Riley Frisbie is the starting catcher for Lyons’ softball team, but her passion remains baseball.
Two years ago, Frisbie became the first girl to play for Lyons’ freshman baseball team. She switched to softball the following year, but in May the junior from Countryside will again get a chance to showcase her skills in baseball.
She’s one of three players from USA Baseball’s National Team Identification Series to be invited to the tryouts for the Women’s National Baseball Team over Memorial Day weekend in Cary, North Carolina.
Frisbie, from Countryside, will join nearly 40 other women at the three-day camp competing for 18 spots on the national team. Those selected will compete in the Pan American Games from July 10-26 in Toronto.
Frisbie, 16, will be among the youngest girls to try out. The oldest player, Tamara Holmes, an outfielder from Albany, California, turns 41 in June.
Lyons softball coach Dawn Schabacker gave Frisbie permission to try out for Team USA. She will miss a nonconference game with West Chicago on May 23 before returning for the start of the Class 4A playoffs.
Between softball games this spring, Frisbie is training for the national team at Strikes Baseball & Softball Academy in Broadview, and at the Functional Athlete, in Countryside.
At Strikes, Frisbie is working on baseball skills related to her positions as a pitcher and catcher. She improves her strength and conditioning while at the Functional Athlete. The training center, Frisbie said, is popular with hockey players and wrestlers, but many of the drills carry over to baseball.
“Softball and baseball are easy for me to adjust,” Frisbie said. “I’ve been playing both sports for awhile. I try to use my swing for both sports. It has worked out for me.”
Frisbie is working out at Strikes once or twice a week under the guidance of instructor Scott Nelson, a 1985 graduate of Oak Park-River Forest. Nelson is the father of OPRF freshman infielder Maeve Nelson, who verbally committed before the high school season to play softball at Northwestern.
Scott Nelson pitched for OPRF at the same time Frisbie’s father, Sean, played baseball for Lyons.
Nelson also was an instructor for Frisbie’s older brother, Shane, during his baseball-playing career.
Frisbie began receiving instruction from Scott Nelson when she was 7 years old.
“She has had a beautiful throwing motion since she was a little girl,” Scott Nelson said. “She was always into baseball and can throw harder than some boys.
“Riley is a special kid. I am one of her biggest fans of all-time. She is a joy to be around. [Our kids] have played basketball together. She’s a good kid. She’s always smiling.”
Nelson said Frisbie’s short-arm throwing motion works well while catching in softball and pitching in baseball. She has a repertoire of five pitches: a two- and four-seam fastball, a cut fastball, a change-up and a curveball. The hardest pitch for her to master has been the curveball, while she continues to experiment with a cutter.
At the national team tryouts, Nelson said Frisbie would likely be pitching against college-aged female players.
“She’s a gamer,” Nelson said. “She has no fear of competition. Those college-aged girls have been doing it all along.”
In August, Frisbie played baseball in the Women’s LG Cup in Incheon, South Korea. The tournament featured eight club teams from seven nations.
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