Baseball and Softball Aren't Comparable, Association Says

Baseball and softball share bats, bases, gloves and the lion's share of their playing rules. But the two sports aren't comparable, according to the Indiana High School Athletic Association, which has been under extreme pressure for more than a year to make such a determination.

In February 2008, the IHSAA refused to allow a girl to try out for the boys' baseball team at a Wabash high school. After the girl's team of attorneys — a Philadelphia law firm, a national public interest group and an Indiana lawyer — threatened a sex-discrimination suit unless the decision was reviewed, she was allowed to try out for the team. Then, late last year, the parents of Logan Young, a 15-year-old aspiring catcher at Bloomington South High School, sued the IHSAA to force a decision. In January, the association lifted the restriction on girls participating on boys' teams in baseball, basketball, football, soccer and wrestling in cases in which a comparable girls program doesn't exist at the school. The case has been stayed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, and a status update is scheduled for May. As this was written, Young was set to try out for the Bloomington South baseball team.