Ila Borders & The First Woman to Win a Pro Baseball Game | Duluth-Superior Dukes

They called her presence a publicity stunt, locked her out of team clubhouses, and threw baseballs at her back in college practice. But on a damp July night in Duluth, left-hander Ila Borders let her 83-mph fastball and Don Sutton-inspired screwball do the talking.We trace the journey of the first woman to start and win a men's regular-season professional baseball game. Discover how a kid from California reading Jackie Robinson's biography in quiet Northern League hotel rooms earned her place in Cooperstown, shattered a decades-old athletic barrier, and became a legend in Twin Ports sports history.