Teresa Leyden took batting practice. She fielded grounders and then caught some fly balls.
But the former Penn softball player and recent graduate wasn't trying out for a professional team and looking to extend her playing career. Instead she found herself at Phillies ballgirl tryouts last fall.
The Phillies were experimenting with something new for the 2007 season. Rather than hiring just six women to work along the foul lines, the club hired 14 this year - enough to man a softball team.
This group, mostly from the Delaware Valley, was to do more than field foul balls.
The ballgirls would "take on a new role of being involved in various community and charitable events throughout the year," said Michele DeVicaris, coordinator of Phillies events, in a press release. Among the planned events were charity softball games.
An outfielder who finished her final season at Penn with a .268 average and 12 runs batted in, Leyden was selected out of 70 girls at the tryout.
She said she found out while waiting at the airport to catch a flight home to California for Thanksgiving break.
"I was flipping out," Leyden said. "I was literally in an airport terminal and people were looking at me like, 'is she crazy?'"
And she's still just as excited to take the field every game she's scheduled to work - even on a hot Saturday afternoon in July for a game against the Cardinals.
"He's married," Leyden shouts to a group of girls who were yelling during pre-game warmups to Phillies ace Cole Hamels, who was starting on the mound that day.
"Hey Teresa, can you give me a foul ball?" asks one young fan with a front row seat.
Leyden says she'll try, but can't make any promises. Leyden says she looks to give her foul balls to the youngest person she sees.
"Can I get your number?" asks an older fan.
Leyden responds that she doesn't give it out, but will take his.
"The biggest question we get is 'Do you date the players?'" Leyden said. "But we're actually not allowed to talk to them unless they come up to us."
But that doesn't mean that she can't have her favorites.
"I used to say [my favorite] was Jimmy Rollins," Leyden said. "Everyone likes Chase [Utley]. He's good, but everyone knows he's good. So I kind of go for the underdogs. My absolute favorite is Pat Burrell, I can't deny it."
However, her baseball allegiances still lie elsewhere.
"I hate to say it, because I'm fully decked out in Phillies gear right now, but I am obsessed with the Angels," Leyden said.
And to a laid-back California native like Leyden, Philadelphia fans could be overwhelming. But she loves their spirit and passion.
"Everyone's kind of like, 'wow you're stuck with Philly fans,'" Leyden said. "Compared to the Angels . people here are serious. They want wins and if they don't get wins they get upset. I can definitely relate to that and I think it's great."
Leyden says the number of games she works depends on how many home games are on the schedule each month and her availability.
As part of the job, the ballgirls have played in charity softball games, most recently against a paramedic squad and a group of camp counselors.
"Basically we play anyone who wants to play us," Leyden said, noting that the proceeds from the game ticket sales will go to a charity.
"Here we go," she mutters as she jumps up from her stool in the right field foul territory to scoop up a foul ball.
"I've been very lucky an that's all I'm going to say because I don't want to jinx it," Leyden said after giving the ball away. "Other people have gotten very unlucky with foul balls. Some girl accidentally ran into a foul ball when she was trying to get out of the way."
Leyden said the most stressful game she worked was when the Giants and Barry Bonds were in town.
Bonds "hit a foul ball straight to me," Leyden said. "I didn't know who to give the ball to."
She also said that if Bonds was to hit a homerun and a fan threw it back, she was to keep the ball and turn it in to the office after the game.
But Bonds didn't homer at Citizens Bank Park during the series.
Leyden says her dream someday is to work in a baseball front office, but she would be happy as ballgirl again next season.
"If I was invited back, I'd totally stay here. . If not, I'm going to apply to be an Eagles girl," Leyden joked.
