Liberty Belles in Las Vegas

Welcome to the latest update on the North American Liberty Belles Elite International Women's Baseball Team!

Vegas Liberty Belles (from L to R): Tiffany Brooks, Stephanie Ott, Cristen Hays, Shawna Macurio, Dre Dominguez, Kat Shriner, Amy Schneider. Not Present: Samantha Ostrom, Sarah Strohl, Windy Weinman.

Liberty Belles Visit Sunrise Children's Hospital

Belles Players Sign Autographs, Give Children Copies of "A Glove of Their Own," and "Pay it Forward" Bracelets

In an excellent partnership with Bob Salomon, the publishers of A Glove of Their Own, the children's book that is touching hearts across the nation, and Charley Johnson of the Pay It Forward Foundation, the Liberty Belles visited several children at Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas, hoping to brighten their day. The Belles were well-received, signing numerous 8x10 color photos for the children, family, and staff and providing each with a Pay It Forward bracelet. KTNV provided local news coverage of the event, editing the one hour interview down to about 50 seconds (see clip below!).


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From L to R: Kat Shriner, Tiffany Brooks, Dre Dominguez, Shawna Macurio, Amy Schneider, Cristen Hays, Stephanie Ott

Through the incredible generosity of the publishers of A Glove of Their Own, 90 books were donated and through Charley's generosity, 300 bracelets arrived in time for the visit! That was enough for each child to receive his or her own bracelet and a personal copy of the book, as well as providing several copies for the common areas. The Belles would like to thank Bob and Charley for their amazing generosity, good will and hard work. If you haven't read this book...well..although "there is no crying in baseball," I can safely say everyone I know who has read it has had a little moisture in their eyes. You can reach Bob's site at www.agloveoftheirown.com and Charley's site at www.payitforwardtoday.com

Belles Only Female Team in the NABA Tournament!

After visiting the Sunrise Children's Hospital, the Liberty Belles held our first practice since Hong Kong. Coaches Rocky Ostrom and Kaitlyn Sawyer led the 2-hour practice at Rainbow Park. The next day, the Belles began the tournament in earnest, facing three of the toughest 35+ teams on the West Coast. Although the final standings were not what we had hoped for (going 0-3), we more than met our most important goals -- to test ourselves against top men's teams to make ourselves better, to improve every day, and to spread the word that women can -- and do -- play hardball. We feel strongly that by "mainstreaming" with men's teams, we can go far in fulfilling our global mission to promote Women's and Girls' Baseball throughout the world. We had overwhelming support from the men's teams we played; once even so far as our opponents "boo-ing" the 1st base umpire on an obviously bad call against our runner! Our next foray into men's tournaments takes us to Montreal, Quebec, Canada over the 4th of July for some tough competition against our Northern neighbors. We also hope to play an exhibition game against the Quebec Provincial Women's Team while there. A hearty thanks to all of our coaches (Rocky Ostrom, Richard Hopkins, and Kaitlyn Sawyer) and to all of our sun-soaked fans and family!

School of Hard Knocks

Yep, we took a few! Shawna Macurio and Sam Ostrom both got dinged with scorching line-drives back to the mound (Shawna- forearm; Sam -- calf), while I (Tiffany Brooks) got a physics-defying Mach 5 one-hopper off my right (throwing hand) at 3B and a HBP bruise from a curve ball that didn't. Not shown is Amy Schneider's swollen foot from another HBP in the final game. Are we whining? Nope. Did we rub them? Nope. Just thought all of you black-and-blue fanatics might like to see that the Belles can bruise it up with the best of them! : )

A Final Thanks

A final note to thank Hector, Joe, and Shane at the NABA for their support of women's baseball, and to all the guys we played against in Vegas (or who just stopped and talked with us) who support women's baseball and said they'd "play us again, anytime." Guys, the feeling is mutual! Let's play TWO!