Riley Gaines Calls Out Male Pitcher Who Dominated Minnesota Softball State Championship

Former collegiate swimmer and conservative political activist Riley Gaines is calling out a male athlete who pretends to be a woman who carried a Minnesota girls high school softball team to a state championship.

A male athlete who goes by the name of “Marissa” Rothenberger, pitched 14 shutout innings in back to back games to defeat the defending state 4A champion softball team.

Last night, a man single-handedly carried his high school in Minnesota to a Class 4A Softball Championship.

He pitched 14 shutout innings in back-to-back games to defeat the defending state champs.

14. Shutout. Innings.

You are a shameful, sorry excuse for a man, @GovTimWalz pic.twitter.com/MGmBRPXdb7

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 30, 2025

Gaines had harsh words for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz , calling him “a shameful, sorry excuse for a man” for allowing a male athlete to single handedly dominate a girl’s state championship tournament.

“Seriously, where are the girl’s parents,” Gaines asked as she offered her platform as a way to defend their daughters who were forced to compete against a biological male pretending to be a girl.

Fox News reports that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is being sued by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) which filed a lawsuit on behalf of the group Female Athletes United and three anonymous female softball players over the controversy.

Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Suzanne Beecher told Fox News Digital:

By sacrificing protection for female athletes, Minnesota fails to offer girls equal treatment and opportunity, violating Title IX’s provisions. Our client, Female Athletes United, is right to stand up for its members by challenging the state’s discriminatory policy and advocate for true equality in sports.

In response, Ellison’s office released a statement saying, “I believe it is wrong to single out one group of students, who already face higher levels of bullying and harassment, and tell these kids they cannot be on the team because of who they are. I will continue to defend the rights of all students to play sports with their friends and peers.”

The Minnesota State High School League had announced earlier this year that it would openly defy President Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order by allowing biological male athletes who are pretending to be girls to continue participating in women’s sports.

Ellison also decided to preemptively sue the Trump administration after it issued the executive order, in order to ensure that male athletes are not prevented from participating in girl’s sports.