Athletes

Ila Borders has a long list of “firsts” as a female baseball player. In 1998, she became the first woman to start and win a men's professional baseball game. In 1997, Borders was the first woman to sign a professional men's baseball contract and pitch in a men's regular season professional game. On February 15, 1994, she held Claremont Mudd to one run in nine innings, becoming the first female pitcher in collegiate baseball history to throw and win a complete game. In 1993, Borders was the first female to receive any type of scholarship to play baseball with men.

Borders has made several television appearances, including stints on “The Tonight Show”, “The Today Show”, and “The Home Show,” and has been featured in major newspapers and magazines, including Sports Illustrated. She is honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and in the Orange County Hall of Fame. (10/99)