Ila Borders doesn't stand on the pitching mound for the Southern California College baseball team to get publicity for herself or for women's rights. It's definitely not to hear the vicious taunts from the crowd. Borders pitches to win.

"I've been working my whole life to get where I am -- I won't accept anything less," she said.

Borders, who throws a 78 mph fastball, is a starting pitcher for the tiny NAIA school in Costa Mesa, Calif., and the first woman to pitch on a men's college baseball team.

She is one of a growing number of girls and women who are playing traditionally male sports on the high school and college levels. Football, wrestling and baseball are becoming open season for women, but getting through the doors has not been easy.

Borders has heard criticism from peers, media and fans about her involvement in baseball since she started at age 10. And it has become louder and sharper in college -- from lesbian references to accusations that she is destroying the game. But on the field, Borders focuses only on her next pitch.

"It's kind of like a tunnel. I don't hear anything," she said. "After the game, I hear them."

Her coach, Charlie Phillips, has also taken his share of criticism. He has been accused of ruining baseball by allowing a woman to play in college and of recruiting Borders for the attention she garners. Phillips denies these accusations.

"When I first looked at her and recruited her, I just wanted a left-handed pitcher who could throw strikes," he said. "That's what I got."

Borders, 2-2 so far this season, was a senior all-star pitcher on the boys' team at Whittier Christian High in La Mirada, Calif. Some people hail her as a crusader for women's rights, but Borders said her goal is simply to play baseball -- she hopes professionally someday.

However, not all women who try crossing the barriers are as successful as Borders. Kristen Quinn, a sophomore at Central York High School in York, was on the wrestling team this year but quit due to a preseason injury.

She admitted that pressure from family, friends and teammates did contribute to her decision to leave. Quinn said she found out later that a team captain told other wrestlers to make things hard for her -- even if it meant physically hurting her.

"Personally, I think it's their egos," she said. "If they lose to a girl, it will kill their egos."

John Hughes, who wrestles at 142 pounds for Penn State, said he would feel awkward if he had to wrestle against a woman, but does not have a problem with women participating in the sport.

"In high school guys are afraid to touch girls anyway," he said.

Quinn, who wrestled at 145 pounds, never got to compete in the regular season, but said she has no regrets about her experience and may return next season.

"I am glad I tried out because it showed me that I can do just as much as the guys," she said.

That Quinn and Borders have gone this far in their athletic careers is remarkable, considering young girls are often discouraged from participating in traditionally male sports.

Many girls play little league baseball, but the majority play in the younger tee-ball and pee-wee leagues, said Cindy Campbell, President of the State College Little League.

"As they get a little older, they become intimidated, and they don't want to play with the boys," she said, adding that many girls switch to softball, where women are more accepted.

But to Borders, baseball and softball are two different games. She encourages girls to continue in baseball, but only for the "right reason" -- which she said is the love of the game.

"I knew I wasn't going to make a lot of friends," she said. "I went through it in high school. I just wanted to go out there and play baseball."