News

By: Melissa Verge

The obstacles were a constant for a pink haired dynamo who just wanted to play baseball.

It started at three-years-old for Raine Padgham, in Blast Ball - a sport for young tots that introduces the fundamentals of baseball -  when the bases made squeaky noises, and the balls were plastic.

“We were thinking about all the comments we got from parents, ‘Does your daughter have to throw that hard, does she need to do it that hard, tell her to quit showing off,’” said her dad, Allan Padgham.

She was forced out of Blast Ball that first year as an overly advanced three-year-old, and had to wait until she was old enough to sign up for t-ball. Even there, it was a challenge. Other parents didn’t want her to play catch with their kids because she threw too hard, her dad said, so she had to play catch with her mom instead.

The hurdles continued as a young and talented Padgham progressed with the sport. Little jabs on the ball field from opposing players directed at her. Coaches who wouldn’t give her a chance on the field because she was a girl. The many people throughout her career who told her she would switch to softball eventually, or just stop playing altogether. 

There was this constant fear that if she made an error, it would be looked down upon more because of her gender.That doubt motivated a now 18-year-old Padgham to push harder. She couldn’t rely on others to help build her confidence, so she built it up herself. 

The work was put in when the stands were empty. Many hours were spent throwing on the mound and working out so she could perform the best possible when she took the field. What might’ve been a given amount of respect as a male member of the teams she played on, was an uphill battle for her to get to that same point.

Instead of quitting, she put in more work.

“Definitely a lot of practice, practicing hard, taking a lot of time out of my day to practice a little bit more than everyone else so that I can build my own confidence in myself,” she said. “So that I know that if a ground ball is hit to me or I need to pitch an inning and I need to strike a certain number of people out to win the game, I know myself that I can do that, and then slowly little by little by proving that I can play, I'll earn the respect of my teammates.”

It’s always been like that on the field for her, but her love for the competitive nature of the sport, the relationships she’s formed, and her skills on the diamond have kept her in it.

It’s not an ode to her doubters, but rather an ode to her love for the game, that she had her debut season for the Women’s National Team last year. 

It’s one of a long list of accomplishments she’s had with the sport. She exploded on social media in 2020 after being clocked throwing 83-mph during a training session at a Baseball B.C. High Performance Camp. 

Anthony Pluta, now manager of the Women’s National Team, was in attendance at that training session. It was early on in his time with women’s baseball, and it really opened his eyes to what’s possible, he said.

“She's not very big so when I saw that kind of powerful arm it was surprising,” Pluta said. “I’d never seen a girl throw that hard before, and it made me do a double take on the radar gun. So for her to throw it multiple times in a row, or close to it multiple times in a row, [it] was a pretty nice surprise.”

It’s not the first time she’s turned heads. At 13-years-old, she was the youngest player asked to join the Canadian Prospects Team in Okotoks, Alberta. More recently, last year she was invited by MLB to a Florida camp, and she will be attending Thompson Rivers on a full scholarship this fall where she will pitch for the University’s baseball team.

It’s a fascinating baseball story that almost didn’t play out. As an eight-year-old she didn’t realize the opportunities she could have in the sport, but an experience as a bat girl for women’s Team Ontario and Team B.C. changed the trajectory of her life.

The Women’s Invitational was held in 2014 at her hometown at that time of Surrey, B.C.. The tournament features the best female players from across the country from all the different provinces. Padgham got to be bat girl for Team B.C. and Team Ontario. It was an inspirational time for her, she said, with some field fright (the diamond seemed so big, she recalled, and the run to home plate quite far.)

“I didn't want to stop playing baseball, I just wanted to keep playing, and then all of a sudden I see people like people playing for the Women's National Team,” she said. “And I was thinking like, ‘there's actually a place for me as a female in the sport.’” “And I just found that super encouraging and really uplifting at that age especially.”

Playing for Team Canada has significantly increased her confidence both on and off the field. It was isolating to be the only female on teams growing up, and shattering to a young girl's self esteem to be talked down to simply because she was a girl. Playing with other talented female baseball players has helped her realize that it's okay to make mistakes, and to learn from those failures, she said.

“It really helps a lot especially playing on the girls teams, it's definitely a big jump because you have all these people who have gone through some of the same situations that you've been in, and they know a lot of what it's like to be the only girl on the team,” she said. “And it's really it’s such a loving environment to share all your experiences with.”

The 18-year-olds future in baseball looks promising. She’s currently playing with the Cloverdale Rangers in B.C., a College Prep team, and will join the Thompson Rivers University baseball team later this year.

She’s come a long way from a young three-year-old getting kicked out of Blast Ball, to now putting on the red and white jersey for Team Canada. She wants other young girls out there to know that there are opportunities for women in baseball, and although it’s a challenging path, it’s well worth it. 

“I guess a big thing that I mainly say is if you love playing baseball, then stick to baseball,” she said. “Nothings really going to come easy whether it be school, baseball or anything in life. You need to work towards your goals and you need to stick to them if they really matter to you.” 

The Women’s National Team, with Padgham an important piece on their pitching staff, will play in the Women’s Baseball World Cup qualifier in Thunder Bay this August from the 8th to the 13th.