Pitcher Tess Forman has yet to surrender a single run in five appearances on the mound for the Carleton Ravens’ competitive baseball club.
Better yet, she hasn’t even given up a hit, despite leading Carleton’s pitching staff in games played.
What makes Forman’s undeniable prowess even more impressive, however, is the fact that, in a league full of men, she is the first female pitcher in the history of the CCBA.
Forman’s lights-out delivery has been a huge part of her team’s rousing regular-season success in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association (CCBA).
With a 12-4 record, Carleton finished second in the Northern Division this season, just one game back of McGill University for the lead.
“Tess is great for university baseball and for baseball in general, but that’s rather incidental,” Carleton University Baseball president George Rigakos said. “She’s the first female player on the Ravens because she improves our chances of winning the Canadian University World Series.”
At this point, Forman is more than used to being the only female player in her league—although she’s also played on her fair share of top women’s baseball teams.
At the age of 13, Forman made the U16 Team Ontario Women’s team and continued to play for the team until she was 16. In 2016, she qualified for the U20 Team Canada.
“Here, I throw a lot slower than most of the pitchers, so usually [the batters are] way out front when they swing,” she said. “With girls, I might try to throw a bit harder.”
Forman’s easy adaptability on the mound makes her a focal point of praise for her coach, Andre Robidoux.
“She’s got really good control as a pitcher,” Robidoux said. “What I mean is, she hits all of her locations with all the pitches that she has.”
The confidence of Forman’s coaching staff has grown increasingly over the course of the season, to a point where they awarded her a start in Carleton’s final regular-season game on Oct. 3.
Forman’s first starting assignment was the final contest of the “O-Train Series” against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. She had the opportunity to cap off the series sweep, with Carleton having won the previous three contests between the two teams on the season.
Forman blazed through two full innings in just 34 pitches, 22 of them strikes. She continued her streak of no-hit appearances, and actually outdid herself by registering two perfect innings, not letting anybody even reach first base. Ultimately, she was the pitcher of record in a 3-1 Carleton win.
However, Forman and her coach made it clear that her success has far simpler roots than any storyline would suggest.
“She goes out there and does her job, and that’s it,” Robidoux said. “In Tess’s case, she doesn’t show emotion up there—she just pitches her game, and whatever happens, happens.”
“I just throw fastballs, change-ups, curveballs—pretty simple,” Forman added.
Carleton’s biggest challenge yet is coming up in the form of the Canadian University World Series, the premier event for the CCBA.
“Last year, we went to the World Series and placed second—we lost to McGill in the finals,” Robidoux said. “This year, we’re trying to change that and it doesn’t look like our team is going to place less than second—or higher.”
The Ravens are hosting this year at RCGT Stadium from Oct. 18-21, and both the coach and his pitcher are excited to see a big turnout for the weekend’s festivities.
“We want to get people to come,” she said. “I’m just excited.”
Photo by Mike Gould
