Woman To Start Minor-League Game

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

July 9, 1998 / 1:38 AM EDT / CBS Sportsline

Ila Borders is ready for another historic moment in her baseball career.

Borders, who last year became the first woman to pitch in a regular-season minor league game, is scheduled to make her first career start Thursday when the Duluth-Superior Dukes play host to Sioux Falls. A woman has never started a minor-league game.

Almost exclusively a starter until turning pro last year, Borders has made 21 relief appearances in two seasons, first with the St. Paul Saints and then with the Dukes after a midseason trade in 1997. She has no decisions and a 7.20 ERA this season, nearly identical to her 0-0 record and 7.53 ERA last year.

Groundbreaking accomplishments are nothing new for Borders. She was the baseball MVP at Whittier Christian High School in La Mirada, Calif., before becoming the first woman to receive a college baseball scholarship when she moved on to Southern California College.

Borders transferred to Whittier College for her senior season.