May 11th, 2012
07:49 AM ET

Baseball final forfeited because of girl at second base

The Arizona Charter Athletic Association state championship baseball game wasn't played Thursday night because Mesa Prep's second baseman is a girl.

Paige Sultzbach, a freshman, is playing baseball because her high school doesn't offer girls softball. But the school Mesa Prep was to face in the final, Our Lady of Sorrows Academy, said its boys would not compete against a team with a girl and forfeited the game - and the state title - to Mesa Prep.

"As a Catholic school, we promote the ideal of forming and educating boys and girls separately during the adolescent years, especially in physical education,” Our Lady of Sorrows said in a statement, according to CNN affiliate KTVK.

“It takes tremendous moral courage to stand by what it is you believe, and they are doing what they think is right,” Mesa Prep Headmaster Robert Wagner told KTVK.

But Sultzbach's mother, Pamela Sultzbach, said her daughter and the Mesa Prep team were being done a disservice.

"This is not a contact sport. It shouldn't be an issue. It wasn't that they were afraid they were going to hurt or injure her, it's that (they believe) that a girl's place is not on a field," Pamela Sultzbach told the Arizona Republic.

"I respect their views, but it's a bit out of the 18th century," Amy Arnold, Mesa Prep's athletic director, told the Republic.

Mesa Prep and Our Lady of Sorrows played twice during the regular season, but Sultzbach sat out, as they were away games for her team.

“It was on their field, and I felt the need to respect their rules,” she told KTVK.

The final would have been on a neutral field, and Sultzbach wanted to play.

Now, despite being hailed as state champions, Mesa Prep will feel like they've missed something, Pamela Sultzbach said.

"This team has worked so hard," she said. "They're undefeated. They had one game left. At our school, we're taught that when you start something, you complete it, and they weren't done."

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Filed under: Arizona • Baseball • Sports
soundoff (1,403 Responses)
  1. Carl

    “It takes tremendous moral courage to stand by what it is you believe, and they are doing what they think is right,”

    No, being stubborn when you are an idiot does not require courage. It is the default response of the human mind.

    June 6, 2012 at 2:37 am | Report abuse |
  2. Jeff of Peoria

    This is a great teaching moment. Let's teach our youngsters to be jerks. I doubt very much that she will be showering w/ the other boys on her team after the game. This isn't even about being liberal, conservative or religion. It's about Baseball. Pretty stupid. Let her play as long as she deserves to be out there.

    June 7, 2012 at 2:25 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Frank

    I just love reading liberal responses to stories like these. It's SO predictable. Every time these oh-so-"tolerant" liberals see something like this, they go right after it with the name calling and righteous indignation bit. Where's the 'respect" for other people's opinions and customs that they give so easily to those groups and individuals that they deem worthy of same?

    June 8, 2012 at 11:03 am | Report abuse |
  4. rjc

    Ignorance is not courage

    June 8, 2012 at 11:46 am | Report abuse |
  5. blessedgeek

    AlQaeda should adopt that principle – you have women soldiers in your army, so we won't fight you.

    June 8, 2012 at 8:16 pm | Report abuse |
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