(FORT BEND ISD) – Elkins High School’s Addison Ruffing has been named to Baseball For All’s 15U team and will play in the first-ever PONY Girls’ Baseball World Series in Tochigi, Japan this summer. She will represent not only FBISD but also Texas on the 15U team.
Currently, Addison is a member of the Elkins baseball program and is the only girl on a district baseball team. On the team, she’s played pitcher, catcher, first base and third base, and she hopes to continue playing in college.
“Addie is super excited to be part of this team,” her mother Meg Ruffing said. “She is naturally athletic and has always been a hard worker and determined to succeed in this sport.”
BFA was founded by Justine Siegal to give girls more opportunities to play baseball and to bring more equity to the sport. The organization holds tournaments across the country throughout the year. Siegal was the first woman to coach in an MLB organization, for the Oakland Athletics.
Addison began playing baseball at four years old, playing in the First Colony Little League. While there are typically lots of girls playing Little League, the number dwindles as the children age. Many girls who continue playing switch to playing softball.
“Addison has never played softball; she’s never been interested. Baseball is her sport. When asked why she doesn’t play softball, as young as 9, she would say ‘because I’m a baseball player’,” says her mother.
As she’s continued playing baseball, Addison has been part of BFA’s DC Force team out of Washington D.C., and locally part of the Fort Bend Texans in Sugar Land, in addition to her Elkins team.
The 26 players chosen for BFA’s 15U and 23U teams were selected for their skill and stewardship of the game. The teams are part of the organization’s Ambassador’s Program and will play against players from around the world. For Addison, this responsibility to be a potential role model for other girls is particularly important. She was inspired by the girls and women she saw playing baseball. She hopes to give that to others.
“Without the positive examples of girls and women in the sport she may have never known that there was a place for her beyond Little League,” her mother said. “With this ambassador program, Addison and her teammates can be that example for younger generations of female baseball players.”
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