Ila Borders in High School
Borders excelled in high school. This was when her
love of the game took off. Many thought she would start to follow the
stereotypes often associated with high school girls, such as wearing make-up
and pretty dresses and being obsessed with boys. They thought these things
would replace her desire to play baseball. This never happened instead she
became an integral part of the men’s high school baseball team. She may have
been accepted and allowed to play at Whittier Christian High School but this
was not the case everywhere. Whittier was a private high school and Borders
attended there because administrators agreed to let her be a full participant
on the boy’s baseball team, something many public schools would not accept
love of the game took off. Many thought she would start to follow the
stereotypes often associated with high school girls, such as wearing make-up
and pretty dresses and being obsessed with boys. They thought these things
would replace her desire to play baseball. This never happened instead she
became an integral part of the men’s high school baseball team. She may have
been accepted and allowed to play at Whittier Christian High School but this
was not the case everywhere. Whittier was a private high school and Borders
attended there because administrators agreed to let her be a full participant
on the boy’s baseball team, something many public schools would not accept
(Borders and Edelson). There was some initial resistance to her presence on the team, but she had grown up with many of the players so it did not take too long for them to adjust to her being on their team (Borders). She made the freshmen team easily and by mid-season had been pulled up to the Junior varsity team. By the end of the year she was starting on the varsity team (Edelson). However, the road she traveled was not always smooth - once when she struck out an opponent his girlfriend threatened her with a knife (Brauer). The summer before high school she struck out a guy and was followed out to the parking lot and cussed out by his girlfriend (Moring). It was in high school that she started dedicating her skills and training to pitching. She developed a high-paced fastball, an effective curveball, a split finger, and a screwball. Her senior year she led her team to an undefeated
season, pitched a no hitter, and was named the Most Valuable Player. Her four
year win-loss record was 16-7 with an Earned Run Average (ERA) of 2.37 with 165
strike outs in 147 innings (Edelson). Her excellence in high school earned her a
baseball scholarship to Southern California College. She is the only woman ever to go to college on a baseball scholarship (Moring).
year win-loss record was 16-7 with an Earned Run Average (ERA) of 2.37 with 165
strike outs in 147 innings (Edelson). Her excellence in high school earned her a
baseball scholarship to Southern California College. She is the only woman ever to go to college on a baseball scholarship (Moring).
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