Oglesby shares love for the game with girls at EDI

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- There are nine positions on a baseball diamond that players can occupy, but only one fascinates and has had a lifelong hold on Alex Oglesby.

Oglesby is just part of an outstanding staff of coaches assembled at Jackie Robinson Training Complex this past weekend to pass along the game they love to the roughly 64 female baseball players participating in the Elite Development Invitational at the famed facility.

The Northern California native has always shied away from softball and gravitated toward baseball. Not wanting to be in the pitching limelight, she found her spot behind the dish.

At catcher.

“I started playing softball, but when I got to high school, we didn’t have a softball team, so I played on the boys' baseball team,” said Oglesby, who hails from Pacifica but lives an hour north of San Francisco, the home of her favorite baseball team.

Standing behind the Determination Field where she did infield drills with her group, Oglesby was well aware of the irony surrounding her: A lifelong Giants fan holed up in the inner circle of the most hallowed Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers training facility -- a fan on her archrival’s sacred National League West island.

“A Giants fan in Dodgertown,” she said, laughing. “It’s tough, but the Dodgers [have] done a ton for these girls, so as much as it pains me to love them, they are doing such a great job and it’s such a legacy. You can’t fault them.”

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A married mother of two, sons Tyris and Nolan, Oglesby has a devotion for playing catcher that led her back to JRTC where she welcomed the opportunity to pass along her love for the backstop spot and what she has learned from playing the position.

“Catching in baseball is what made me fall in love with the game,” she said. “There are so many more intricacies. Softball is a great sport, nothing against it, but there’s just something different about being behind the plate when there’s leads, there’s pickoffs. There’s more to it. That’s when I fell in love with it. I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else.”

The position offered Oglesby an unusual opportunity: She wanted to be impactful for her team but didn’t want the focus to be on her.

“My favorite thing with catching is I love being part of the game, but I don’t care about being in the spotlight. With catching, you’re a part of every single play. Every single piece of the game you’re a part of, but you’re not in the spotlight,” she stated. “I’m perfectly happy to be the support group. That’s a piece for me that’s very fulfilling. I feel like being part of a team, and the catcher is the core.”

Oglesby is a big part of the USA Baseball Women's National Team managed by Veronica Alvarez, who won a gold medal in the 2015 Pan American Games. The Californian is an assistant under Alvarez, who is a centerpiece among the campers and oversees the development and drills.

Most campers are of high school age, and some challenges naturally arise. Many participants may be away from home for the first time or come from far away. Also, the EDI might be their initial experience playing in a large group. Then, of course, there is the overbearing heat and humidity of a Florida summer that can be relentless.

“They get back there [behind the plate], and this might be the first time they’ve taken infield with three catchers,” Oglesby said. “Seeing who steps up and takes control [is important]. When we’re out here, it’s not just the fundamentals, it’s the mental approach, especially with catchers.”

Oglesby played in a women’s professional league after she graduated high school in 1997, turning down college softball scholarships to stick with baseball.

She continued on with women’s tournaments and eventually joined the inaugural Women’s National Team in 2004.

Also a catcher, Alvarez has a busy schedule ahead of her this summer.

The National Team will hold tryouts before going to Canada -- Thunder Bay, Ontario, on Lake Superior -- in August for the 2023 Group Stage qualifier for the six-team 2024 IX Women’s Baseball World Cup.

Both will be held in Thunder Bay’s Port Arthur Stadium. As the host club, Team Canada secured an automatic bid in the tournament.

Alvarez knows she can depend on her fellow backstop, Oglesby.

“She’s an essential part of our staff, and we work very well together,” said Alvarez, a Miami native who also works for the Oakland Athletics as coordinator of player development in Latin America. “We’re very different personalities, and so it’s nice to have that balance created between us.

“She’s not scared to challenge me and question my decisions and things like that. That’s very important on our staff -- not only her baseball knowledge and her involvement in the game of women’s and girls’ baseball but also her ability to work with me and the rest of the staff.”