an understatement. It was just such a unique situation putting together a lineup and asking a group to trust me and work together when we didn't really know each other. The good part was I had some information beforehand from Oz, and Coach Patricia Landry and I seemed to gel quickly. On top of that we had a great group of women to work with that seemed at ease with each other and just wanted to play ball. It didn't take long to relax and have fun with this group."
Coach Landry made her first appearance at the Women's Baseball Classic as well, but had a much more robust resume in the world of women's baseball then Pankow. She is a former member of the Canadian National Team and played in the World cup in 2006 and 2010. She has been an assistant for Canadian's Women's National Team for 12 years. She runs a high performance program in Quebec and a coordinator of the Academy of Baseball Canada, a women's academy.
The weekend started with most of the personnel involved arriving on Thursday evening and meeting for a brief rules meeting. On Friday teams were given just two hours to warm up and practice before their first game. After the early game went extra innings, it was the Belles and the Blue Sox in a thriller under the lights. Alize Gelinas had an RBI single in the first and an RBI double in the third to help spark the Belles. The teams traded the lead back and forth and needed a big RBI double from Amanda Gianelloni in the sixth to send the game to extra innings. The excitement continued as the Belles would have to answer the Blue Sox on multiple occasions, but also missed some opportunities to end it. They left the bases loaded in the eighth and tenth innings, and were also one strike away from preventing Blue Sox runs in the eighth and ninth innings. In the end the Blue Sox walked it off on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eleventh inning.
The Belles bounced back nicely on Saturday behind a stellar pitching performance from Raine Padgham. She would end up with a complete game shutout on the mound and the Belles' offense would come alive to down the Comets by a score of 10-0. Every Belle batter would reach safely at some point. Denae Benitas picked up a pair of hits and an RBI, while Sailors drove in three runs in the contest.
On Sunday the Belles faced off against the Peaches and got a surprise performance on the mound from Katie Reynolds. Reynolds had thrown on Friday in relief, so the expectation was for her to come in and throw two or three, but when she took the ball in relief in the third inning, she was able to shut down a potent Peach offense. She would finish the game and in five innings of work gave up just two hits and one walk. Meanwhile the Belles got RBI's from Sarah Edwards, Kaija Bazzano, and Calvet, winning their last game 5-1.
The Belles were awarded second place medals for the weekend as the Blue Sox went 2-1 and were named the champions based on tie breakers.
"The baseball side of things were amazing on this trip," said Pankow. "Coming into it, after seeing the game in Kenosha this past summer, and knowing the players Janelle and Oz are, I had high expectations for the level of play, and all of the young women involved really blew me away. The level of baseball, how entertaining the games were, and just the overall quality of the tournament was amazing and definitely needs more attention going forward. I think from a Belles standpoint, we play a couple of innings a little cleaner defensively in the first game and we are talking about an undefeated tournament, but this was about a lot more than that. All of the teams involved put out an excellent product that needs to be noticed."
"Obviously the chance to play baseball was important to all of the athletes involved," continued Pankow. "It is amazing how many of the participants had similar stories of how some point in their career they were told they had to, or at least pushed towards softball, and I think that is really sad. Don't get me wrong, softball is a great sport, and I love watching good softball, but baseball and softball are two different games. It is heartbreaking to hear the stories of so many people that just love baseball but were not able to play as much as they wanted, because of their gender. So, having a small part in helping these athletes get to play a sport they love is very rewarding. I hope to continue to help anyone that wants to play baseball get that chance."
Thankfully the opportunities are growing for women to participate in baseball. The AGB event is one of the organizations that is pushing for those opportunities, as well as organizations such as Baseball For All and the MLB Breakthrough Series.
"I had the chance to work with women who are doing wonderful and amazing things in baseball that prove that they belong. Elise Berger is a young Belles that is an up and comer, committed to an NCAA Division 3 school and is destined to do some really good things. Paige Smeddon not only has served our country in the Army, but also has coached and promoted the game of baseball. Sabrina Robinson plays on a women's baseball team in New York and started a club team for women at her college. Sarah Edwards worked in the MLB and is part of a recruiting agency that is starting to look at getting International athletes a chance to play in the US. Not only are these women fantastic ball players, but they are making a difference in the world."
Pankow also continued to cite Sailors as his inspiration and the work she has done. "Oz has been such an interesting person to follow since our days in Maine. From playing professionally to working for the MLB to becoming the Director of Baseball Development for Baseball For All, I wouldn't be in this position without her in my life. She has done so much to help women get their opportunity and I am thankful to be in the position to help the cause because of her."
There were more opportunities for Pankow involved in the tournament. The opportunity to manage and coach against former major leaguers was definitely a highlight. John Frascatore pitched for the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Blue Jays in the 90's and was one of the coaches for the Comets. Mike Caldwell played for five different teams in the MLB, but spent the majority of his time, and his best professional years with Pankow's favorite team, the Milwaukee Brewers.
