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Kalin Badgley Excels in Baseball While Defying Gender Norms – The562.org

Published

2 days ago

December 11, 2025

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Photo via Jared Blais/MLB Photos.

For as long as she can remember, Kalin Badgley has always been fascinated by baseball.

Her recollection stretches all the way back to being a six-year-old girl playing co-ed tee-ball—one of just a few girls in her very first organized league. An old, low-res picture captures it best: Athletics shirt on, trophy in hand, and chocolate frosting edged around a wide grin.

*Badgley during her first season of tee-ball with the A’s.*

“We had just won,” she recalls. “There’s a big smile on my face, and it was just the fact that I was able to put on a jersey with the same big name as the MLB team on TV. That was pretty cool. That was when I knew that baseball was my sport.”

A decade later, the 17-year-old was recently on the field at Game 2 of the MLB World Series in Toronto, where she was recognized as one of the MLB Youth Academy Players of the Year. Badgley is now gearing up to become the first girl to ever play varsity baseball at Wilson, but perhaps her biggest accomplishment was daring to challenge the boundaries of what most still consider a boys’ sport.

Her father, Jamie, would know about that challenge best. While signing his daughter up for various baseball leagues, he was often met with dismay from fellow parents at the idea of her playing alongside their little boys. Whether out of negative intent or just curiosity, the same question always arose: Why doesn’t she just play softball?

“She gets asked that question frequently in various forms, but I think the real answer is that Kalin is simply just a baseball player,” Jamie said. “She never had a desire to play softball. Her passion was always playing baseball.”

Luckily, Badgley says she was embraced by all of her youth baseball leagues. Originally from Berkeley, her family moved back to her dad’s hometown of Long Beach in 2016, where she started playing in Long Beach Little League as a third grader. After four years there, she went on to make a Heartwell PONY team, where she played from 2021–22, developing primarily as a southpaw pitcher and first baseman.

“It was great that I ended up here in such a great baseball community,” she said. “[Youth baseball] wasn’t as big in the Bay Area, but coming down here in Long Beach I definitely felt welcomed with open arms.”

As for her father, Jamie was often met with the occasional strange look from a parent, but aside from that, he was pleasantly surprised by the reactions.

“I’ve heard bad stories from people, but I’m happy to say that it wasn’t that,” he said. “They were all very open to having girls play in the leagues. The coaches were very open and the players embraced her.”

But soon enough, reality started to settle in for Badgley. The physical disparities between her and the boys around her became more apparent, and as their height and strength grew, so did the stigma around her continuing to play baseball. Growing alongside all of that, though, was the chip on her shoulder to work even harder.

“If I’m not going to be as tall as a guy, then I’m going to work harder than him,” she said. “I’m going to do a little bit extra—maybe that’s even just cleaning up the field after practice. If he doesn’t do that, then I’ll do it. Maybe I can get a little bump ahead of him even though I might not have the inches over him.”

When it was time to try out for freshman baseball at Wilson, Badgley was nervous about how her new coaches might react. For Wilson head coach Andy Hall, there isn’t much he hasn’t seen in 25 years of coaching at the school—he’s coached first-round MLB Draft picks as well as CIF-SS and national championship teams. But a girl making his team was certainly a first.

“When she came to camp before her ninth grade year, I was very impressed by her skill,” Hall remembers. “Baseball is a sport where you either have the skill or you don’t. If you do, it’s about having the work ethic behind it to develop the skills, and she certainly has a tremendous work ethic.”

Badgley’s nerves were quickly calmed, and she easily grew comfortable during her freshman year at Wilson.

“Luckily, I was alongside every guy that I had played with growing up in Little League,” she said. “They all knew me and everyone was super supportive, so that definitely helped. And fortunately, the coaches at Wilson were super open to having me on the team.”

In February of 2023, during Badgley’s freshman year, she decided to try out for the Elite Development Invitational, a prestigious camp held by MLB Develops that invites 64 of the top girls’ baseball players across the nation. Badgley ended up making the camp that year, but more importantly, she developed a relationship with the staff at the MLB Youth Academy in Compton.

