by Bea Peterson
Chelsea Stevens loves baseball. So does her younger brother Andrew. Good thing, because their father, Ken, is a baseball nut. He has been collecting baseball cards and baseball memorabilia since he was four years old. He played baseball at HFCS, where he won the Frank Stevens Award, and in college at SUNY Oneonta. His team won the All SUNY championship in 1987. The children’s mom, Margaret is not a sports nut, but she is a great cheerleader. Ken has played an active role in the Hoosick Youth Softball and Baseball program since his children have been involved.
During Chelsea’s regular season this year with Tomasi’s Sport & Awards, part of the Hoosick Youth Baseball program, Chelsea pitched 52 innings, allowing only seven earned runs and 22 hits.
She pitched 108 strikeouts and allowed 13 walks. She had six wins, one loss and two saves for an earned run average of 0.81. She pitched 26 innings for the Hoosick All Star team and allowed two earned runs and 16 hits. She pitched 37 strikeouts and eight walks. She had five wins and one save for an earned run average of 0.46. Her pitches come in at the low to mid-60 mile per hour range.
Chelsea hits pretty well, too. During the regular season she had 49 at bats, with 19 hits plus 13 runs batted in for a batting average of .398. With the All Stars she was at bat 34 times with 13 hits and 18 runs batted in, including four home runs, one of which was a grand slam. Her All Star batting average was .382. Not bad for a 12 year old girl playing a predominately boy’s sport.
A wall in Chelsea’s bedroom is dedicated to her baseball idol, Derek Jeter. She and her brother met Jeter when both kids won their pitching age group while attending a baseball clinic at Yankee Stadium.
Chelsea’s youth baseball career came to an abrupt end this season when she received a concussion from an errant pitch in a game against Half Moon. She was taken to the hospital and missed the final innings of her last game. “We received countless calls from parents and coaches,” said Ken. “We really appreciated all their concern, and Chelsea is fine.”
Chelsea has been throwing a baseball with her dad since she was four, and hitting, too. “We threw some wiffle balls at her and she started hitting them right off the bat,” Ken said. Chelsea began her career with two years of T-ball, followed by one year of softball, which she found boring and the ball cumbersome. She moved into instructional baseball at age seven and eight, then into the minors at nine and ten and the majors at 11 and 12. “She’s had some really good coaches,” her dad said. She made All Stars all but one year.
Through the minors and majors she has been the only girl in the league. To her teammates she is just one of the guys, though they are very protective of her. They get a kick out of other teams who figure it will be an easy game because their team has a girl for a pitcher. It doesn’t take those teams long to realize their mistake. One umpire told the team manager that in his 30 years of officiating he has not seen anyone with an arm like hers. “She has a wicked curve ball, a change up curve,” said her dad. The All Star team is made up of the best 12 players out of the 36 players in the league. The All Stars play in tournaments and games in New York and Vermont. This year they were 13 and three in tournaments against Clifton Park, Half Moon, Saratoga and Ballston Spa. They won fifteen out of 20 games against Cambridge, Greenwich, Hoosick Valley, Fairhaven, Castleton and Manchester, Arlington and Shaftsbury, VT.
Next year Chelsea is not sure whether she will try out for modified baseball or softball. Her mom said she will leave that decision up to Chelsea. There are no girls baseball teams in the area, so eventually Chelsea will have to transition to high school softball. There is a huge difference in the two sports, she notes. The baseball travels much farther than a softball. “I won’t give up baseball though,” said Chelsea. “There is a woman’s USA baseball team.”
Chelsea is an all-around athlete. She likes field hockey and basketball. She has four friends who have been playing basketball together since first grade, and they are looking forward to playing together at HFCS. She also likes soccer. One year she placed second in the state in a soccer shoot out. In the winter she manages to stay busy with ice skating and other outdoor activities.
She is no slouch scholastically either. She loves writing, particularly writing in her journal.