By: Katherine Mueller
Since she was four years old, freshman Taylor Bennett has found passion in playing baseball, and this season she will be the only girl on Costa’s baseball team.
Bennett was introduced to baseball by her father when she was four years old. Before playing for Costa baseball, Bennett played for the Manhattan Beach Little league for 9 years. She has been on the Manhattan Beach All-Stars for the past 3 years, she has won the Manhattan Beach Little League Home Run Derby, and she has won 2 youth baseball championships through the Manhattan Beach Little League
“I loved playing baseball when I first started because I was on a team with all my friends,” Bennett said. I still love playing as much as when I first started.”
Bennett is currently playing on Costa’s Frost Soph baseball team, coached by Frank Wicks, Brad Angeleri, and John Giovanni. In order to stay strong, Bennett attended the Mamba Training Academy during 8th grade, and has personal hitting and pitching coaches. She also continues to train with her very first coach, her father Joe Bennett.
“I usually go out and practice pitching with my dad or I just hit balls with my dad,” Bennett said. “I also go out and I hit in a batting cage or on the field maybe once or twice a week.”
Every day, Bennett practices among a team of 25 boys, while being the only girl. Bennett is the second girl ever to play for Costa baseball, with class of 2014 Costa graduate Nonie Frishette being the first. Despite her devotion and love for playing baseball, she had serious doubts about whether she would make it onto Costa’s Frosh Soph team.
“I was really nervous because I was the only girl so I didn’t know if they’d want me on the team because of that,” Bennett said. “It’s because when they get older the boys will get stronger and so I was kind of nervous about [not getting on the team because of that].”
However, now that she’s on the team, Bennett’s doubts have faded. At Costa, Bennett currently plays her two favorite positions, pitcher and first base. Bennett continues to train hard so that she can keep up with her teammates and be a fierce and competitive player.
“Being the only girl, it’s weird sometimes,” Bennett said. “I mean, it’s fun but it’s weird sometimes since the other guys are closer with each other but all of them are nice to me and they’re cool teammates.”
People have questioned Bennett many times before about why she plays baseball instead of softball, a sport similar to baseball. In softball, the teams would consist of all girls, meaning Bennett would have a better shot at making the team.
“I play baseball because in baseball there’s a bigger field and there’s more of a mental game. It’s like one big strategy that makes you think,” Bennett said. “Being the only girl [on the baseball team] is kind of fun, usually, because I’m the only one.”
Bennett idolizes professional baseball players such as Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Dodger utility player Kike Hernandez, and Dodger first baseman and outfielder Cody Bellinger. As a pitcher always working to improve her skills, Bennett likes to analyze Kershaw’s pitching strategies in order to improve her own game.
“Clayton Kershaw is a pitcher and is actually one of my favorite pitchers,” Bennett said. “I usually watch videos of him playing so I can strategize and use his techniques.”
Bennett is currently enrolled in the Junior Umpiring program through the Manhattan Beach Little League. In this program, Bennett will be making calls at first base and serve as an assistant umpire during games where kids play recreational baseball. For the past two years Bennett has participated in USA Baseball’s all-girl Trailblazers Series tournament, and later this year will participate in the Breakthrough Series in Vero Beach Florida.
“It was cool to meet other girls who share the same passion for baseball that I do,” Bennett said. “We played a tournament and everyone was on different teams and it was super fun. I’m excited to do it this year since I get to travel to Florida for it.”
Outside of baseball, Bennett enjoys hanging out with her friends, playing guitar, and playing soccer and volleyball. Bennett’s goals for this baseball season include getting in a good amount of playing time and becoming a more productive teammate.
“I knew that getting on the team would be hard and I knew that after I got on the team I would have to keep working harder to stay on and keep up,” Bennett said. “I love baseball and if I could I would definitely want to play [on Costa baseball] next year.”
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