That’s where she’s continued to train throughout high school, and it’s where she discovered a place filled with girls who shared her passion for baseball. It’s also where doors began to open for her, including being named one of the MLB Youth Academy Players of the Year and receiving a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be honored on the field at Game 2 of the World Series in Toronto.

“It’s amazing that I got introduced to the real world of women’s baseball at a small little camp in Compton, and two years later I ended up being honored at the World Series,” she said. “It was really just amazing to see how much representation I finally got, but more importantly all women in baseball.”

FullSizeRender — *Photo by Matt Paige. Badgley throws a pitch from the mound during one of her junior varsity games at Wilson last year*.

Badgley is now preparing for her first season on the varsity team at Wilson this spring after spending a couple of years on frosh/soph and junior varsity. She joins a Bruin squad fresh off its first Moore League title since 2017, with a larger roster than in recent years. Still, Badgley’s mindset remains the same.

“She knows her strengths and weaknesses as a player and she’s worked hard to develop those so she can be valuable to our team,” Hall said. “She realizes that her role might be limited, and I’ve even told her a few times that the softball team would love her. She tells me that it’s just not where her heart is. She loves baseball.”

As women’s sports continue to grow rapidly across the country, new opportunities are emerging for women every year. Trailblazers like Mo’ne Davis, who made history at the 2014 Little League World Series, helped spark a national conversation about girls in baseball and opened the door for developments like the new Women’s Professional Baseball League launching in 2026.

With those opportunities have come new role models for young girls. Take one of Badgley’s favorite female baseball players, Kelsie Whitmore, who was recently drafted first overall by San Francisco in the new pro league. Badgley recalls a recent Instagram post from Whitmore showing little girls wearing her jersey for Halloween—something almost unimaginable just a year ago.

“I found that so inspiring,” Badgley said. “I think that’s such a big thing with all the opportunities for women to showcase their talent in baseball. Now there’s little girls and even little boys that can wear a woman’s baseball jersey instead of just the big A’s jersey that I was wearing as a kid.”

Badgley is keeping an open mind about playing professionally someday, whether that means making the USA Women’s National Team or the new league launching next year. But whether baseball remains in her future or not, it’s safe to say that Badgley has done her part for those who come after her.

“There’s women who have been there since the beginning of women’s baseball and the rise of women’s sports in general. There’s women who have been playing and fighting for women’s baseball for 20 years now, and it’s just amazing that I’m able to be a part of it now. This is so much bigger than me.”

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East Bay woman who embezzled $1.6 million from youth charity sentenced to prison

Published

2 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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A former finance manager for a Bay Area charity that serves youth was sentenced to 27 months in prison for embezzling over $1.6 million from the organization, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a press release that Carrie Lynn Grant of Pleasant Hill deposited money from the charity, described as an organization that helps prepare youth to succeed in a global economy, into her own account while creating fraudulent records to cover her tracks.

Bay Area News Group identified the charity as Junior Achievement of Northern California, based in Walnut Creek.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the 62-year-old Grant embezzled the money between November 2017 and June 2023, spending the money on floor seats to see the Golden State Warriors, box seats for a San Francisco 49ers game, first-class air travel, a condominium in Hawaii, among other expenditures.

Grant was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2024. She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in August, the office said.

In addition to the prison term, the judge also sentenced Grant to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay restitution, the amount to be determined at a later date.

Grant will begin serving her sentence on March 9.

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Science-Backed Youth Sports Programs : Science-Backed Youth Sports Program

Published

2 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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Sportball Systems Inc., a Canadian organization with established science-backed youth sports programs in North America and Singapore, has announced a strategic move to open a new location in Gurugram, India. The site is expected to open in spring 2026.

The expansion into India will introduce a science-backed, multi-sport curriculum aimed at enhancing physical literacy in young children. The planned facility in Gurugram is described as a controlled indoor environment featuring amenities like high-grade air filtration and family-oriented spaces, which are presented as a new standard for such services in the region.

Sportball Systems’ science-backed youth sports programs emphasize a structured approach to teaching fundamental sports skills while concurrently fostering personal growth and social development in children from 16 months to 12 years old.

Image Credit: Sportball Systems Inc.

