Academy Notebook

When the Texas Rangers host the first ever MLB Grit High School Girls Baseball Invitational at Globe Life Park in Arlington and the Texas Rangers Youth Academy at Mercy Street Sports Complex, Presented by Toyota, from March 7 through 10, more than 60 participants will make the trek from all over the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico to participate.

But at least one of the athletes won’t have far to travel.

Dallas native and regular Academy participant Ximena Zamarron will be taking the field in her hometown. (Video of Zamarron discussing the opportunity is available at: https://www.mlb.com/rangers/video/ximena-zamarron-on-mlb-grit/c-2523120083)

“When I first heard about it, I was excited that I got invited,” Xamarron said of the tournament. “There aren’t many opportunities like this. So when it’s here and it’s the first one ever that’s ever been hosted, it’s exciting. I’ve never had an opportunity to do this with other girls from across the country.”

A freshman at Hillcrest High School, Zamarron grew up learning to play baseball from her uncle.

“I was just brought up playing baseball. As I got older, like 8, there weren’t really any teams that had girls’ baseball, so I would always have to play with the guys. My uncle had his own team and we would play there, and then I had to play softball because there weren’t any girls’ baseball,” Zamarron recalled.

The infielder has represented the Academy at the Jennie Finch Classic in Washington D.C. as part of the 2018 All-Star Game festivities in July and traveled to Austin as part of the Academy’s RBI All-Star softball team in the RBI Southwest Regional later that month. She also traveled to Vero Beach for the Elite Development Invitational in July.

While Zamarron enjoys both baseball and softball, she points out that they’re distinctively unique sports.

“Everything is different. The swings are different – baseball you have to swing up so it can go further. Softball you kind of have a flat, straight swing. And the speed is different,” Zamarron said. “They’ve always been fun to me. I always enjoy playing them both.”

For Zamarron, the difference between baseball and softball highlight the value of MLB’s initiative for girls in baseball. Not only does it give girls a chance to be seen by baseball scouts, it also gives them a chance to play a game they may enjoy more than softball.

“This is important to get everybody to open their eyes and see that women and girls are playing baseball, too, not just men,” Zamarron said. “When people see opportunities like this, other girls that were shy to play baseball because people were like, ‘oh it’s just for guys, I can’t play that.’ But maybe they’re like, ‘since they’re playing it, I want to do it, too.’ More people will end up doing it and it will change people’s points of view.

“I just think this is really important because there are girls that are probably better than the guys, so they can get a chance to go to MLB,” she added.

Ximena Zamarron in an RBI game at the Rangers Youth Academy.

More on MLB Grit

MLB announced additional details for the inaugural event on Thursday. Participants will include high school baseball players from 21 states, Washington D.C., Canada, and Puerto Rico, including players who competed with Team USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico in the Women’s Baseball World Cup in August 2018.

And the group will hear from special speakers from the Rangers including FOX Sports Southwest field reporter Emily Jones, Executive Vice President and General Counsel Katie Pothier, and Senior Software Developer Kim Eskew.

The tournament joins the returning Trailblazer Series and Girls Breakthrough Series as part of Major League Baseball’s third consecutive year of creating programming designed to grow the area of girls in baseball.

The MLB Grit game schedule is below:

MLB Grit Game Schedule Date Time Teams Field

3/8

1:30 p.m.

Team 3 vs. Team 4

Globe Life Park

3/8

5:00 p.m.

Team 1 vs. Team 2

Globe Life Park

3/9

8:15 a.m.

Team 2 vs. Team 3

Rangers Youth Academy, Oates Field

3/9

10:45 p.m.

Team 4 vs. Team 1

Rangers Youth Academy, Oates Field

3/9

2:30 p.m.

Team 2 vs. Team 4

Rangers Youth Academy, Oates Field

3/9

4:45 p.m.

Team 1 vs. Team 3

Rangers Youth Academy, Oates Field

3/10

8:00 a.m.

Third-Place Game

Rangers Youth Academy, Oates Field

3/10

10:30 a.m.

First-Place Game

Rangers Youth Academy, Oates Field

Game On

The Dallas Carter Tournament opened yesterday on Oates Field, and continues today, Friday, March 1 and tomorrow Saturday, March 2.

Pinkston softball is also home tonight at the Academy, hosting Hillcrest on Hamilton at 5:00 p.m.

The schedule of baseball games at the Academy is below. Scheduling is subject to change.

2019 Academy High School Baseball

Schedule Date Home Away Field Time Dallas Carter Tournament

Thursday, February 28

Dallas Conrad

Dallas Lincoln

Oates

Thursday, February 28

Trinity Christian

OD Wyatt

Oates

Thursday, February 28

Dallas Carter

Winner Game 1

Oates

Thursday, February 28

South Oak Cliff

Trinity Christian

Oates

Friday, March 1

Loser Game 2

Loser Game 3

Oates

10:30 a.m.

