Softball | May 2, 2016

by Kevin Bonner

PHILADELPHIA – For two life-long Phillies fans and members of the La Salle softball team, becoming a ballgirl for their hometown team was always a dream. This summer, it will become a reality.

Val Buehler, a junior pitcher from Morrisville, Pa. and Alli Waddington, a senior outfielder from Jamison, Pa. are two of the newest Phillies ballgirls.

For both Explorers, it was a stroke of good timing and a little bit of flexibility that led to a one-year contract with the ball club.

"Being a ball girl is something I've been looking into for a while but timing wise, it never worked out," Waddington said. "The main tryout is in the fall but they had people that dropped out."

"The Phillies have never had a spring tryout," Buehler continued. "It was always in the fall and really big. They reached out to college softball coaches in the area and Coach Ron [Shoemaker] sent an email to the team saying that this would be a great opportunity."

Unfortunately, the tryout fell on Thursday, March 10. That day, the Explorers were getting on the bus to travel to the Liberty Classic for spring break.

Buehler was able to arrange a supplemental tryout on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, but Waddington was in New York City that day. Waddington went to the tryout on Thursday and hopped a ride with her parents to Lynchburg, Va. for the tournament.

The tryout included some softball drills, an interview in the media room and a short quiz about the current Phillies team.

When Waddington was offered a position, she immediately texted one of her brothers. His response was to not end up on SportsCenter's Not Top 10.

In addition to being positioned on the foul lines retrieving baseballs, Phillies ball girls staff the 50/50 kiosks in the concourse and are members of the "Red Go Green" teams that help recycle around the ballpark.

To get a position on the field, the ball girls go through a training process that involves shadowing a current ball girl for several games in a row. When they finally get to feel the Citizens Bank Park grass under their feet, it will be a moment to remember for both women.

Balancing the academic demands at La Salle and the schedule of a Division I softball player with a part-time job at the Phillies would prove problematic to some students. Both players were quick to thank their head coach for being flexible, as the Phillies season crosses over with the final month of the softball campaign.

"We both have to thank Ron Shoemaker for being so understanding with what we are doing," Buehler said. "We sent in our availability to the Phillies so that it wouldn't conflict with any games but it conflicted with one or two practices."

"Coach Ron has been great," Waddington added.

Both Explorers have been Phillies fans for as long as they can remember. Buehler's grandparents have had season tickets for decades and the speech pathology major was at Citizens Bank Park for the 2008 World Series clinching victory.

Waddington also remembers the 2008 season and attending a Phillies parade that Hatboro threw for the world champions.

The La Salle softball season wraps up this weekend in an Atlantic 10 series at Rhode Island. Buehler will return for her senior year, but Waddington, who has been heavily involved on campus as a La Salle student Ambassador, public relations intern for the Philadelphia Eagles and the University's Homecoming Queen, will be graduating on May 22.

She will remain at La Salle next year as the athletic department's Project Teamwork graduate assistant while pursuing a master's in professional and business communication.

But for a few months, this summer will include many days and nights at Citizens Bank Park wearing the same pinstripe jerseys as their childhood heroes.