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Plethora of youth has Indians excited for present and future | Sports

Published

3 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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Coming off identical 7-3 marks in their dual meets, the Indian River High School boys’ and girls’ swim teams have veteran coaches Colin Crandell and Donna Smith back leading the charges with several key returnees. However, maybe more importantly, there are a lot of fresh faces to help restock the cupboards for the present and future of the Indians’ programs.

Crandell has been walking the decks of the pool for 16 seasons now, and has expressed excitement with all the new talent that has joined the boys’ team for the 2025-2026 season.

“We have eight new swimmers to the team who have never competed before,” disclosed Crandell. “All show promise, but they are young, and will need time to develop.

“I’m looking to lay down a foundation this season that will last for the next four years. With half the team being freshmen, the goal is simple — to develop. As always, I expect my upperclassmen to set the culture and model success, which includes trying to make state cuts and reaching individual goals in their races. It’s more about each of them reaching small obtainable goals and building step-by-step from those marks.”

Back for the Indians this season are seniors Landon Arauz and Andres Lucenti, juniors Caiden Clark and Harrison Benner, and sophomore John Lovellette.

Newcomers on the roster as of this writing include senior Braden Jones, juniors Dade Kappes and David Miller, and freshmen Mark Cappo, Aiden Crooks, Logan Deane, Gonzalo Lagos-Magnere, Fisher Lints, Calvin Nuttle, Colby Sneaker and Ethan Thompson.

“Every match for us is key this season,” said Crandell. “We are very young and new, so each meet is an opportunity for growth and learning.”

The Indians are already off on the right foot for this campaign with a pair of wins against Milford (102-52) on Friday, Dec. 5, and Dover (99-52) on Monday, Dec. 8.

Against the Bucs, the Indians swept all but one match — the 100 breaststroke — while winning all three relays —- 200 medley (1:57.44), 200 free (1:39.88), and 400 free 4:36.94 — in the meet.

Double-winners in individual events featured Lovellette – 200 IM (2:34.56) and 100 back (1:05.49), Clark – 50 free (24.34) and 100 butterfly (1:05.07), and Arauz -200 free (2:19.34) and 100 free (56.00). Lucenti picked up an individual win of his own in the 500 free with his time of 6:31.03.

Against the Senators, the Indians won 8-of-11 events with the 200 medley (2:21.14) and 400 free (3:47.95) relay teams amongst the winners.

Arauz picked up a pair of individual wins in the 200 free (2:14.45) and 50 free (24.78), while Clark was a two-time winner in the 200 IM (2:34.26) and 100 free (54.43). Benner was victorious in the 500 free (7:14.28), and Lovellette added a win in the 100 back (1:05.22).

The IR girls will once again be coached by Smith, who was the original girls’ coach when the program started back in 2009-10. She coached the team through the 2013-14 season before stepping away for a couple seasons. She rejoined the staff following her retirement from elementary teaching back in 2018, which makes this her eighth year back — second as its head coach during this tenure — and 13th overall with the team.

Smith and the Indians have a great group of returnees as well as some exciting newcomers that should provide more competition and depth for the roster.

Returning seniors for IR include Kassidy Berhorner (distance freestyle in the 200 and 500 free), Natalie Moran (backstroke, IM, freestyle), Leila Hernandez (sprint freestyle), and Jewelian Griffith (breaststroke events).

Juniors back in the fold features multi-time school record holder and state level finalist in the 100 butterfly and 100 back last year Macyn Hockman, Emily Davis, Maddie Moore, and Harper Stanley, who will all provide the necessary depth the team needs for success.

Sophomores Grace Clark, Lucille Feathers, Ellie Walls, and True Jaeger are back, and according to Smith, “All swam well at conferences and/or states last season, and I look forward to their improvements this season.”

Some key newcomers for the green-and-gold this season include freshmen Grace Barthelmess, Harper McDavid, Libby Greene, Sophie Dawson, Bethany Erazo, Payton Geier and Kaitlyn Turak.

“I look forward to seeing which even Grace excels in as she comes to us with plenty of experience from her years swimming with the Sea Colony Sharks,” Smith said. “There’s no rush or pressure on Grace as a freshman, but maybe she will go after her older sister’s (IR grad Emma Barthelmess) records in the free and breaststroke events.

