EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — The Cardinals took on the Astros Monday night in Houston for the first game of their series. It was an Edwardsville native helping the Redbirds' latest opponents with their scouting to deliver a harsh 7-4 loss to her hometown team.
Lauren Taplin is a young woman who is breaking barriers in baseball as a role model for the next generation of girls.
"It's kind of crazy to think of myself as something like that, but I'd love to be," Taplin said.
As a young Cardinals fan, Taplin met superstars like Albert Pujols with her twin, Michael Taplin, and older brother Mitchell. She's proud to be the only girl in the family amongst her three brothers, including the eldest Greg Taplin.
Taplin played softball at Edwardsville High School in addition to basketball under beloved retired varsity coach Lori Blade.
"She's so intelligent," Blade said about Taplin. "She understands basketball and softball really well. Just a love for athletics and spunky. She's a very good kid who is just an awesome person."
The 2018 Edwardsville graduate hit the gas like any of her favorite pitching prospects as she studied sports administration at Ole Miss. Eventually graduating from the University of Mississippi, she worked at the Cape Cod Baseball League, the Mets and has been with the Astros' player personnel team for more than a year now.
"After being in baseball for a while, there's so many little different things," Taplin said. "Within player development, it gets really miniscule. I really like the data aspect. There are all different ways to try to get competitive advantages over teams."
Taplin isn't the only woman changing the face of front offices and baseball dugouts. There are at least 15 female coaches with MLB organizations this season.
However, Taplin cites her coach Blade for helping to build her confidence to be in such a league of her own.
"When you get told 'no' just get right back up and get after it," Blade said. "They shouldn't be able to tell you know. If you find something that you love and that you really have a passion for and want to do, do it."
Reflecting about her time at Edwardsville with excellent basketball and softball coaches Taplin said, "They want to make successful teams but they also want to create successful women who will go on to compete and take chances."
"You're ready to compete in anything in life whether that's basketball, softball, or real-life things," Taplin said.
When it comes to Edwardsville alums advancing women in sports, Taplin is friends with Kate Martin, the WNBA Las Vegas Aces rookie. Before Martin played basketball at the University of Iowa with Caitlin Clark, she was shooting hoops with Taplin on varsity.
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