First baseman Samantha Magalas will be in the starting lineup for the York University men's team tomorrow.
The 22-year-old from Burlington, Ont., considered one of Canada's top female baseball players, won her spot with the men this week. The addition of Magalas, pronounced (muh-GAL-iss), on the York team hasn't gone unnoticed.
"We've played a couple of exhibition games and some of the other teams have said 'Oh, there's a girl on the team,' " Magalas said. "They kind of do a double-take when they take a look at me."
Hayley Wickenheiser set a high standard for women playing sports alongside men when she spent parts of two seasons with men's pro hockey team in Finland.
Magalas, a hockey player herself with the York women's team the past three years, doesn't compare her baseball situation to Wickenheiser's.
"When [Wickenheiser]did it, I think it was completely different," she said. "[She]has been playing hockey for a long time and has gold medals at the Olympics."
But her reasons for wanting to play in a men's league echo Wickenheiser's. "I just wanted to do this to better my experience for the national team," Magalas said.
Magalas, 5 foot 9 and 165 pounds, was selected one of the top 10 players at the women's World Series in Japan in July. She also helped Canada win a bronze medal at the inaugural women's World Series in Edmonton in August.
Team Ontario manager Damon Topolie and York coach Colin Cummins discussed her talents last winter. Cummins wanted her to come out and train indoors with his team.
"When I finally got out there for the first practice I was nervous," Magalas said. "I was intimidated. I wasn't sure how the guys were going to take it. I just wasn't sure. I hadn't played with guys in a while. I didn't know what to expect.
"But they were great. I got out there and they were really good guys. They're always talking to me and making me feel comfortable."