“Harper and Libby also bring SC Shark experience with them to the pool, so I have confidence they can handle the high school events very well. Sophie, Bethany, Payton, and Kaitlyn are swimmers who caught our eye at tryouts, and we look forward to seeing how they progress in the water with stroke technique and speed.”

As far as key matches on the scheduled this season, Smith — like Crandell — feels that every meet is important for the growth of their team.

“We believe every swim meet in our dual season is important for our team to grow and learn as a competitor,” confirmed Smith. “But some close meets will be Dec. 15 at Caesar Rodney, at Lake Forest on Jan. 16, home meets against Sussex Tech on Jan. 23 and Sussex Central on Jan. 26, and the last meet on Jan. 29 at Polytech.”

The numbers on the roster are equal to last season, but the quality of the depth is what has Smith excited thanks to the experience that the girls have swimming outside of the school’s program.

“Our depth is greater this season than last,” Smith said. “With our new ‘Super Seven’ freshmen, we have to work on stroke technique development and building speed. Our pool space is extremely tight, which limits the types of workouts we can create. We do the best with the space we have, often creating a dryland ‘Lane 6’ to strengthen swimmers. So, all that considered, It would be fantastic to maintain the 7-3 (record) season like last year or improve upon that. I look forward to many more personal best times from our swimmers along with some new team records being set in 2026.

“I’d like to take a moment to say thank you to Sea Colony’s Freeman Fitness Center and Sussex Academy Aquatic Center for working with us, and allowing us to buy pool space this season. Thank you to our Athletic Director Todd Fuhrmann for his athletic department leadership and support this season.”

Like the boys, the girls got things going already this season.

Against Milford, the Indians won the meet 124-24 with Behornar and Hockman each earning double wins. Behornar won the 200 free (2:27.46) and 500 free (7:00.03), while Hockman took the 100 free (59.14) and 100 back (1:05.48).

Hernandez won the 50 free with her time of 28.63, and Griffith touched the wall first in the 100 breast at 1:27.15. McDavid picked up her first individual varsity win with a 1:24.50 in the 100 butterfly.

The Indians won all three relay events as well with Hockman, Clark, McDavid, and Hernandez winning the 200 medley (2:15.97). Moore, Clark, Moran, and Hernandez combined for the 200 free relay win (no time disclosed), while four freshmen — McDavid, Greene, Dawson, and Turak – combined for the 400 free relay victory in 5:23.41.

No results were available as of press time for the meet against Dover.

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Saline Craft Show Opens Youth Applications

Published

4 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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Saline’s juried, nationally ranked spring craft show will now to be open to youth participants, who may enter submissions from now through Jan. 16 to be a part of the March 7, 2026 show.

“We’ve had youth inquire in the past about participating in the show, but we were hesitant because we are a juried event and only accept 250 crafters in November and 150 in the Spring,” Community Education Director Brian Puffer said. “Our Spring Show is more geared toward families, with children’s activities in the cafeteria, so we felt it would be a great opportunity to invite students in grades 6–12 to apply to be part of the show.”

Any artist under 18 is welcome to submit creations, and those accepted will have entry fees waived.

“The young artists—who will gain experience in presenting, pricing, and selling their artwork to the public at the Saline Craft Show—will keep 100% of their sale,” Puffer said. “All artwork must be created entirely by the youth artist, with no adult assistance.”

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Young Cardinals team aims for an even better season | News, Sports, Jobs

Published

4 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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Photo Credit: Seifried Portrait Design.
First Row: Evelyn Folkerts (Manager), Maya Earhart, Kennedy Murphy, Nani Rosario, Avery Kurt, Geminnie Lopez, Marial Parish, Alexis Sundeen, Elin Sheppmann, Francesca Martin, Hayden Olson, Corinn Wells, Paige Hartwig.
2nd Row: Kate Hagan, Halyn Haycraft, Lauren Bettin, Harper Artz, Kynlee Beemer, Madison Sokolaski, Joslyn Meyer, Aspen Wickert, Alexis Haycraft, Kylie Flanagan, Carly Gustafson, Taylor Truesdell

Back Row: Josh Meyer, Aaron Haycraft, Ryan Parish, Greg Ingvoldstad, Madelyn Leqve

FAIRMONT – Last season was a year of firsts for Fairmont High School girls hockey during the 2024-2025 winter season.

