New softball team spreads racial harmony
VIERA, Fla. – Wearing black socks, pants and jerseys with the words “THIS IS US” across their chests, a newly reorganized pro softball team delivered a message of unity off the field Saturday night and scored a major victory on it.
Five days after disenfranchising themselves from the Texas-based Scrap Yard Dawgs after a since-deleted general manager’s tweet regarding the national anthem and aimed at President Donald Trump, the 18 players, plus coaches, were back on the field doing what they do best.
Team USA pitchers Keilani Ricketts and Cat Osterman – two of 11 Olympic players traveling with the team this summer – combined for seven strikeouts in the 3-1 victory against the USSSA Pride, the reigning two-time National Pro Fastpitch champions.
“Just because something may seem negative, we showed you can always turn it into a positive,” said first baseman Sam Fischer. “And not be afraid in doing so.”
“This Is Us” began appearing on players’ Twitter handles Thursday. The next day, the team released a black-andwhite video, which was shown to fans in the fifth game at Saturday’s game. “While we were playing our first game of the season, a tweet was sent out on behalf of the organization that was insensitive, offensive and ignorant to the movement going on in this country,” Fischer says in the video. The players are emphasizing three points: “We are here to raise awareness. We are here to empower. We are here to unite.”
The video had garnered more than 22,000 views as of Saturday morning. ESPN’s Holly Rowe, a veteran sideline reporter during the NCAA softball postseason, chimed in on Twitter: “I hope some big corporation gets behind this team and supports them. It takes courage to walk out on your job for what you believe. Go Ladies!!! I am donating immediately !!!! ”
The new team’s mission statement says it is “here to spark a necessary change in the softball community, gaining and sharing knowledge about racial injustice in our world.”
Fischer said the capitalized names on the back of the players’ jerseys are to acknowledge Black players, past and present, who have played and coached the game. “I wore Natasha Watley’s name because when I came up I started out as a shortstop and just idolized the way she played,” she said of the UCLA Olympian.
Last Monday, the Dawgs had lost 4-0 to the Pride in what was the first professional team sports competition in the U.S. following the coronavirus pandemic shutdown of most athletics in March. By the time the players gathered in the locker room, word got out that GM Connie May had put up a personal tweet on the team’s official site. A confrontation between players and May lasted about an hour before Kiki Stokes, the only Black player on the roster, walked out.
“I felt alone, isolated, very confused,” the Nebraska star told many of the estimated 250 fans who stayed after Saturday’s
game for a panel discussion. “I represented the organization for five years. A team I trusted. But I was let down and felt betrayed. But the people (teammates) in that room moved mountains for me.”
Stokes said it took “just seconds” for the rest of the team to follow her out the door, leaving contracts behind and an uncertain future but not regrets.
Sam Show, known for her home run bat-flip at Oklahoma State, said she was worried if she’d done the right thing after walking out on her first pro contract. “I don’t like crying in front of people but I did this week,” she said. “I knew it was right. Showing the softball world what you believe in and finding your happiness (made it the correct decision).”
Stokes said she already is seeing positives: “I’m already seeing little black girls out there running around. When I was younger, I was told, ‘You play a white sport.’ I didn’t feel that way. I’ve always felt like, just because I’m not white, I can still bring something back to the table.”