Friday, March 1

Loser Game 1

Loser Game 4

Oates

1:00 p.m.

Friday, March 1

Game 3 Winner

Game 4 Winner

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Friday, March 1

Loser Game 5

Loser Game 6

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 2

Loser Game 7

Loser Game 8

Field of Dreams

10:30 a.m.

Saturday, March 2

Game 7 Winner

Game 9 Winner

Oates Field

1:30 p.m.

Monday, March 4

Sunset JV

North Dallas JV

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Monday, March 4

Sunset Varsity

North Dallas Varsity

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 5

Pinkston

Waxahachie Life

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Monday, March 11

Sunset JV

Glen Rose JV

Oates

11:00 a.m.

Monday, March 11

Sunset Varsity

Glen Rose Varsity

Oates

1:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 12

Pinkston

Carter

Oates

6:30 p.m.

Friday, March 15

Pinkston

Hillcrest

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 16

North Dallas

Carter

Oates

11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, March 19

Sunset

South Oak Cliff

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 19

Pinkston

Lincoln

Oates

7:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 21

Pinkston

Roosevelt

Oates

6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 26

Sunset

Samuell

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 26

Pinkston Middle

Zan Holmes

Oates

7:00 p.m.

Friday, March 29

Sunset JV

Spruce JV

Field of Dreams

3:30 p.m.

Friday, March 29

Sunset Varsity

Spruce Varsity

Field of Dreams

5:30 p.m.

Friday, March 29

Pinkston JV

Wilmer Hitchins JV

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Friday, March 29

Pinkston Varsity

Wilmer Hutchins Varsity

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 2

Pinkston

North Dallas Varsity

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Friday, April 5

Sunset JV

Kimball JV

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Friday, April 5

Sunset Varsity

Kimball Varsity

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Friday, April 5

North Dallas JV

Wilmer Hitchins JV

Field of Dreams

4:00 p.m.

Friday, April 5

North Dallas Varsity

Wilmer Hutchins Varsity

Field of Dreams

6:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 6

Sunset

Western Hills

Oates

11:00 a.m.

Friday, April 12

Sunset JV

Seagoville JV

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Friday, April 12

Sunset Varsity

Seagoville Varsity

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 16

North Dallas

Hillcrest

Oates

4:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 16

Pinkston

Roosevelt

Oates

6:00 p.m.

Friday, April 19

Pinkston Middle

Greiner

Oates

6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 23

North Dallas

Roosevelt

Oates

6:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 25

Roosevelt

Carter

Oates

6:00 p.m.

Friday, April 26

Pinkston

North Dallas Varsity

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Friday, April 26

Roosevelt

Carter

Field of Dreams

6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 30

Sunset JV

Adamson JV

Oates

3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 30

Sunset Varsity

Adamson V

Oates

5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 30

Quintanilla Middle

Greiner

Field of Dreams

6:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 4

DISD Middle School Baseball Championship

Oates

8:00 a.m.

Tuesday, May 7

DISD Middle School Baseball Championship Game

Oates

6:00 p.m.

Below is the current schedule of softball games at the Academy. Scheduling is subject to change.

2019 Academy High School Softball Schedule Date Home Away Field Time

Friday, March 1

Pinkston

Hillcrest

Hamilton

5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 5

Pinkston

Lincoln

Hamilton

5:00 p.m.

Friday, March 8

Pinkston

Roosevelt

Hamilton

5:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 21

Pinkston

Wilmer Hutchins

Hamilton

5:00 p.m.

Monday, March 25

Pinkston Middle

Edison

Hamilton

6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 2

Pinkston

Hillcrest

Hamilton

5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 9

Pinkston

Roosevelt

Hamilton

5:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 18

Pinkston

North Dallas

Hamilton

5:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 4

DISD Middle School Softball Tournament

Hamilton & Kershaw

1:00 p.m.

Pinkston High School baseball and softball teams call the Academy home again in 2019. The facility also supports scheduling for David W. Carter High School and Sunset High School Baseball, in addition to Pinkston Middle School Softball. Various other Dallas ISD games and tournaments are played at the Academy throughout the year, too.

Black History Month Dream Works Camp

Tomorrow, Saturday, March 2 the Academy and Mercy Street will partner with Nike community ambassadors to host a free sports camp for baseball and softball players ages 7 through 14.

Drills will be held on Oates and Beltre Fields, and shirts will be distributed to participants. The camp runs from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

Registration is available at: https://texasrangersya.leagueapps.com/events

In The Books

The Winter Academy Training Session came to a close on Thursday, November 28, with 1,050 baseball and softball players having participated in the eight week camp.

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