On top of bringing in Aaron Haycraft as the team’s new head coach, the Cardinals had their best season in over five years. Fairmont’s 15-11-1 record was the first time the program has seen an above .500 win total since the 2015-2016 campaign.

Now, with the return of multiple key pieces from last season’s roster, coach Haycraft believes this year’s Cardinals team can soar onto even bigger heights this coming winter.

“I love this team,” coach Haycraft said. “This team is a really tight-knit group of girls, and they love to compete and play hockey. It’s a fun group to be around, and it makes my job extremely easy coming to the rink every day. They really enjoy playing hockey together.”

The reason for this belief stems from the return of so many players from last season’s roster. Coach Haycraft and the rest of his coaching staff have the pleasure of bringing back 13 individuals with prior varsity experience: eight sophomores, four juniors, and one ninth-grader.

Coach Haycraft hopes that last season’s varsity tenure will help develop some of these athletes. While the group is still relatively young as a collective, one season under their belts at the varsity level can only help.

“We are returning those eight sophomores, four juniors, and our ninth-grader, but at the same time, all of those girls have a year of varsity experience underneath them,” Aaron Haycraft said. “They all played last year. While we are still a young team, we are far more experienced than we were last year.”

The Cardinals’ style of play will be similar to last season, emphasizing defense and puck possession to limit the opponents’ shots on goal.

Outside of goalkeeper Alexis Sundeen coming back to this season’s roster, Aaron Haycraft returns all four starting defenders from last year – Harper Artz, Kynlee Beemer, Kennedy Murphy, Avery Kurt – giving the Cardinals plenty of experience in their backline.

The consistency on the defensive side of the ice gives the rest of Fairmont’s forwards confidence to skate fast, always look for chances at the net, and control the puck in the offensive zone.

Luckily for coach Haycraft, the Cardinals are set to return their top four goal scorers in Alexis Haycraft, Lauren Bettin, Mariel Parish, and Halyn Haycraft. This same line helped last year’s Fairmont team average three goals per game over 27 contests.

“We have an exceptional goalie in Alexis Sundeen,” coach Haycraft said. “We rely on her for a lot of our success. That creates a lot of confidence with our other players to go out and play aggressively and fast, and not worry about making mistakes because they know they have that backdrop behind us.”

One thing coach Haycraft and his staff did this season was increase the strength of schedule for his team. Going to play a handful of teams who are traditionally strong in the sport, such as Mankato West-Loyola-St. Clair, Simley and Prior Lake, can not only increase the team’s Quality Results Formula (QRF) but prepare Fairmont for the tough competition found in the section.

“We made the decision to increase the difficulty of our schedule by finding teams that play really fast and physical,” coach Haycraft said. “When you get out of southern Minnesota, the game is extremely physical, and I’ve always said, ‘You can’t learn to play fast unless you are forced to play fast.’ By playing that faster competition, that will increase our read and react time.”

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1 injured, 1 arrested after shooting at youth football tournament in Naples | Collier County

Published

4 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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A shooting at Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples sent one person to the hospital and led to an arrest. The incident occurred around 10:30 a.m. on Friday during a youth football tournament.

According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, James Raynard was taken to the hospital and William Wharton was taken into custody.

Viewer video shows the aftermath of the shooting on Friday.

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO

Dajsha Herndon, a mother of a youth football player, expressed her thoughts on the violence.

“It really doesn’t matter what’s it about, because I don’t think you should ever result in violence for anything,” said Herndon.

Herndon’s 12-year-old son traveled from Washington, D.C., to participate in the tournament.

“It’s actually a little scary. And on top of that, I just feel like it’s a game of football,” said Herndon.

The motive behind the shooting remains unclear. Despite the incident, Herndon believes the tournament’s overall safety is not compromised.

“Do I fear for safety? No, within the complex No, because I feel like it’s super, super secure,” said Herndon.

The Paradise Coast Sports Complex has not commented on the shooting, stating only that it is an ongoing matter. The tournament is scheduled to continue until 5 p.m. on Friday, with more games planned for Saturday.

Nicholas Karsen is a Digital Specialist and has been with WINK News since May 2023.

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