Ila Borders

Ila Borders, the first woman to pitch in a regular-season minor league game, was traded Wednesday by the St. Paul Saints to the Duluth-Superior Dukes. Borders, 22, a left-hander, was expected to be in uniform this afternoon when the Dukes play a makeup game against the Sioux Falls Canaries in Duluth. She was traded for utility infielder Keith English. In seven Northern League games this season, Borders had a 7.50 ERA in six innings, allowing 11 hits, walking four and striking out five.

The young woman walked across the grass and construction workers in a nearby lot stopped their hammering and began to gawk. The young woman walked to the top of a small slope, paused, looked around and threw the small object she was carrying in her left hand. Curveball low to Gabe Rosenthal, Ball 1. Ila Borders took a deep breath, reared back and threw again. Called strike, on the outside corner. "Attagirl!"

The contrast between Ila Borders' first collegiate pitching appearance and the most recent couldn't be greater. Three years ago she was making history, starting Southern California College's home opener, pitching a five-hitter in a 12-1 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and becoming the first woman to win a college baseball game. A crowd of 300 cheered her on; Sports Illustrated and ESPN took notice. Wednesday, she pitched two innings of relief for Whittier College in a 12-4 loss to Concordia.

The St. Paul Saints told Ila Borders on Wednesday that she had earned a spot on his pitching staff. She will become the first woman to pitch in a regular-season minor league game, perhaps as early as Friday when the independent Saints play their Northern League opener at Sioux Falls. "I told her in any other given year if we had a stronger rookie staff to draw from you might not have made the club," Manager Marty Scott said.

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.

The Chapman women's soccer team is unbeaten in its first seven games but perhaps more impressive, the Panther defense, anchored by goalkeeper Natalie Angelo, has six consecutive shutout victories. That scoreless streak came to an end Wednesday when UC Santa Cruz salvaged a 1-1 tie, scoring late in the second half. "Our defense has kept the number of shots down," said Coach Eddie Carrillo, whose team outshot opponents, 94-19, through six games.

History will remember this night. Ila Borders would rather forget it. Borders became the first woman to pitch in a regular-season game Saturday night, when she came in during the sixth inning of the St. Paul Saints' Northern League game against the Sioux Falls Canaries. But she struggled from the outset, facing three batters and giving up three earned runs without getting an out. The Canaries went on to win, 11-1.

Ila Borders was flattered when the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame approached her about setting up an exhibit to commemorate her status as the first woman to start and win a college baseball game. But Borders was unprepared for the letter from Cooperstown, inviting her to send items for an exhibit in the baseball Hall of Fame. "I opened the letter and I had to read it again to make sure that I read it right," said Borders, a sophomore at Southern California College. "I think of Nolan Ryan.

A grand going-away party was planned for Ila Borders on Tuesday at Whittier College. But she beat them to the punch. Borders withdrew from classes at Whittier two hours before the game, making herself ineligible to play in the Poets' season finale against Southern California College. Borders watched the game from the Whittier dugout. Borders' withdrawal from school allows her to concentrate on her next step, which she hopes will be a minor league contract.

Ila Borders will end her college baseball career by pitching against the team that gave her her start. Whittier College Coach Jim Pigott said Borders will start the Poets' season finale April 29 against Southern California College at Whittier. "She's our only senior starting pitcher so I think it's a great way to end her career, pitching at home," Pigott said. "It's kind of ironic that it's against SCC because the schedule was set way before she decided to transfer to Whittier."