D-backs name Gajownik as 1st woman skipper at High-A level

PHOENIX — When she was rising up in Orlando, Fla., Ronnie Gajownik’s dad would generally take her out of faculty to go to a Spring Training sport with him. Baseball was a ardour for her, however as she would stare out onto the sphere, there was one thing she did not see — individuals who appeared like her. Instead, it was a sport performed, coached and managed by males.

Thanks to girls like Gajownik, that’s not the case.

After serving as a coach within the Arizona D-backs’ Minor League system in 2022, Gajownik (pronounced Gah-jow-nick) was named supervisor of the High-A Hillsboro Hops on Friday because the membership launched its Minor League teaching staffs for 2023.

“I know that if my dad took me out of school on a Wednesday and we went to a baseball game and I saw a female coach on the field, I know Thursday my life would have been changing in the trajectory of where I want it to go,” Gajownik stated. “So the visibility aspect of it is huge, because, again, it’s showing little girls and showing women that we’re breaking the glass ceiling and we’re leaving breadcrumbs for everybody behind us for us just to keep adding on to it to see how far we can go.”

Last 12 months, Rachel Balkovec turned the primary feminine supervisor in skilled baseball when she led the Yankees’ Class A group, the Tampa Tarpons. This 12 months, Gajownik will turn out to be the primary girl to handle on the High-A degree. The two spoke not too long ago spoke by cellphone after Balkovec realized of Gajownik’s promotion.

“It was definitely beneficial, and I know that her and I are going to have a really good friendship,” Gajownik stated. “I know that her and I can lean on one another, if needed.”

Gajownik, who received a gold medal within the 2015 Pan-American Games as a part of Team USA’s girls’s baseball group, began with the D-backs in 2021 as a video assistant at Hillsboro. It’s a job that has confirmed to be a fantastic pipeline into the group for coaches, scouts and analysts.

When Arizona farm director Josh Barfield visited Hillsboro in the course of the season and interacted with Gajownik, he got here away from the expertise considering that she would make a wonderful coach.

“It was just her knowledge of the game,” Barfield stated. “She had a playing background. And the way she’s able to communicate — the hunger she possessed, the desire to learn and grow — it just all stood out.”

As different members of the group made stops in Hillsboro, they got here to the identical conclusion: Gajownik belonged in teaching.

So after they had been making out the Minor League employees assignments for 2022, Gajownik was ticketed to be a coach on one of many D-backs’ Rookie Arizona Complex League groups.

However, a line drive off the bat of high prospect Corbin Carroll modified all of that.

Carroll was taking entrance toss from Double-A Amarillo coach Javier Colina, and he smoked a ball that shattered Colina’s foot. Colina would want surgical procedure and pins inserted, and Amarillo subsequently wanted a coach, so the D-backs promoted Gajownik, who spent the season teaching first base.

“She went out there and it took her about two seconds to fit right into the group,” Barfield stated. “She did a great job working with the guys in Amarillo. She’s just got such an ease about her, the way she connects with people. I think some of the best coaches — obviously they have good content and she has that. But I also think they’re incredible connectors and she’s definitely one of those. She shows leadership, she shows initiative.”

Gajownik additionally served as a coach final fall for the Salt River Rafters within the Arizona Fall League, and when the D-backs had been placing collectively their teaching staffs for this 12 months, she was, in Barfield’s phrases, “an easy choice.”

“On behalf of the entire organization, we congratulate Ronnie on this significant milestone as she becomes the second female team manager in Minor League Baseball and at the highest developmental level,” stated D-backs group president and CEO Derrick Hall. “We look forward to witnessing her continued growth within player development as she shapes and develops the future stars of the D-backs, while continuing to be a tremendous point of pride for the enterprise.”

Gajownik returns to Hillsboro, the place her skilled baseball profession began and the place she already has relationships. She is aware of the proprietor, the overall supervisor, the individuals within the entrance workplace and her spouse additionally works within the group.

“It feels great to get this opportunity, especially with the Diamondbacks,” Gajownik stated. “They saw my potential in me as a coach and as a person, and then obviously taking that chance with me last year. So this opportunity means a lot to me. Hopefully, everybody who’s been involved with me and also hopefully all the little girls and the women who are seeing this know that if you’re qualified, you can do it. And … that’s all you need to be. If you’re qualified, you can go ahead and do whatever it is you’re passionate about.”