St. Paul Rookies Fastpitch has been offering summer travel league softball for girls from St. Paul and the surrounding area for more than 40 years. But the program is likely ending because of low recruitment numbers over the past few seasons, according to board members Stephanie Eberhard and Jennifer McNattin.

The organization couldn’t put a 2025 team together because only a few players signed up.

“We fought really hard to figure out how to spread the word,” McNattin said. “Numbers have just really plummeted, and we’ve seen a huge decrease because kids are going to clubs or they’re going to the suburbs.”

McNattin said the older fastpitch players get, the more difficult it is to find an affordable softball program. Most recreational leagues only have teams for players ages 14 and under, so high school girls often join more expensive club teams.

The Rookies provided an accessible program for St. Paul high school girls. They kept player fees down by fundraising at the annual Rookies Tournament and having families complete volunteer service hours.

“It gives families who are maybe just looking to try the sport out an opportunity that’s a little bit lower stakes than something like an elite club team, which typically costs quite a bit more to play,” Eberhard said.

‘I really fell in love with softball’

Eberhard grew up in Roseville and started playing for the Rookies when she was 15. She said the coaches and program leaders made her feel like a valued part of the community.

“The first summer I played with the Rookies was the year I really fell in love with softball,” Eberhard said. “It felt like I was not only learning the game, but also how to become a better person and how to kind of walk through the world.”

She went on to coach for the Rookies and become a board member and the director for the annual Rookies Tournament.

The 39th annual tournament still happened in June this year, but without a St. Paul Rookies team participating. McNattin said it was likely their last tournament.

Moving forward

The program is considering other options to keep the Rookies alive, such as combining with another local softball organization that doesn’t have a fastpitch program for high school girls. They also thought about turning the program into a place for high school teams to practice together during the summer.

“Neither have come to fruition yet,” Eberhard said. “Most likely it (the program) is ending. I think it would kind of require some pretty dedicated parties to hand it off to and have them continue forward with the organization.”

Both of McNattin’s daughters played for the Rookies, and she said the team connected parents and siblings along with players. She has made lifelong friends from time spent volunteering at Rookies events and watching tournaments.

Eberhard said the team was “just a wonderful community.”

“I really love the Rookies,” Eberhard said. “It’s really sad to see them maybe go.”

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Today is Monday, July 7, the 188th day of 2024. There are 177 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Also on this date:

In 1865, four people were hanged in Washington, D.C. for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln: Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government.

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Today in History: July 6, Althea Gibson wins Wimbledon

In 1898, President William McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution, approving the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii.

In 1930, construction began on Boulder Dam (known today as Hoover Dam).

In 1976, the United States Military Academy at West Point included female cadets for the first time as 119 women joined the Class of 1980.

In 1990, the first “Three Tenors” concert took place as opera stars Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras performed amid the brick ruins of Rome’s Baths of Caracalla on the eve of the FIFA World Cup final.

In 2005, terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 people and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II.

In 2010, Los Angeles police arrested and charged Lonnie Franklin Jr. in the city’s “Grim Sleeper” serial killings. (Franklin, who was sentenced to death for the killings of nine women and a teenage girl, died in prison in March 2020 at the age of 67.)

In 2013, Andy Murray became the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.

In 2016, Micah Johnson, a Black Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, opened fire on Dallas police, killing five officers in an act of vengeance for the fatal police shootings of Black men; the attack ended with Johnson being killed by a bomb delivered by a police robot.

In 2021, a squad of gunmen assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and wounded his wife in an overnight raid on their home.

Today’s Birthdays:

Musician-conductor Doc Severinsen is 98.
Former Beatle Ringo Starr is 85.
World Golf Hall of Famer Tony Jacklin is 81.
Actor Joe Spano is 79.
Actor Roz Ryan is 74.
Actor Billy Campbell is 66.
Basketball Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson is 65.
Singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard is 62.
Actor-comedian Jim Gaffigan is 59.
Actor Amy Carlson is 57.
Actor Jorja Fox is 57.
Actor Robin Weigert is 56.
Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie is 53.
Actor Kirsten Vangsness (“Criminal Minds”) is 53.
Actor Berenice Bejo (BEH’-ruh-nees BAY’-hoh) (Film: “The Artist”) is 49.
Actor Hamish Linklater is 49.
Olympic figure skating medalist Michelle Kwan is 45.
Guitarist Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold) is 44.
Pop singer Ally Brooke (Fifth Harmony) (TV: “The X Factor”) is 32.
Pop musician Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds to Summer) is 31.
Country singer Maddie Font (Maddie and Tae) is 30.

