Cal Poly student Arwen McCullough has always loved baseball, but as a kid she had to play with the boys.
The third-year recreation parks tourism administration major, in fact, played baseball from age 7 through her freshman year of high school in Livermore, before transitioning to softball for her sophomore to senior year.
“I really liked playing with all women, but baseball was where my heart was at,” McCullough said.
So when she came to Cal Poly in 2022, she decided to create what didn’t exist — a women’s baseball club team.
McCullough started with recruiting — literally asking any classmate or acquaintance who had experience or interest in playing, and one by one she constructed a team.
“One thing I heard at Cal Poly when I was applying, and at Open House, was that if there’s anything you can think of, you can create a club for it,” McCullough said. “And they really emphasize that, so I said, “Alright, why don’t I just create a baseball club?” So ... that’s what I ended up doing.”
The all-women’s team took first place in a field of four, beating USC 10-2 and then edging out the Trojans in a second game nail-biter 11-10, to get into the final against UC Davis, where Cal Poly beat the Aggies 14-2.
“It was just really good baseball, and it was fun for me because I have family that live in the Marin and Petaluma area,” McCullough said. “They got to watch me pitch and hit, and it was really nice to have everyone out there and watch our win.”
CJ Silas, the ESPN 1280 AM/101.7 radio host of “The CJ Silas Show,” who played youth baseball with boys when she was young, said she’s thrilled to see the emergence of women’s baseball, including the addition of the new Cal Poly club team and the formation of the new Women’s Professional Baseball League set to launch in 2026.
“What Arwen did with just three people to start and her own heart, it’s really amazing,” Silas said. “And I’m not going to lie, I did not feel that there was a chance for women’s baseball to appear, not just at the collegiate level, but at the professional level. No way had you asked me, even three weeks ago, ‘Do you think there will ever be a woman’s professional baseball league? Or collegiate club teams? And how will they make it work?’ And so, it’s such a gift. It’s such a blessing. I’m so glad I’m alive to see it.”
Silas said that often when she mentions the growth of women’s baseball, people, often with no ill intention, say, “You mean softball?” because of the general notion that girls and women are associated with the sport with a larger ball.
“You’re pushed into softball as a young woman, and softball is a wonderful sport, but it is not baseball,” Silas said. “The girls that have come to baseball from softball wanted baseball, but they didn’t have a choice. And I don’t think it’s fair to compare the two, because they’re different sports.”
Brenna Hayden hits for Cal Poly’s women’s club baseball team. Courtesy photo
Forming the team
Cal Poly’s team is advised by Cal Poly staff member Shannon Stephens and includes about a dozen active members. McCullough recruited by spreading the word, telling everyone she knew who had ever suited up to play on a diamond.
“A lot of it is through word-of-mouth, and I’ve gotten a couple people to join from our flyers,” McCullough said. “And just anyone that I talked to in my classes, who used to play baseball or softball, I’d invite them to come out to practice. Even if they liked baseball or softball, but never got a chance to play in their life, I’d say, ‘Come on out. We’ll teach you.”
She added: “So that’s kind of really how it started. I was just kind of inviting everyone. And a lot of people came and then didn’t show back up again. But there were some people that came out and said, ‘Wow, this is fun. I like this,’ and stuck with it.”
The team doesn’t have any more planned games this year. But there’s a group of dedicate players who have been fine-tuning their skills to showcase their game through video footage in pursuit of a spot in the upcoming Women’s Professional Baseball League.
“We’re practicing to go to tryouts,” McCullough said. “It would be a fun experience, even if none of us makes a team, just to go and see other women playing baseball and go to the tryouts.”
Silas added: “I think it’s just hopeful, because there are things going on in the world that make it feel like things aren’t hopeful, but then something like this appears, and it makes you believe that if people want something bad enough, and they find some support wherever it is, really anything is possible. I think for young people to see that now, especially women, it’s really amazing.”
In her own career, Silas, the public address announcer for Cal Poly baseball games, also is attempting to break through as a Major League Baseball PA announcer, a rarity in the MLB.
“It’s going to be very cool to be in a completely different atmosphere on the East Coast,” Silas said. “I haven’t been to Florida since I moved from there in 1998 when I was doing broadcast in Fort Lauderdale for CBS (sports radio).”
Silas said she’ll continue to seek a Major League Baseball PA position as the jobs are limited and often come through word-of-mouth.
Brendra Wise pitches for Cal Poly’s women’s club baseball team. Courtesy photo
Playing among all women
McCullough said the experience of playing baseball with all women is refreshing compared to her years of playing youth baseball with the boys, which she did through her freshman year of high school before switching to softball.
She now alternates between pitching and playing first base and outfield.
“The biggest difference is you are sticking out like a sore thumb when you play with boys, because you’re the only other person who’s another gender on that team,” McCullough said. “And even if they fully accept you on the team, if you make one error, people are going to look at you a lot more closely than if another dude in that same position would make that same error, because the spotlight’s on you.”
She added: “So there’s a lot more criticism and scrutiny of what you’re doing on the field. And also the social aspect. … I feel like there’s so much more of a community when you’re with all women.”
Silas said that some of the key differences between softball and baseball are the size of the ball and the speed of the games.
“A smaller ball in a little girl’s hand is the most obvious thing,” Silas said. “In softball, all of a sudden the ball is bigger and you’ve got to throw it and it goes slower. The speed comes out of the game a little bit.”
When the team can come together and win, the result is all the better.
After the final out of the championship, an Instagram video shows the Cal Poly women jumping up and down, hugging and flashing wide smiles, celebrating the joyous moment as a team.
Cal Poly’s women’s club baseball team celebrates its Baseball for All collegiate championship at a tournament held April 4-6, 2025, in Petaluma. Courtesy photo
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