Rain didn’t stop it. The weather didn’t stop it. Not even a 101-year-old stadium soaked through could halt the return of women’s professional baseball.
Sarah Hodel got to Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, more than four hours before first pitch. She just wanted to stand there. Walk the concourse. Stop for photos. It felt like history.
“Back in high school,” she said, “my informative speech was on women in baseball.” Now 43, an athletic trainer from Duluth, she saw the WPBL forming and set a goal: Show up.
Saturday night, she did.
The Game That Opened the Door
Mo’ne Davis led the Los Angeles Queens to a gritty 10-8 win over Denae Benites’ New York Heights. First game. First era. Almost 30 years since the last time a women’s pro baseball league played in the US.
It wasn’t pretty. It was windy. It was wet. But it was real.
Maggie Foxx—the league’s first recorded hitter—smashed a two-run single in the top of the first. Benites answered later with the first home run, a two-shot blast to center field. The score flipped, stalled, then exploded.
The Queens trailed 8-4. Then, in the sixth and seventh innings, they rallied. Four runs in the final frame. Game over.
“When I walked out, I started crying,” Foxx said. Not from sadness. From weight. “It means everything to us.”
Who Actually Shows Up for This?
More than 4,000 people packed the bleachers. Lines stretched to the outfield. Kids got bobbleheads. Adults bought jerseys. It wasn’t a trickle. It was a flood.
Antonietta Mabry, an accountant from Ohio, brought her whole family. Husband Jason. Nine-year-old Rosalee. Why?
“Having a daughter,” she explained, “it’s exciting to show her female pro athletes. Rare thing. Cool role models.”
Rosalee got Amanda Gianelloni’s glove autographed. San Francisco second baseman. Solid signature. Big memory.
Others came for the nostalgia. Lindsey Keirsey, a high school teacher in Missouri, loves A League of Their Own. Brought her husband and four kids. All of them. Even the teens.
“It’s an amazing opportunity,” her daughter Hadley said. “Break ground. Let women play. If they can do sports, they can do anything.”
Fair point.
A Legacy in the Rain
Before the game started—well, before it could start due to rain—they honored the past.
Maybelle Blair, 99 years old, threw the ceremonial first pitch. To Kelsie Whitmore. Star of the WPBL. Blair played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball Association from 1943 to 1954. The league that inspired the movie.
The crowd went wild. Not polite clapping. Real noise.
Benites called her special. Paved a path. Stuck with them from day one. Makes sense. You don’t get to 99 without knowing a thing or two about endurance.
Why Does This Matter Now?
Because opportunities used to be nonexistent for women who wanted to play baseball. Softball filled the gap. But baseball? Different game. Different culture. Different rules.
Koehler, 33 from St. Paul, put it bluntly. Played softball growing up. Wanted baseball. Dreamed of pro level. No door. Now the door’s open.
“It’s amazing,” she said.
The Boston Hunters and Firebells play Sunday. Grounds crew pulled the tarp. Players helped. You don’t see that kind of mutual aid every day.
Rosalee Mabry summed it up for the kids.
“I really like it. Cool to see pro women play.”
That’s it. That’s the hook. Kids watching. Parents recording. Legacy players standing on the mound.
The rain stopped eventually. The game ended. The league continues.
Is it the next big thing? Maybe. Is it important right now? Absolutely.
What happens when the next generation sees this?
Probably more lines. More bobbleheads. More tears.
And maybe, just maybe, more girls picking up a bat instead of a softball.
