Minor League Baseball radio broadcaster a rare voice. Give her a listen and find out why.

JUPITER — Lisa Pride flutters between a thick notebook of baseball scorecards, her laptop surrounded by stats sheets taped to the wall and a soundboard.

She's sitting, then standing, then sitting again in a small, sparse press studio at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, a place no one usually sees but her.

She calls a flyout that ends the inning and then jumps back to the board to take the sound of her energetic, alto voice off the airwaves of the Jupiter Hammerheads Radio Network, tangling her ankles in black wires that connect all around her.

It's early September, just weeks before the Hammerheads season ends Sunday, and the sun is beating down on 6,800 empty seats at the stadium. The Hammerheads are playing the St. Lucie Mets in a closed-to-the-public game at high noon. 

More:Roger Dean Chevrolet keeps naming rights to Jupiter stadium in sale of local car dealership

More:Last year, spring training came to a halt in the middle of the day due to COVID-19

Pride sits just feet from where a wayward baseball came through an open window days before and smashed enough computer equipment to take interns Rich Jarboe and Sonny Parmar, who were calling the game, off the air. 

She's still feeling the effects from the foul ball, off the bat of by Jupiter infielder Cody Morissette. Just prior to the game, her booth lost all internet connection, making it nearly impossible to start the broadcast on time. 

But Pride and a staff engineer rebooted the equipment and frantically got back online. Now her voice flows as she calls the minor-league matchup play by play. She weaves in stories about the players' college careers and descriptions of the fluffy clouds that cast shadows over the stadium and make life difficult for the outfielders.

The people listening don't get to watch the baseball game, but Pride makes sure they're there for a moment with her voice.

And it's a special voice. She's one of just five female play-by-play broadcasters in the Minor League  and one of a handful doing it on any level, including Major League Baseball.

When female role models were scarce, Pride made herself one

When Pride was growing up outside Cleveland in the 70s and 80s, she thought there were just two radio stations: sports broadcasts and baseball games. That's all that played in her father's red two-door car when they drove around. The voices of Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell and later Suzyn Waldman of the New York Yankees became the soundtrack to her car rides and the spark of her interest in sports broadcasting. 

"No matter what, I was always listening in," she remembered. "And now I model myself after those broadcasters. I could hear them weave in what is going on at the ballpark and their storytelling."

College took Pride to the University of Dayton and, eventually, the University of Central Florida. When she wound up as a news intern at the NBC affiliate station in Orlando, she realized she was working in the wrong part of the newsroom

"I always hung out with the sports folks and talked with them about games, so I ended up really being the sports intern," she said. 

While she was in Orlando, Pride met a promising young sports reporter who encouraged her to drown out the negative feedback and carry onward. The reporter's name was Stuart Scott, now known for his 30 years in sports and his tenure anchoring ESPN's SportsCenter. 

Pride gets emotional when she talks about the impact Scott, who died of cancer in 2015 at 49 years old, had on her life and career. 

"I thought, 'If he believes in me, then I can surely believe in myself,' " Pride said. "He showed me how to be able to have fun on air and be outgoing and talk to people. He became my biggest fan and mentor."

Both Scott and Pride dealt with unkind comments – Scott for his blending of hip-hop culture and sports commentary, and Pride for her rare place as a woman calling men's sports.

Now, she sits in a small circle of female play-by-play broadcasters in Minor League Baseball, who she knows on a first-name basis. There's Emma Tiedemann of the Red Sox Class AA affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs; Emily Messina of the Phillies' Class AA affiliate, the Reading Fightin' Phils; Jill Gearin of the Diamondbacks Class A affiliate, the Visalia Rawhides; and Maura Sheridan of the Cleveland Indians Low Class A affiliate, the Lynchburg Hillcats. 

"With all of these women, I know that I can text them or call them and they will reply to me immediately. They inspire me and motivate me to dream even bigger than I ever have when it comes to being a baseball play-by-play broadcaster," Pride said. 

Although her play-by-play broadcasting gig for the Hammerheads and the Palm Beach Cardinals is only part time, Pride also freelances for Minor League Baseball's website and has worked for television stations covering sports.

In 2020, she helped found One Baseball Mic, an organization that pushes for more diversity and inclusion in baseball broadcasting. Pride has organized workshops, mentorship programs and meet-ups to bring more women and people with disabilities into baseball broadcasting.

How Pride's husband, who is deaf, supports broadcasting

Pride's family is a baseball family.

Her husband, Curtis Pride, played for six Major League Baseball teams during his 13-year MLB career: the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves — years Lisa Pride remembers brimming with excitement. 

"There are very few guys who have played for the Yankees and the Red Sox, and his first hits with both teams was a home run," Pride remembered. "They're my favorite moments in baseball."

Curtis Pride also was the first modern-age major-league player who was deaf. He now coaches baseball at Gallaudet University, a private university in Washington, D.C., for the deaf and hard of hearing. 

When the team is not playing  he's home in Wellington with Lisa and their two children, Noelle, 16, and Colten, 14. Noelle is deaf and uses cochlear implants to hear, while Colten has unilateral hearing loss – he hears only from his right ear.

Lisa Pride, who is hearing, has a unusual way of sharing her passion for sports broadcasting with her husband, who communicates through speech and lip reading. 

"He cannot hear the broadcast well enough to hear me, so he has sat at the broadcast booth and he will read my lips," she said. "He has been so supportive in that way."

Women in the press box and sidelines in the major leagues

When her voice travels over the airwaves, Lisa Pride takes her place among a growing faction of women working in sports offices, press boxes and locker rooms that were once knew only men.

But it's a journey that passes slowly – milestone-by-milestone.

In July, MLB's first all-female broadcast team covered a match-up between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays on YouTube. Melanie Newman, the Orioles' first female play-by-play announcer, was joined by MLB.com reporter Sarah Langs to proved analysis, while the MLB Network’s Alanna Rizzo reported from the field. Heidi Watney and Lauren Gardner, both of the MLB Network, were the pre and postgame show hosts.

Suzyn Waldman, the Yankees broadcaster Pride grew up listening to, said it was wonderful to see the all-female crew, but she wants sports media to do better. 

“I’m waiting for the day when nobody looks at it,” Waldman told The Baltimore Sun at the time. “When it becomes normal and we say, ‘Of course she is doing that game,’ and it’s not a big deal.”

Far from the press boxes, women are making history working on the field in major league sports, too. 

In February, Sarah Thomas became the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl. She shook hands with Lori Locust, a defensive line assistant, and Maral Javadifar, an assistant strength and conditioning coach, who were both coaching in football's biggest game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

The visibility, whether it's on the field or at home in Jupiter, is critically important. 

"I know so many girls are looking to see representation," Pride said. "We need to show other girls and women that there are people like us."

kkokal@pbpost.com

@katikokal