Sonoma Stompers | Indy Ball Island

The Sonoma Stompers of the Pacific Association never shy away from doing something different when it comes to baseball.

They were the first professional team to have an openly gay player, pitcher Sean Conroy. Usually a relief pitcher, Conroy ended up being the starting pitcher on the team’s pride night last year. He pitched a complete game shutout that night while his teammates wore rainbow colored socks and armbands showing their support.

Last year, the Stompers also allowed two statistically driven baseball writers to work as part of their baseball operations department.

This year, they are making history by signing two female players for the month of July. The team has announced that they have signed Kelsie Whitmore, 17, and Stacy Piagno, 25.

womenbaseballnetwork

Both players are scheduled to start in Friday’s game (July 1st) against the San Rafael Pacifics with Whitmore playing in left field and Piagno on the mound.

Whitmore played varsity baseball in high school and has a softball scholarship to Cal-State Fullerton. Piagno has played on the U.S. Women’s National Team and played college softball.

The team’s GM, Theo Fightmaster, told MLB.com that this isn’t just a publicity stunt for his team.

“This isn’t a one-day event. That’s been done a dozen times. Let’s give women a chance to be part of a team, let’s give women a chance to play against men. What will they learn? What have they not been coached because they haven’t had the same coaching as boys? I remember being really disappointed with my sister’s coaches because they coached the girls a lot different than how I was coached.”

Fightmaster wants to raise awareness for female baseball players and also hopes that this is only the beginning for American women in baseball. Even though some countries such as Japan already have strong women baseball teams, America has been far behind in that respect.

“There’s not enough places or ways for women to play baseball in this country,” Fightmaster says. “Women get funneled into softball — if they want to play baseball, they end up playing softball.”

There’s no predicting how the women will do, but after their first start, they will be fighting for playing time like the rest of the players.

“Both of these girls are on the roster,” Fightmaster said. “They’re gonna play however much they earn. They are not gonna be in the starting lineup every night so we can sell more tickets. It’s a big game on July 1 and they’ll both be in the lineup and after that we’ll see what their performance dictates.”

We will continue to follow how the women do in their month with the Stompers; However after July, Whitmore will be leaving to go begin her college career while Piagno will be starting a career in teaching.

With the Atlantic League finishing their championship series earlier this week, the 2015 season for independent baseball has officially ended. Here’s a look at the champions for each league:

Atlantic League

(Photo: Somerset Patriots Official Website)

The Somerset Patriots defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in four games to claim their sixth Atlantic League title.

This was manager Brett Jodie’s first championship of his managerial career. He previously won the championship as a player (2003) and pitching coach (2008 & 2009) with the Patriots.

The Patriots dominated the Atlantic League this season, topping the standings in the Liberty Division for both the first and second half as well as finishing the regular season with an overall record of 89-50.

American Association

(Photo: Laredo Lemurs Facebook Page)

The Laredo Lemurs defeated the Sioux City Explorers after winning games 2, 3, and 4 of the best-of-five games series, marking the first time that the Explorers lost three consecutive games all season.

The Sioux City Explorers (75-25) and the St. Paul Saints (74-26) were battling each other at the top for the entire season, even finishing the regular season with the second and third best records in modern independent league history.

However, it was the Lemurs who were quietly putting together a championship winning team. During the last month of the season, various trades and signings completely overhauled the team preparing them to take their place as the Wild Card team for the playoffs.

Can-Am League

(Photo: Trois-Rivieres Aigles Instagram)

The Trois-Rivieres Aigles defeated the New Jersey Jackals in Game 5 of the five game championship series to win their first Can-Am League championship in their three year existence.

The Aigles were never dominate individually. In fact, no players from the team are represented on the postseason all-star team. But after a disastrous start to August, the team rallied to take the last playoff spot and then turned it on in the playoffs to win the title.

Frontier League

(Photo: Traverse City Beach Bums Facebook Page)

The Traverse City Beach Bums swept the River City Rascals in the best-of-five series to win the Frontier League championship.

This championship was the first for the Beach Bums who are in their 10th season in the Frontier League. The championship match-up was a rematch of the 2010 Frontier League championship which saw the Rascals top the Beach Bums in four games.

After winning their last three regular season games, the Beach Bums finished 2nd in the East Division and ultimately went undefeated in the post season – beating the Rockford Aviators (Wild Card game), Normal Cornbelters, and River City Rascals in their 6 playoff games.

Pacific Association

(Photo: San Rafael Pacifics Facebook Page)

The San Rafael Pacifics defeated the Sonoma Stompers to win the Pacific Association Championship for the second consecutive year.

The Pacifics had the best record in the second half and finished the regular season with the best overall record at 48-30. They have been in the championship series all three years of the league’s existence, winning the last two.

Pecos League

(Photo: Roswell Invaders Facebook Page)

The Roswell Invaders dominated the Sante Fe Fuego to win the Pecos League championship.

The Invaders won both games one and two of the three game series by scoring 17 runs against the Fuego in each game, winning Game One 17-6 and Game Two 17-5.

Baseball America

In addition, Baseball America has released their Independent League Player of the Year as well as their Top 10 Independent League Prospects.

Independent League Player of the Year

Joe Maloney, C/OF from the Rockland Boulders in the American Association.

Maloney was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 10th round of the 2011 draft. He reached as high as High A Myrtle Beach in 2013 before being released after the season. He was signed by the Colorado Rockies organization in February 2014 but was then released after spring training.

That lead him to Rockland and the American Association. He had a decent 2014, but he knew something needed to be done for him to play at his full potential. He had off season surgery on his left shoulder, an injury that had been nagging him for awhile. Maloney came back healthier and better prepared than ever before. He batted .337 and set a Can-Am league record with 93 runs.

After his impressive 2015 season, he was given another shot at affiliated ball. The Minnesota Twins organization has now signed Maloney to a minor league contract. He went to the team’s instructional league this offseason and is preparing for spring training and another chance at playing affiliated baseball.

Baseball America’s Top 10 Independent League Prospects

Austin Wright, LHP, Frontier League (Windy City)
John Brebbia, RHP, American Association (Laredo)
Joe Maloney, C/OF, Can-Am (Rockland)
Noah Perio, SS, American Association (Sioux City)
Patrick Johnson, RHP, American Association (Sioux City)
Taylor Ard, 3B, Frontier League (River CIty)
Logan Vick, OF, American Association (Amarillo)
Connor Little, RHP, Frontier League (Evansville)
Kevin Cravey, RHP, American Association (St. Paul)
Daniel Bick, SS, Can-Am (Ottawa)

Honorable Mentions

Atlantic League

RHP Matt Gorgen, Camden
RHP Marcus Walden, Lancaster
LHP Buddy Boshers, Somerset
2B/SS Mikey Reynolds, York
OF Delta Cleary, Long Island
OF Zach Collier, Lancaster

American Association

RHP Mike Zouzalik, St. Paul
RHP Matt Nevarez, Wichita
RHP Rob Wort, Sioux City
SS Anthony Phillips, St. Paul
3B Christian Ibarra, Amarillo
RHP Matt Larkins, Amarillo
OF Michael Lang, Sioux City
OF Dexter Kjerstad, Amarillo
RHP Victor Cappelen, Joplin
C John Nester, Wichita

Frontier League

LHP Lucas Laster, River City
OF Brian Hansen, River City
RHP Jordan Krause, Frontier Greys

Can-Am

RHP Tony Amenzcua, Sussex County

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Sonoma Stompers Sign Two Female Players

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