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5

Feb, 2025

National Girls and Women in Sports Day

In honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the Printscape PONY League World Series is celebrating the 2024 Gijon, Spain, team on their historic run. Not only was 2024 the first year a team from Spain had ever qualified for the World Series, but the Spain roster featured both a female player and female coach.

14-year-old Lila d’Hauteville became just the second female athlete, and the first international female athlete, to participate in the Printscape PONY League World Series.

d’Hauteville first started playing baseball at age three after watching her older sisters play and has continued with the sport ever since. Despite baseball being a male-dominated sport, d’Hauteville is not fazed.

“Playing baseball is what I do, but sometimes I feel the pressure to excel and stand out when I play with the boys,” d’Hauteville said. “I need to leave my mark.”

And she certainly has left her mark. In the 2024 tournament, she competed against teams from the Bronx, N.Y., and Bay County, Mich.

In her outing against Bay County, d’Hauteville went one for two at the plate and had a highlight catch in left field. Her single and then subsequent stolen base are both firsts for a female player in the tournament’s 72-year history.

“Playing in the PONY League World Series is a dream come true,” d’Hauteville said. “I have been dreaming about this since I was three or four years old, and I feel very proud.”

Along with d’Hauteville, the business manager for Gijon, Spain, Nathalie Couetoux, also made history as one of the only women to ever coach a team in the Printscape PONY League World Series. The 2024 Spain team is the only World Series team to ever have both a female player and coach on the same roster.

“I am very proud of the kids, and I am glad there is no difference for me or Lila here,” Couetoux said.

Prior to d’Hauteville, Anny Rivera of Brownsville, Texas, became the first girl to play in the World Series in 2018. Rivera led her team on the mound to help eliminate Washington County, Pa., 12-3, while allowing two runs on three hits, two strikeouts, and one walk over two complete innings.

History will continue to be made at Historic Lew Hays PONY Field in Washington County, Pa., at the 2025 Printscape PONY League World Series, Aug. 8-13.

Printscape PONY League World Series
The Printscape PONY League World Series is an international youth baseball tournament played annually at Lew Hays PONY Field in Washington, PA. The World Series annually attracts over 30,000 fans and contributes over $6 million to the regional economy, with all games livestreamed domestically and internationally. The tournament represents PONY Baseball's 13- and 14-year-old age division. PONY has over 500,000 players ages 3-23 in more than 50 countries. More information is available at plws.org.

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THE PRINTSCAPE PONY LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

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5

Feb, 2025

National Girls and Women in Sports Day

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