Pair of Aces

Sabrina Sexton and Janelle Frese are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but fighting the same fight for women’s professional sports.

Sexton, 19, is a year out of Capistrano Valley High School and second-guessing her lack of attention to her studies.

Frese, 31, teaches special education in Anaheim and not only won a Southern Section title at Kennedy High in 1984 as a player, but also coached Cypress to a section title eight years ago.

Sexton came from a broken home and recently saw her father for only the second time in 17 years.

Frese, daughter of the former mayor of La Palma, Hank Frese, has two daughters.

They are teammates on the Long Beach Aces, one of six Ladies Professional Baseball teams that will play a 56-game schedule this summer.

The Aces, in their second year, are in the middle of their first homestand at Blair Field. The LPB is the first pro baseball league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League ended its 11-year run in 1954.

Frese said there’s a bigger issue at stake than getting a chance to play baseball.

“This is so important, not only for me and my kids, but I think for the world,” said Frese, a history major who attended Nebraska. “Since 1931, we’ve been fighting to get into this game. Through the equal rights movement and Title IX, every year or so we’re moving a little closer. Now with the WNBA and ABL we have women’s basketball.

“Every so often, something great happens for women in athletics and Ladies Professional Baseball is that next great leap forward.”

The LPB may not be a leap, but it’s surely a step. Ten former members of the disbanded Colorado Silver Bullets play in the league, which pays a monthly salary comparable to a Class-A minor league baseball player--$850 to $1,000 plus $15 per diem on the road.

In addition to Long Beach, there are the San Jose Spitfires, the Arizona Peppers (Scottsdale), Florida Legends (Homestead), Buffalo Nighthawks and New Jersey Diamonds (Newton).

“We still have a long way to go; we’re grass-rooting this,” said Mike Ribant, the league’s president. “It’s not like we’re the [NBA-financed] WNBA. The thing we have this year over last year is talent. We have the best baseball players in the country.”

In the case of supply and demand, Frese (a pitcher nicknamed “The Russian Rocket”) and Sexton play the two most difficult positions to fill.

“I quickly realized pitching and catching are the two most valuable positions,” Ribant said. “So Sabrina adds value and can have a long career. No one wants to see a three-hop throw to second base.”

To illustrate the talent level, Ribant mentioned the Peppers. Despite being an All-American softball catcher at Arizona, Leah Braatz of Costa Mesa is playing first base because her arm strength doesn’t match Sandra Langston’s.

Sexton hardly looks like a catcher, but Manager Don Barbara says she has a great arm attached to her 115-pound frame. She quit the softball team at Saddleback College and forfeited her college eligibility to take a stab at the pro game.

“I thought about [forfeiting college eligibility] but figured by the time I get to a four-year university, I would rather just concentrate on school,” said Sexton, who runs a service center at a Mission Viejo sporting goods store. “It’s too hard to work, do school and play softball full-time.

“[Turning pro] was going to be easier for me.”

She confessed she missed far too much class time at Capistrano Valley, where she was second-team All-South Coast League player in 1997. Sexton will finish her general education classes at Saddleback before attending a four-year college. She is considering communications, criminal justice and business as possible career paths.

“But I want to be a baseball player, and now I get to,” Sexton said. “I know I have to think about what I want to do for a real job; who’s to say I won’t get hurt and not be able to play next year?”

Like Sexton, Frese says this is a dream come true for a 6-year-old who chased baseballs and played in the dirt while her father coached a high school team. While she was growing up, she was unable to participate in Little League in La Palma.

“The LPB has been more exciting and more fun than any softball game I’ve ever played in,” Frese said. “Really, this is the stuff right here.”

Frese was one of three Jackie Mitchell Award winners last season for outstanding pitching. The award is named for the 17-year-old woman who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition for the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1931.

Shortly after Michell’s accomplishment, then-commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, ruled baseball was “too strenuous” for women and prohibited them from playing major or minor league baseball.

Frese resigned “a great teaching position” at a middle school in Santa Monica to pursue a position with the Silver Bullets. She didn’t make the final cut but didn’t regret her decision.

“Do I just work and raise my family and wonder ‘What if?’ Or should I take the risk?,” Frese said. “I either kick myself the rest of my life or chase a dream, and I chose the dream. I’m glad I did, because it opened up a whole new set of doors for me.”

With her parents providing plenty of baby-sitting, Frese played last season for the Los Angeles Legends, who this season moved to Homestead, Fla.

A pitcher and first baseman/outfielder with the Aces, Frese played in two women’s softball College World Series at Nebraska. She played catcher one season, then moved to the outfield and was a GTE Academic All-American.

Now separated, she married in 1993 and has two daughters, Mikayla, 4, and Marlena, 18 months.

Like Sexton, it is Frese’s arm that makes her such a valuable commodity. Last year was her first as a pitcher; she went 6-1 with a 2.96 earned-run average, and batted .238.

“Softball is very fast and reaction-oriented and there’s a different feel to it--it’s a bit more vicious and gives [me] an uneasy feeling. I really didn’t enjoy it,” Frese said. “But I had the drive to win and kept on playing, but when I stepped on the mound the first time and played baseball, I sensed a whole new ball game.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ladies Professional Baseball

* Who: Long Beach Aces, who feature Orange County players Janelle Frese and Sabrina Sexton, Chapman graduate Kady Kepner, former Colorado Silver Bullets Alyson Habetz and Gina Satriano, the first girl to play Little League baseball in California.

* When: The 56-game regular season ends Sept. 20

* Where: Blair Field, Long Beach

* Home schedule: Sunday-Tuesday vs. Arizona; Aug. 24-27 vs. New Jersey; Aug. 28-31 vs. Arizona; Sept. 3-6 vs. San Jose; Sept. 8-11 vs. Buffalo; Sept. 13-16 vs. Florida

* Times: Games begin at 7 p.m., except for 1 p.m. starts Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, and a 5 p.m. start Sept. 13.

* Tickets: Adults $7 bleachers, $8.75 box seats; children 12-under and seniors, $4; children 4-under are free.

* Information: (800) 729-8700

* Web site: https://www.ladiesprobaseball.com