Claire Eccles says she feels she is just one of the guys, which is exactly what she wants to be. More importantly, it’s what she needs to be to make this work.
“On a packed bus, there is not a lot of leg room,” she said, with a chuckle.
So, in one sense, you have no choice but to get integrated — and quickly.
The first female to play in the West Coast League of baseball will make her first start today on the mound for the Victoria HarbourCats in the front end of a non-league doubleheader against the Kitsap Blue Jackets at Royal Athletic Park at 12:35 p.m.
“The guys have been awesome,” Eccles said.
“They have been really good. We joke around. There is the odd inappropriate comment, but it’s all in fun.”
Eccles, of course, does not share a hotel room with a teammate on the road. She is accompanied by HarbourCats assistant GM Brittany French on road trips. Eccles has a separate dressing room for home games at Royal Athletic Park and comes into the main HarbourCats room once dressed.
The first HarbourCats road trip for Eccles was last week to Walla Walla, Washington, against the Sweets. Because there are no visiting dressing rooms at that stadium, the Victoria players dressed for the games at their hotel before going to the park. French said the team will continue to play it by ear on the road, depending on the particular situation.
“I’ve seen some negative comments [about her playing on a male team] out there, but that is going to happen, and you expect it these days, on social media,” Eccles said. “I ignore that.”
This is a composed 19-year-old, just the sort the HarbourCats needed when they embarked on this plan. Eccles has always played on boys teams since age five when coming up in the White Rock Baseball Association.
But this feels different because it’s the next level and at the point where a physical truth becomes evident — male players are generally bigger and stronger than female players.
“I’ve had to be more careful,” the five-foot-two lefty said.
“The WCL is a cool level. These are mostly NCAA Div. 1 players from good schools and so I can’t give up any bad pitches. I have to rely more on my knuckleball. I have not thrown it as much in the past [in female baseball].”
Eccles plays for the UBC Thunderbirds softball team, where she patrols the outfield and not the mound. Her baseball playing has mainly been with the Canadian national team, on which Eccles won silver medals at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and 2016 World Cup in South Korea.
“The national team is usually together at a Games or world championships for three weeks, so I haven’t had a lot of [sustained] pitching coaching,” Eccles said.
“The HarbourCats pitching coach Mike [Spears] has been awesome for me, especially with my mechanics. I am throwing faster because of that.”
Today’s doubleheader is exhibition. Kitsap was in the WCL, but the franchise moved to Port Angeles this season to become the Lefties. The BlueJackets now play in a Seattle senior league.
Eccles said she is not trying to make any statements, only play at the highest level possible, and make the sport known and accessible to more females.
“There are a lot of girls out there who want to play baseball,” she said.
Eccles has so far appeared in two relief innings for the HarbourCats, against the Wenatchee AppleSox, allowing one hit and two runs.
She remembered popping up a Wenatchee batter, who quipped at her: “That knuckleball is so dirty.”
Eccles found the exchange amusing and said there are even dirtier knuckleballs in her arsenal.
“I am really excited about [today’s] start,” she said.