"It was really cool meeting John and Mike, but especially Mike just with that Brewers connection," added Pankow. "It was interesting to hear Mike's stories and take on the Brewers. Both of them were really cool to be around, and really nice guys."
Caldwell and Frascatore were not the only former professional baseball players that Pankow rubbed elbows with on the trip. Former AAGBPL players Sue Zipay and Jeneane "Lefty" Lesko were in attendance for the weekend. Zipay, played infield, outfield, and pitched for the Rockford Peaches in 1953 and 1954. Zipay is the founder of AGB and is the current President and Treasurer for the group that was responsible for putting on the Women's Baseball Classic.
Jeneane Lesko was a left-handed pitcher for the Grand Rapids Chicks in 1953 and 1954. Lefty also went on to play professional golf in her career.
"I got to spend some time with both Sue and 'Lefty'," said Pankow. "Both amazing women. I actually got to play catch with Jeneane as she was preparing to throw out the first pitch on one of the days later in the tournament. I caught grief because I wasn't throwing the ball back to her hard enough. She still has it though! I had a great time getting to know both women a bit, and hearing some of the stories about their experiences in pro baseball and in life."
On Monday the festivities concluded with a clinic for young women interested in learning some baseball skills. Pankow was asked to fill a role for that event, although admittedly a small one. "That weekend was all about women in baseball. The girls at that clinic weren't there to hear from me and Anna Kimbrell, who plays for Team USA and was on the Peaches for the tournament, runs baseball camps as part of her living. For me it was a chance to step back, help out where I could, and learn as a coach from what they were teaching and more importantly how they taught it."
Kimbrell, Jacqui Reynolds (Peaches), Elise Berger (Belles), and Beth Greenwood (Comets) spent the morning running drills and playing games with a group of school aged players. The clinic started with a question and answer session and then covered skills such as baserunning, hitting, fielding, and throwing and some games and competition. It concluded with "Lefty" Lesko at the plate ripping a single through the right side of the infield. The clinic coaches spent a good deal of time taking pictures and talking with everyone in attendance.
"There were so many benefits to me being a small part of the clinic," said Pankow. "Just to see the excitement and joy from the young ladies participating was more than enough, but as I said, as a coach I am always trying to learn and get better, so to see the way these women approached the subjects they were teaching was definitely beneficial. Besides that, I also got to chat with some more women from the weekend. Anna, Jacqui, Elise and Beth are all doing great things in baseball and an overall joy to talk to and get to know just a little bit, so I was super happy to make those connections there."
"I can't say enough about this trip and tournament. I got a chance to talk to and hang out with a lot of people on this trip. From former Major Leaguers, to the members of the AAGBPL, and all the baseball people around, it was a fantastic trip. I think the thing that most got me is the conversations I had in the dugout, on the field, in the stands, and hanging out in our down time with the players on the field. Just the amazing things these women are doing and what they have had to do to get the opportunity to play ball is astounding. You look at something that certain people take for granted and see that these women have to work for every little experience in baseball is truly eye-opening. Above all I feel like I made some great connections and can't wait to follow these women on their journey, and truly hope to be a part of it in some way going forward."
While support for women in baseball is growing, and opportunities are opening, there is still a lot of ground to be gained. Organizations such as American Girls Baseball and Baseball For All continue to hold events, but events such as the Women's Baseball Classic that Pankow participated in need to grow. Sponsors, volunteers, and donations are needed to help the 2024 version of the tournament become a bigger and better event. Even awareness and more people in the stands to be a part of it are needed.
At the National level the Women's Team USA is gearing up for the World Cup to be held in Thunder Bay, Ontario this summer. The last time Team USA won the gold medal was back in 2006. Since then Team USA has fell behind other teams on the world level, especially Japan who has won every World Cup since then (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018).
While the world of women in baseball continues to grow in the United States, other countries have taken bigger steps forward. From Japan's dominance on the national level, to Canadian all-women provincial teams and academies, and professional women's baseball in Australia, the USA women's baseball scene is lagging behind.
"It's amazing to think of moving halfway across the country just to get my foot in the door as a head baseball coach would have brought me here," said Pankow. "Just the chance that taking that job at UMPI would connect me to Oz for the rest of my life and gave me the opportunity to be a part of something special like this tournament, it's just wild to connect all those dots. Now after making all those connections, supporting women in baseball is one of my goals in life. I can't wait to see where this road takes me."
Anyone interested in learning more about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, American Girl's Baseball, Baseball For All, and the USA Women's Baseball National Team can find them on their websites and various social media platforms. Each organization has their unique story to tell, as well as ways to support and follow their progress.
Photos courtesy of Jean Fruth, Grassroots Baseball, and Mike Pankow