Slaterette Rubio honored
Pawtucket 11-year-old was part of Trailblazer Series
PAWTUCKET — It was about 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21 when Leila Rubio’s mom, Faith, beckoned the 11-year-old from her upstairs bedroom off of Prospect Street.
“I yelled for Leila (pronounced LAYluh) to come down to the kitchen, that I had some exciting news for her; that’s when I told her, ‘Guess what? You’re going to California!’
and her mouth dropped. It took a second before she flashed a huge smile,” Faith laughed. “She didn’t believe it; she said, ‘Uh-uh, you’re lying!’ Then I showed her my phone.”
There it was, the message that changed her young life. Despite her tender age, the young Rubio had been selected to join 95 other girls from all over the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to participate in the fourth annual Major League Baseball Trailblazer
Series in Los Angeles between April 9-12.
For those who don’t know, it’s an extremely prestigious event, and Leila Rubio isn’t the first Pawtucket Slaterettes Baseball League product to be selected to the series, a baseball tournament/school/clinic for girls only and conducted by MLB and USA Baseball.
It was not only built around Jackie Robinson Day, but the attendees will also learn the intricacies of the game from some of the country’s premier female baseballers, including USA National Women’s Baseball Team players and alumni.
But that still isn’t the half of it: Other activities include the opportunity to compete with and against some of the best young female players around on a national stage; be involved in community outreach; and even enjoy a visit with the Los Angeles Dodgers – and be the guests of honor at one of their games.
The only problem: When she found out, the COVID-19 pandemic had yet to reach the local stage.
Approximately 25 days after receiving the good news, Faith had to tell her youngest of four the bad: The event was postponed indefinitely.
“I actually got an e-mail last Tuesday from a woman named Sarah Padozo, a senior coordinator from MLB’s Baseball & Softball Division,” Faith recalled. “She told me that if they were able to reschedule it for sometime this year, she’d let us know. When I told Leila, she got teary-eyed. She was so looking forward to it.
“I didn’t have to tell her why; oh, she knew. She knows what’s going on,” she added. “She wasn’t the only one upset; I was, too. We’ve never been to California, and we always wanted to go. My husband (Alex) wanted to go, too, but he was going to stay home to work. We were going with my nephew (Julian Baez) from New York.
“When we found out initially (Leila) had been chosen, my daughter Alaynah (a senior softball player at Davies Tech) was happy but jealous. She said, ‘Wow. That’s great,’ but then, ‘I want to go.’”
For now, Leila is just focused on the fact she was chosen. She’s also taking nothing for granted, as she’s often in her backyard tossing the hardball around with Alaynah or her dad.
“When I found out about the trip, I was really excited because I was going to learn more from a bunch of women who had been playing baseball for years,” Leila stated Saturday afternoon. “Then I found out I couldn’t go, and I was really sad. I was so excited to go, and then it just disappeared.
“I wanted to learn more about baseball, meet other girls around my age who like baseball as much as I do and play. I also wanted to go see Dodger Stadium; I may have seen and talked to (former Red Sox phenom) Mookie Betts. Now I’m not sure if I’ll ever get there.”
According to mother Faith, all four of her children (including Dion, Zalen and Alaynah) were brought up to love – and play – the game. The reason: Her husband.
“She was actually dancing, doing ballet, tap and hip-hop – and gymnastics – when Alex said, ‘Hey, let’s give baseball a try.’ She was only four.” Faith laughed. “But she liked it from the very first day. I mean, she had been around and watching it since she was a baby because of her brothers and her dad, who used to coach Pineview (Little League).”
Faith continued, noting that Leila and the daughter of Bethanie Rado, the current Slaterettes’ president, spent time in dance class together.
“She said she coached T-Ball for the Slaterettes and asked me to sign up Leila, so I did,” she said. “The rest is history. She’s now been
with them seven years.”
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As for how Faith discovered the opportunity to apply for the Trailblazer Series, that came – not surprisingly – from the Slaterettes’ Facebook page, courtesy of former president and now player agent Deb Bettencourt.
“I saw Deb had posted it, so I read it and I thought it was a great idea; I had heard about it before because I used to read about other (local) girls going,” Faith explained. “It was probably about two weeks before the deadline, and that was Feb. 18. There was a link on the page if you wanted to register, so I did.
“I told Leila about it, and she said, ‘Where is it? California? Los Angeles? Yea!!” she continued, chuckling. “We got an e-mail back saying that they would let us know by Feb. 21, and I got the e-mail that night.
“For two weeks, Leila was on pins and needles.”
Actually, she still is event, in fact, will occur.
The catcher/shortstop claims she will continue to train for the upcoming Slaterettes’ Junior Division (10-13) campaign, just as she had for the greater part of this winter.
“I really like hitting, and I like catching, too, because there’s so much action; you’re involved in every pitch,” she said. “I also can see everything that’s going on beyond the plate, and I like the reaction … I’ve played softball before, but I don’t find it as interesting.”
When asked why, she provided a typical 11-year-old answer: “I don’t know why. It’s just more competitive, I think.”
Leila Rubio spent several weeks during this off-season in Slaterettes’ clinics, those conducted every Thursday at the Olympic Sports complex in south Seekonk. She’s also played Fall Ball for Darlington Softball and attended training clinics at Ken Ryan’s Baseball Academy.
“With the Slaterettes, we did four weeks of hitting and four weeks of fielding; those just ended,” Leila said. “We were about to start up four weeks of pitching and caching, but those were postponed because of all this (coronavirus) stuff.”
Stated father Alex, perhaps her biggest fan: “I’m excited she gets to play in an MLB event, playing with other girls from all over. There weren’t opportunities out there like this when we were her age. There’s definitely more opportunity, a lot of progress (being made for girls and women to play hardball).
“In my own experience as a former Little League coach of a mostly boys baseball team, I found some of my best players were the girls,” he added. “They work just as hard, if not harder (so) it’s about time we see a female MLB player or team.”
At this point, Leila and her family are keeping their fingers crossed that these public restrictions will end and she will get the chance to fly to L.A. for the Trailblazer Series.
For now, she’s just working on her skills with family and friends at home.
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