WASHINGTON — To Justine Siegal, there are no sweeter words than, "Play ball."
"Baseball is the greatest game on earth," Siegal said. "Everyone should be able to play, coach, lead and be involved."
After years of being told she wasn't supposed to play baseball, that girls should play softball, Siegal did what any determined kid would do.
She blocked out the pessimism, and became the first woman to coach pro ball.
Siegal threw batting practice to the Cleveland Indians during spring training in 2011 and coached the Oakland Athletics in 2015.
"So many people told me it was impossible, and that I was wrong, but here I am," Siegal said.
Siegal is credited in the baseball community for breaking the gender stigma.
The New York native founded a non-profit, Baseball For All, which created all-girls baseball teams nationally, and organized a tournament for the teams to compete.
DC Force, an all-girls team based in D.C., was inspired by Baseball for All.
The organization draws players ages 18 and under from Maryland, Virginia and D.C., and is "dedicated to promoting girls' participation in baseball and fostering a love of the game." All eight coaches are women.
"Girls playing baseball is important because the world tells them they can't," Ava Benach, president of D.C.Girls Baseball, said. "These girls receive so many messages that the sport they love is not for them. Girls that play baseball overcome sexism and learn how to be strong advocates for themselves enabling them to be successful women on and off the diamond."
Of course, the players are avid Nationals fans, too.
Siegal's message for DC Force and the next generation of female players is to "keep rooting hard, following that passion, and believe in yourselves. Anything's possible. I know if my dreams can come true, then someone else's can."
Ultimately, she's enabling girls and women everywhere to get off the sidelines, and become the person she needed when she was younger.