Saige Wimes broke a scoreless tie in the 88th minute and Minnesota Aurora FC beat Kings Hammer FC Cincinnati, 1-0, on Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh.

The victory clinched Aurora’s first Central Conference championship and sends Minnesota into the USL W-League semifinals. They will play host to either Utah United or Stockton Cargo on Saturday at TCO Stadium in Eagan.

After Aurora broke up a Kings Hammer possession in their own end, Wilmes sprinted into a perfect through pass by Mariah Nguyen. Threading a needle between Cincinnati defenders, Wilmes took control of the ball, dribbled left behind the defense and scored high to the short-side corner.

It was Wimes’ fifth goal of the season, and Nguyen recorded her fourth assist. The shutout was Aurora’s second consecutive clean sheet of the season.

Saturday’s semifinal will be Minnesota’s first home playoff match since the team’s inaugural season in 2022.

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An All-Star Game appearance, no matter where it is, is a special honor and acknowledgement. But for Byron Buxton, with the game being held in Atlanta, a little over three hours from his hometown of Baxley, Georgia, it’s even sweeter.

“To do it back home with this Twins uniform on, it’s a blessing,” Buxton said. “Everybody doesn’t get to play as many years as I do and to be able to do it with the Twins and know I’m going to do it with the Twins every year I make it, that’s something special to me and my family.”

Buxton was named to the American League All-Star team on Sunday as the Twins’ lone representative with other deserving candidates like starter Joe Ryan and closer Jhoan Duran on the outside looking in.

The center fielder’s inclusion on the roster comes as no surprise considering he’s been among the best players in the league this year. Buxton, who hit a home run in the Twins’ 7-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, is hitting .270 with 20 home runs, 56 RBIs, an .878 OPS and 16 stolen bases on 16 attempts to go along with his usual Gold Glove-caliber defense. He’s been as healthy physically as he’s been in years, missing two weeks with a concussion after colliding with shortstop Carlos Correa in mid-May but otherwise playing nearly every day.

It will be the second All-Star Game appearance of his career. The first came in 2022, during which he hit a home run which served as the game-winning run in the American League’s 3-2 victory.

“The biggest thing for me is last time I went to the game, as far as my family, it was four of us,” Buxton said. “We then added a kid, so being able to make it back with my whole family this time is very special.”

That 2022 all-star season was cut short when he underwent season-ending knee surgery in September. A year later, he did not appear at all in center field, serving strictly as the Twins’ designated hitter. He ended up having a second surgery on his right knee that year, too.

Buxton landed on the injured list twice last year, once with knee inflammation and once with hip inflammation, during an otherwise strong season. This year, he’s been even healthier and even better.

“It’s a kind of resurgence because he was still playing well for us, he was doing a lot of things, he was productive but to be able to get prime Buxton basically every day, you’re getting it every day, that’s a whole different deal,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think in his mind, this was always coming and in my mind, it was always coming but when you actually see it and you actually get it and it’s in front of you every day, it’s a beautiful thing.”

While he is currently the team’s lone representative, it’s possible that the Twins get another all star or two in the coming days due to players dropping out of the game.

Ryan, who gave up two runs in six innings on Sunday, has a 2.76 earned-run average now and has been among the best starters in the American League, but every team needs a representative, which ate into some of the available roster spots.

“Joe’s, in my mind, clearly had another All-Star first half and he takes a ton of pride in what he does,” Baldelli said. “He’d totally love to be out there and pitching in an All-Star Game and just being acknowledged as one of the best pitchers in the game because he is.”

And so is Duran with his 1.56 ERA.

But whether or not one or two of his teammates wind up joining him, it’s clear that Buxton will savor the time spent back home in Georgia with his family representing the Twins.

“How many times is the All-Star Game played in your hometown and you’re having just a splendid season and you get a chance to go?” Baldelli asked. “That will never happen for most guys. … It’s an actual once in a lifetime situation.”

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