When Ashlyn Wear was 9 years old, she had the opportunity to play on a girls softball team. She had no interest. Rather, Wear wanted to play baseball.
“I’ve never played softball,” she said. “I watched my dad and brother play baseball and we played on the front lawn. Playing baseball is what I wanted to do. The game (baseball) is so different and fun. You go out there and go all out.”
When she expressed this preferred interest with her parents they questioned, “Do you mean baseball?”
“There was a little bit of talk about softball,” said Wear. “I was fully into baseball. I wasn’t going to switch.”
Wear, who turns 15 in June, not only has played baseball since then, but has excelled. She currently plays baseball on three different elite teams, one of which is an all-girls team and on the other two, she’s the lone female.
Wear plays baseball almost every weekend throughout the year. She typically bats anywhere in the order from first to fifth, hits for average, and isn’t afraid to steal a base.
“I am really good at getting on base,” Wear said without hesitation.
When she is on the field, Wear is usually behind the plate.
“One of the teams I played on needed a catcher and I hopped on it,” said the home-schooled Clearwater resident, who has also played third base and pitched, adding though that “catching is my favorite position. I think it’s cool.”
The two teams in which Wear plays with boys are the Florida Burn and Coast to Coast Elite. She is also a member of the all-girls Minnesota Twins affiliate team that will play in the Baseball for All (BFA) tournament this summer. The BFA team is headed to Rockford, Illinois, as part of the national MLB USA Trailblazer Series. Rockford is also where four teams will play in the inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League. Meantime, this spring she played in a tournament in Cooperstown, New York, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
“I am hoping to catch a couple of pro games while we are in Rockford,” said Wear, at one time a figure skater.
She admits that sometimes she “still gets some looks” when playing on one of the boys teams.
“It doesn’t bother me,” said Wear.
This coming fall Wear plans on attending a high school where she can continue her baseball aspirations.
“We are considering three or four schools and looking at the logistics,” said Wear, who has traveled all around the country to play in various tournaments, citing Tennessee, California, Georgia, Nebraska, Massachusetts, and of course Florida.
Her biggest supporters, naturally, are her parents, John and Chrissy Wear, and brother Cannon, who is two years older than Ashlyn.
John and Chrissy have this to say about their daughter: “Ashlyn has never asked for a different path because she’s a girl playing baseball — she’s simply asked for the opportunity to compete. She plays the game with passion, grit, and respect, and she’s earned every moment through hard work, heart, and determination."
Her parents added that “watching Ashlyn chase her dream has been incredible, from the long travel weekends to the countless hours of practice. We’re incredibly proud of both the player and young woman she is becoming. Ashlyn dreams big — from college baseball to one day playing professionally — and she understands that talent opens the door, but dedication, character, and perseverance are what keep you in the game.”
Besides baseball, she has other plans. Wear, whose favorite scholastic subjects are science and history, is eyeing a career as an anesthesiologist.
“That’s something that just came along to me one day,” said Wear. “Just struck something in me. Medicine to me is cool.”
In the meantime, she also makes — and sells — jewelry that is personally hand strung.
As far as baseball goes, Wear is thinking ahead about college and the pros. She certainly has confidence in her abilities. You have to wonder: if she does make it to the pros will it be on a professional women’s team, or just maybe, as the first woman to play baseball on a major league team?