You might say Jill Gearin’s major-league debut was a home run.

Moments after analyst Tom Candiotti welcomed her to the Arizona Diamondbacks radio broadcast booth at Dodger Stadium in the top of the third inning Sept. 20, their listening audience was greeted by the familiar crack of the bat.

Gearin wasn’t on deck anymore.

“First pitch swung on. Deep fly ball to right field. Right fielder Gallo going back, he’s looking up – it’s a home run for Daulton Varsho,” she said, without wavering, without pause, like she’d been waiting her whole life to do it, no doubt about it.

“And just like that, the Diamondbacks take a 2-1 lead over the Dodgers in game one of this doubleheader.”

“Well,” Candiotti said, “that didn’t take long.”

That’s a matter of perspective.

It took until last week for a woman to broadcast any part of a Diamondbacks game. And before that, the Visalia Rawhide went all 73 years of its existence before Gearin became the minor-league club’s first female broadcaster.

The number of women as sports broadcasters isn’t growing as quickly as it is in the coaching ranks. Entering this season, 11 women held on-field coaching positions across the major and minor leagues, per MLB. That’s 11 more than there were in 2018.

When Gearin – a Hermosa Beach native – was hired to be the D-backs’ Single-A affiliate’s director of broadcasting, media relations manager and play-by-play person in 2019, she was just the third woman broadcaster in the history of Minor League Baseball. Three more have since joined the club.

Gearin, 26, said she and fellow broadcaster Emily Messina, the play-by-play voice of the Reading Fightin’ Phils, the Phillies’ Double-A affiliate, have discussed the divergent trends and tried to pinpoint a cause.

Gearin’s theory: “I think it’s because you’re in this unique situation as a broadcaster; you are a part of the front office, but you’re on the road half time time, so you’re part of the team – but you’re still a media member, and not a player or a coach … so on the road with these guys, you can make good friendships, but sometimes that’s frowned upon. So being expected to sit in hotel room for six nights straight can be difficult and lonely. I can see why that’s not appealing.”

Maybe not to most women, even those who love baseball. But Gearin is having a ball.

“When the offseason comes, it’s like, ‘What do I do with my life?’” she said. “I love grind. Don’t get me wrong, it’s tiring and sometimes I come home and sleep, cry or call my mom, but at the end of the day, I love what I’m doing.”

She estimates she’s called about 350 games, plenty enough to develop confidence in her voice.

“I understand the pace of play,” she said. “Now it’s, ‘OK, let’s figure out better ways to explain a ground ball, better ways to explain a line drive.’ You don’t want to use the same verbs every time. And you start weaving in stories.”

And although Gearin savored her cup of coffee for three eventful big-league innings last week, the goal is to do play-by-play full time at the highest level.

No, no woman has held such a position yet, but it’s been Gearin’s dream job since she was 12.

Something her mom said sparked the notion after Gearin complained to her that some boys were making fun of her for knowing so much about sports: She liked to talk, and she liked sports, so why not just dig in her heels and become a sports broadcaster?

That sounded great to Gearin, who’s been scoring baseball games since she was a little girl and used to do homework with the music of Red Sox broadcasts playing in the background (her affinity for Boston is a family thing).

She played softball growing up and at Emerson College, so her on-air delivery is very much that of a “laid-back former ballplayer.”

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Last week, D-backs fans got a listen because Scott Geyer, the club’s vice president of broadcasting, invited Gearin to spell regular play-by-play guy Chris Garagiola for three innings.

The Dodgers won Gearin’s game 6-5, but while she was on the call, Arizona built a 4-1 lead.

With Dodgers radio play-by-play broadcaster Tim Neverett, a mentor of hers, showing up to support her on his off day, Gearin called Varsho’s RBI single in the fourth. And then another couple runs in the fifth on Christian Walker’s solo shot followed by another run on a throwing error.

It was a busy three innings of work, and an error-free outing by Gearin.

“In the bottom of the third, I had my ‘Oh wow’ moment,” she said. “I turned and saw ‘Dodger Stadium’ and thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty awesome.’ But I felt natural, felt like I was able to maintain who I am, I wasn’t trying to do someone else’s broadcasting voice. I just tried to call the game and have fun.”

First batter for @jillgearin and it’s a call to remember. pic.twitter.com/RwSjqpJADD

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 20, 2022