Borders Accepts Minor League Team’s Offer

Ila Borders, the first woman to pitch regularly in college baseball, will try to crack another all-male club--minor league baseball.

Borders said Friday she had accepted an invitation to spring training by the St. Paul Saints, an unaffiliated team in the independent Northern League.

“They are giving me a shot and that’s all I ever asked for,” Borders said from her home in La Mirada. “If I can’t hack it, they’ll let me go.

“Is it going to be a rough road? Yes, very much so. What I like about it is, they are not giving me any guarantees. I like that.”

Borders, who played in high school at Whittier Christian, was given a baseball scholarship to Southern California College in 1994. As a freshman, she won her first two decisions--becoming the first woman to win a college baseball game--and finished 2-4 with a 2.91 earned-run average.

After struggling the next two seasons at SCC, Borders transferred to Whittier for this season and finished with a 4-5 records and a 5.22 ERA for the NCAA Division III Poets.

Borders, 22, said she had other offers, from minor league teams in Japan, other independent teams in the United States and from the Silver Bullets, an all-female team.

She picked the Saints, she said, after discussing her options with her father, Phil, who is her agent.

The Borderses were impressed by the Saints because they believe they will give Ila the chance based on her skills. They noted that the Saints already draw extremely well. The team sold out the 6,329-seat Midway Stadium in 41 of 43 home dates last season, setting a short-season professional attendance record.

Other teams that made offers, Phil Borders said, seemed to be interested in using his daughter to fill seats.

The Saints, two-time defending Northern League champions, start their two-week training camp May 15.

“It’s going to be up to me and nobody else to earn a contract and that’s what I want,” Borders said.

“I’m excited and I’m thrilled but I’m also working out hard now because I know that this is my shot and some people only get one shot.”