The Girl Bats Cleanup : Before the Game Is Over, Victoria Brucker of the Eastview All-Stars Will Even Have Little League Purists on Her Side

Gary Sloan had just rounded the bases after hitting a first-inning home run Monday night in a Western Regional Little League playoff game when his teammate, the cleanup hitter for the Eastview Little League All-Stars of San Pedro, stepped into the batters box.

Victoria Brucker dug in and felt every eye in the crowd of 6,500 spectators at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino upon her.

Brucker, the only girl on the field, tugged at shoulder-length black hair protruding from a batting helmet.

Behind a guardrail at the top row of the 8,000-seat stadium, a group of old-timers couldn’t believe what they saw.

“Look at that guy’s hair,” said one.

“Aw, my grandson’s wearin’ it long like that,” responded another.

“Hey, guys, that’s not a guy. It’s a girl,” said a third.

“A girl?,” responded the first. “What’s this world coming to?”

Brucker, a student at Dodson Junior High School, was too far removed from the group to hear. But she has heard it all before, ever since she eschewed softball in favor of baseball five years ago.

At the plate, as she glared at the pitcher for the Alaskan All-Stars, the power-hitting first baseman had only one thought: “Sloan just took the lead in team home runs away from me and I want it back.”

Then she hit a 1-0 pitch over the scoreboard in right field for a towering home run to the delight of just about everybody, including the old-timers.

As Brucker rounded the bases to cheers from the crowd, one of the gadflies remarked: “Whew. So much for the weaker sex.”

By the end of the evening Brucker had won the hearts of every doubter. She went three-for-three with a pair of walks, scored four times, drove in a pair of runs and played flawlessly at first base as Eastview routed Alaska, 18-6.

Sloan and Brucker teamed up for another round of back-to-back homers in the sixth inning Monday. Each has eight to help Eastview (13-1) advance to the quarterfinals of the Western Regional tonight at 8 against the all-stars from Oregon. The winner of this single-elimination tournament advances to the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa., next week.

Brucker is not the first girl to play in this tournament (the Hawaiian All-Stars have a girl this year), but she is the only one to hit a ball out of the park in the 19-year history of Houghton. Her second shot, another solo home run to dead center, traveled at least 270 feet, well past the 200-foot fences. She is also 3-0 as a pitcher and may take the mound tonight.

Craig Graves, a volunteer representative from Little League who has umpired in the World Series, called Brucker “the best girl (player) I’ve seen in 25 years. She’s a very exciting ballplayer regardless of her sex.”

A tall, attractive 12-year-old with darting brown eyes, Victoria doesn’t seem affected by the growing attention to a girl in a baseball uniform.

“I’m just one of the players,” she said.

If anything, it is a growing entourage of supporters and teammates who are most affected. Eastview President Gary Miley points out that “my concern is how will the rest of the guys take” the attention she is getting.

Graves estimated that every time Eastview plays, an additional thousand people show up to watch Brucker.

“Vicky is definitely the story here, but this is a very, very balanced team,” he cautioned. “She isn’t a one-person team, but she is very much a crucial element.”

Six players return from last year’s team that advanced to the championship game of the Southern California Sectional tournament. This year Eastview has averaged 12.6 runs a game. Pitchers Tim Harper and Steve Williams are both 4-0. Sloan and utility Chris Hevener hit with power. Sloan has an accurate arm from center field. Mike Lennox has filled a gap in the outfield and at first base. The defense has been anchored by right-fielder Angel Quintero, catcher Ryan Albano, left-fielder Joe Sulentor and second baseman Iggie Galaz, a sure-handed gloveman. Joey Danelo, James Ditch, Anthony Pesusich and James Santos come off the bench.

“They play well together,” Eastview Manager Joe Dileva said. “These guys take turns helping us.”

Dileva is assisted by coaches Nick Lusic and Mark Grgas.

To her teammates, Victoria has become just another player, but it wasn’t always that way. She made the Eastview All-Stars as an 11-year-old a year ago but played sparingly in the playoffs. Miley noticed that something wasn’t right.

“The other players shied away from her,” he said.

It was a difficult time for Victoria.

Said Victoria’s mother, Elizabeth Roderick: “That’s when the questions started. She cried and cried. She felt bad about it. She would ask me, ‘Why mom? Why can’t girls play with boys?’ ”

Elizabeth reminded her daughter what both realized early in life: Victoria has to prove herself every time she takes the field.

“When she first started playing, one parent, a man, told me to my face that I should take Victoria home and teach her to cook and clean,” said Elizabeth, a spirited woman. “I told him, ‘She not only knows how to cook and clean, she can also crochet and play baseball better than your son.’ ”

Miley admitted that early in her career Victoria had detractors among the league’s parents and coaches. She was the last player taken in the draft when she came up to the majors, a fact Miley says most coaches regret today.

“She has to earn (everyone’s respect) all the time.”

Victoria appears to have won over her teammates this season, although she will be entering the eighth grade this fall while her teammates start seventh. She skipped a grade in elementary school.

Sloan, Victoria’s biggest admirer on the team, has been impressed.

“She’s just one of the guys,” he said.

Sulentor, knocked to the ground by Brucker in a collision at home plate this season, has let bygones be bygones: “She acts like a boy on the field. She does what it takes to win.”

Rick Roderick, Victoria’s stepfather, calls the home run battle between Sloan and Brucker “an unofficial rivalry.” He attributed her extraordinary strength and build to five years of competitive swimming at the San Pedro Peninsula YMCA.

“When she was 3 she was crossing back and forth in the pool,” Elizabeth added.

Rick and Elizabeth Roderick have been married about eight years and are raising four children. Victoria’s father, Dave Brucker, and Elizabeth were divorced when Victoria was 2.

As strong as she is, can Brucker continue to play against boys as she matures? She’ll move up to Senior Little League next season against players three years older.

Still, a South Bay parochial high school has inquired about her services, and if she grows taller her future could be bright.

“She’s done well here and there’s no reason to believe she won’t do well (elsewhere),” Miley said.

Brucker is adamant about playing baseball as far as she can, despite the fact her size and power lend themselves to a career as a formidable softball pitcher.

“She’d rather play baseball than eat,” said Rick Roderick.

Elizabeth, who has a younger daughter, Veronica, in softball, wishes her oldest daughter well: “Victoria doesn’t want to stop playing baseball and I don’t want to be her wall. I’m always afraid she might hit that wall someday, but I never want to be the one to say no, you have to stop playing baseball.”

Still, the odds are against her making a high school varsity.

But David Brucker, who watched his daughter play Monday, says: “By the time she’s old enough to play, maybe women’s lib will have come that far and she’ll have a chance.”

It’ll just give the old-timers more to talk about.