Yonkers, NY, RHP Elizabeth Benn has signed with the Yonkers Railsplitters. Benn made her debut in the NYC Metro Baseball League in 2016 with the
as a starting pitcher in the A division. She made her impression on the league during her first season, being named to the league’s all-star roster. In the fall she competed on Too Hot with a solid finish to the season.
“I’m extremely excited to be playing on the Railsplitters. The club is well-established and under fantastic management by Jonathan Zeron and Christen Colon,” says Benn. “The team workouts so far have been great and the other players have been nothing but welcoming to me. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to train with them and learn from them leading up to the season.”
A Toronto native, Benn grew up playing as the only or one of just a few girls in her leagues from tee-ball and little league until she was 16 years old. In 2011 she suffered from a torn labrum in her right shoulder that was surgically repaired. After a successful rehabilitation process, she began playing again in the Ontario Women’s Baseball League and on their tournament team, the Toronto Fusion. In 2014 and 2015 she pitched on Team Ontario in the Canadian National Women’s Baseball Championship. She continues to play on the D.C. Thunder in women’s baseball tournaments on several occasions throughout the year. She played on the University of Toronto’s varsity softball team from 2012-2014 as a first baseman.
“I’m really happy to be playing in a men’s league again,” says Benn. “The players on the team are really experienced with many having played college or pro ball before, which almost no women have had the opportunity to do. There are a ton of great baseball minds in women’s baseball and a lot of skill, but men’s leagues tend to be harder and faster because of the biological difference and the difference in opportunities and experience that your teammates and opponents have had.”
Outside of baseball, Benn coaches at Harlem RBI and previously worked with the Toronto Blue Jays as a coach with the Jays Care Foundation’s Rookie League program. She is finishing her MA in philosophy at Columbia University and is an adjunct lecturer in philosophy at Lehman College.