Champlin Park High School won the Minnesota girls’ state softball championship behind a dominant transgender pitcher, fueling more frustration over male-born athletes in female sports.
Marissa Rothenberger, a Champlin Park junior, allowed only three hits as the team coasted to a 6-0 victory Friday over Bloomington Jefferson High School in the 4A state championship game held at the University of Minnesota campus.
“Champlin Park’s crowning victory came behind a 13-hit attack and another impressive pitching performance by junior Marissa Rothenberger,” said the Minnesota State High School League, the state’s governing sports body, in a press release.
Less impressed were advocates for single-sex female sports, including All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, who called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz a “shameless coward.”
“Another state championship hijacked by a team with a boy,” said Gaines on X. “’Marissa’ Rothenberger pitched 7 shutout innings to lead Champlin Park to a 6-0 win in the Minnesota Girls’ State Softball Championship.”
The MSHSL allows athletes to compete based on gender identity under a 2014 policy passed to align with the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which was amended in 1993 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Department of Education launched investigations on Feb. 12 into the MSHSL and the California Interscholastic Federation over whether their transgender-eligibility policies violate Title IX, the federal civil-rights law that bans sex discrimination in education.
So far, however, Minnesota has resisted pressure from the Trump administration to require scholastic athletes to compete based on biological sex.
Rothenberger, who reportedly stands six feet tall, dominated the girls’ spring softball season.
“Rothenberger is the ace of the team’s pitching staff and probably the best high school softball pitcher in the state of Minnesota,” said Eric Strack, founder of the Minnesota Sports Fan website, in a Friday post.
Unlike baseball pitchers, softball pitchers are able to throw multiple games in a row because the underhanded whipping motion places less stress on their arms, which allowed Rothenberger to carry the team to the championship by pitching the last five games.
“That allowed Rothenberger to pitch five straight games for Rebels, where the biological male turned transgender female gave up just 1 earned run in 35 total innings (and struck out 27 batters) between the section finals (best of three vs Rogers) to their state title victory on Friday over Bloomington-Jefferson, earning Rothenberger All-Tournament Team honors,” said Minnesota Sports Fan.
The pitcher notched eye-popping statistics during the season, posting an 0.74 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and .176 BAA in 94 innings pitched.
Brett Craig, Chief Creative Officer for XX-XY Athletics, congratulated the Bloomington-Jefferson softball players, calling their team “the real winner.”
“Shame on Champlin Park for sticking a boy on the mound for five games straight. You may have gotten the win, but you actually didn’t win, and you demeaned everybody in the process,” he said in a video post.
Rothenberger drew national attention after Reduxx reported that the sex designation on the athlete’s birth certificate was changed at age 9 from “male” to “female,” and the name changed from “Charlie Dean” to “Marissa.”
“Rothenberger is just one example of many trans-identified males who have managed to slip under the radar in women’s sports after transitioning at a young age, with legal records of their true identity often hidden away,” said Reduxx in the April 30 article.
Female Athletes United sued last month on behalf of three anonymous Minnesota female players, accusing the state of violating Title IX by allowing a “male athlete” to compete in girls’ softball.
Rothenberger has never publicly acknowledged being transgender.
Other states that saw male-born athletes enjoy success at girls’ state championships this spring included California, Maine, Oregon and Washington.
Minnesota House Democrats voted down legislation in March that would have required scholastic students to compete based on biological sex, not gender identity.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.