Everyone knows “there’s no crying in baseball.”

But the popular 1992 movie “A League of Their Own” also taught baseball fans that women can play the game too.

The Chicago Pioneers, an all-girls baseball team, plan to further support that notion when they take on the Berwyn Stars all-boys team Thursday at Baseball Alley in Berwyn.

The average age of the Pioneers’ Elite Tournament Team is 17 with a player as old as 23. The Berwyn Stars range from ages 13-16.

“Everybody is all for it,” said Berwyn resident Bill Spisak, who has worked with the Berwyn Park District and Berwyn Baseball and was an assistant coach for the Pioneers in the past. “It’s a way to get the girls ready for the tournament and I think the girls are going to win.”

Spisak’s daughter, Christie, is a member of the Pioneers and recently completed her freshmen year at Fenwick High School. Having a local connection prompted the idea for the game.

“We received permission from Joe Belcaster and Tony Martinucci (both are with the Berwyn Park District),” said Vito Campanille, Berwyn Baseball president. “We are promoting it as another aspect of baseball.”

The Elite Tournament Team won the 2006 Women’s World Series in the 14-and-under division and the 2007 American Women’s Baseball Federation National Championship in the 15-and-under division.

“We’re hoping to get a big turnout,” Spisak said of Thursday’s exhibition contest. “You would be astounded to see how well the girls play.”

Since forming the Pioneers four years ago, founder and general manager Mary Jo Stegeman has witnessed growth in the program, but not without tremendous patience.

Stegeman said she initially was begging people to help her out and eventually received help from her family and baseball parents. She also garnered support from Jim Glennie, president of the AWBF. Glennie recruits women for the U.S. national team, which competes in the Women’s World Cup of Baseball.

The Pioneers provide girls with the chance to play baseball beyond Little League since finding spots on boys high school baseball teams can be difficult. However, there are a handful of Pioneers who play baseball for their high schools.

“There is not a lot of opportunity,” said Stegeman, whose husband Greg and son Gregory are the Pioneers’ co-head coaches. “We’re providing that opportunity.”

The Pioneers have an Elite Tournament Team, which is comprised of girls from all over the country and coached by the Stegemans. The local Pioneer squad consists of players 12-and-under and plays ball in Illinois in the all-boys North Shore Baseball League 12-and-under division, making it the only all-girls team in the United States to play in an otherwise all-boys league, Spisak said.

The program recruits players from junior high age to college graduates to compete in the different national tournaments.