Rhode Island Women's Baseball League

In 2004, Deb established the Rhode Island Women's Baseball League. The purpose of this league is to provide girls of all ages the opportunity to play baseball. The league is not a typical league, as it is not comprised of teams. Instead, it is more of a networking tool that helps women find teams in their area on which to play. The league works closely with the Rhode Island Slaterettes, but will also help non-local women find teams in their areas. The RIWBL is also affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union, or the AAU.

One thing the league emphasizes is that its members are active in giving back to their communities and the organizations that have provided support to make the league possible. This may be include anything from helping out during the practices of younger children to fundraisers for charitable organizations.

When asked about how she came up with the idea to start the league, Deb replied:

"Once I turned 18 and could no longer play for the Slaterettes, I started coaching and became an Executive Board member. I knew that a lot of girls still wished they could play so we set up alumni games where the older players could play the current teenagers. People couldn’t wait for us to have that one game a year.

So I began to research other leagues that had women’s divisions. I went to some games and some conferences. It was an eye-opening experience. I decided that was what I wanted in Pawtucket. But the Slaterettes weren’t quite ready to make that step. So in the meantime, I set up the RIWBL and used that to direct players to places that they could go to play. The RIWBL has never been a league in a sense that it had teams of players. It was more like a networking tool to get players on teams."