'Women in Sports Night' set to be a home run at Sahlen Field
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — In the past, Women in Sports Night at Sahlen Field has always been a Friday night bash. But this year, the Buffalo Bisons are pitching a heater — making it a full-day celebration this weekend.
"The big thing with Bisons baseball is every game is an event," said Bisons assistant general manager Brad Bisbing. "There's going to be something going on from the start when gates open until the end of the night."
The Bisons take on the Syracuse Mets at 6:35 p.m. on Saturday, and it won't just be a celebration of America's pastime.
"Women in Sports Night was a big enough event and an impactful enough event to be a standalone event as a Saturday," said Amanda Ballestero, entertainment and promotions coordinator for the Bisons.
"Let's take it a step further," Bisbing said. "The ballpark's open, can we add a panel? We have a diamond, can we do a softball clinic?"
Before the game, young athletes can take to the diamond for a softball clinic led by local coaches.
"We're lucky enough to have a professional softball player on our staff," Bisbing said. "We have a great group of girls learning some skills right here at the ballpark."
"It's creating those memories for fans and either creating a new sports fan in a little kid that might not know that they love sports, or keeping fans loving sports," Ballestero said.
Women in every part of the sports industry — from the field to the front office — will speak on a panel about everything from what kicked off their career to work-life balance.
"We'll talk about how these amazing women got to where they are; they all have different stories and experiences," Ballestero said. "These women can show you that it is possible to be a great mother and an amazing woman in sports as well."
The evening will end with the Bisons' first-ever drone show. There will be 200 drones lighting up the Buffalo sky.
Beyond the events and aerial shows, the Bisons' ties to women in sports run deep.
"We have a prominent family lineage to women in sports with our manager Casey Candaele, whose mother, Helen Callaghan, was a professional player for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League," Bisbing said. "[She was] a prominent player and, in fact, it was the documentary that Casey's brother put together that became the inspiration to Penny Marshall creating 'A League of Their Own.'"
Casey and Helen are believed to be the only mother-son duo to have played in the big leagues.
"Casey will always joke that his mom was a better player than him," Bisbing said.
What would make the night a grand slam? The Bisons say it's inspiring girls to get in the game.
"We have a tremendous team behind the team here at the Bisons, and the backbone of that is also the women that work on our team," Bisbing said.
"They can be a director of marketing for a major sports company, or they could be a Division I softball coach," Ballestero said. "Just showing that you can be strong and you can achieve anything you set your mind to."
Local soccer standout Carissima Cutrona of FC Buffalo will be throwing the ceremonial first pitch before the game.
For more information on the event, click here.
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Jordan Norkus is an anchor who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.