By Amber Knox
Little League season is in full swing. What started as just three teams in 1939 has grown to approximately 2 million boys and girls from 80 countries, and Reagan Cox is one of those girls.
Around 100,000 girls now play Little League, but it took eleven years after the league’s establishment for it to see its first female player. In 1950, Kathryn Johnston showed up to tryouts with her hair tucked into her cap, pretending to be a boy. It wasn’t until she made the team that she revealed her true identity as a girl. The following year, a clause was added to the regulations stating that girls would not be eligible under any conditions.
Then, in 1972, a 12-year-old girl named Maria Pepe pitched three games in Hoboken, New Jersey, bringing threats of revocation of the team’s charter if she continued to play. This attracted the attention of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and a court case began. In 1974, 24 years after girls were banned from baseball, the New Jersey Superior Court ruled that girls would be allowed to play in Little League.
To celebrate the ruling, 50 years later, the Maria Pepe Legacy baseball series was founded. This year, from June 6 to 8, the series will be played for a second consecutive year, and sixth grade Dora student Reagan Cox will be one of 96 girls invited to participate.
Reagan Cox is currently a member of the Braves team, coached by her father, Brian Cox, and grandfather, Andy Cox. She began playing T-ball around age four and has participated every year since, except during the COVID-19 pandemic, when games were not allowed.
She plays third base, catcher, and pitcher, stating that third base is her favorite position. Austin Riley, the third baseman for her favorite team, the Atlanta Braves, is her favorite player.
Reagan’s advice for other girls who want to play baseball is, “Do what you feel like you want to do,” and “Don’t let anyone bring you down.”
Her mother, Sara Cox, said the Maria Pepe Legacy baseball series is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her daughter. Not only will Raegan get to play a weekend of baseball on the famous fields, but she will also stay in dorms at the Dr. Creighton J. Hale International Grove, alongside the other 95 girls her age, offering a unique bonding experience.
The family will drive to Williamsport, PA, bringing Reagan’s younger brother and sister along for the trip. On Friday, the players will attend an evaluation clinic, where they will be divided into eight teams. Each team will play a minimum of three games in both Howard J. Lamade and Volunteer Stadiums, where the Little League World Series is held. This isn’t the only baseball-focused vacation the family has taken; they have also visited Florida for Spring Training and attended an Atlanta Braves game.
Next year, as a seventh grader, she hopes to be the manager for the Dora baseball team and then play for the team starting in eighth grade. But life isn’t all baseball for this 11-year-old. Reagan enjoys writing and reading books, such as the Harry Potter series and mystery novels by Holly Jackson. Looking further into the future, Reagan wants to be an Astrophysicist and work for NASA.
Reagan said when boys ask why she plays baseball and not softball, she tells them, “Because I can and I want to.”
