With just over three regular-season weeks left in the 2026 season, No. 1 San Francisco looks to lengthen its WPBL standings lead against No. 2 LA and No. 4 Boston this weekend.
The Firebells sit a half-game above the Queens on a 5-3 record, followed by No. 3 New York with just two games separating the entire four-team table.
Fueled by a league-leading 11 home runs and 73 RBIs, San Francisco holds a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over LA after last week’s 17-3 rout.
Topping the charts in hits, RBIs, and runs scored, Heights catcher Denae Benites has quickly emerged as both a fan favorite and individual standout.
Firebells ace Jill Albayati holds the lowest ERA for pitchers with more than one start, tallying 10 strikeouts and two earned runs across 10 innings.
San Francisco takes on LA tonight at 7:30 PM ET (ESPN+).
Kelsie Whitmore etched her name into the WPBL record books Wednesday. The No. 1 overall pick hit three home runs as the San Francisco Firebells beat the Los Angeles Queens 8-2, scoring the first three-home run game in the pro women's baseball league's history.
Kelsie Whitmore Boosts WPBL Stats with Single-Game Record
Even more notable, Whitmore hadn't homered all season before last night's game.
She connected twice off Ayami Sato, widely considered the world's top women's baseball pitcher, then closed her night with a third home run off US national teammate Meggie Meidlinger. The performance lifted her batting average to .400 and pushed her up the WPBL stats leaderboard.
Slugger Denae Benites Climbs the WPBL Leaderboard
Atop that leaderboard sits New York Heights hitter Denae Benites, who cracked the first home run in WPBL history on August 1st. Team USA teammates Benites and Whitmore will share the field again this Saturday when San Francisco takes on New York.
Whitmore's resume of firsts predates the pro women's baseball league's inaugural season, however. She previously suited up for the Sonoma Stompers and became the first woman to appear in the Atlantic League with the Staten Island FerryHawks. She'll look to continue that standard-setting tradition with the WBPL as San Francisco hunts a ticket to the playoffs.
The WPBL is already shaking things up, as the 1-3 Boston Hunters dismissed manager Keith Foulke three games into the pro baseball league’s debut season.
The Hunters announced the decision 30 minutes before Sunday’s 7-6 loss to New York, as Jemile Weeks stepped in to replace the former Red Sox star.
“We would like to thank Keith Foulke for his contributions to the team and his efforts on behalf of the club,” the team said in a statement.
“We are looking forward to building a winning team culture.”
The LA Queens top the WPBL standings after four games played, sitting in first place on a 3-1 record ahead of 2-2 New York and San Francisco.
LA has leaned on its pitching, claiming the league’s best collective ERA while ex-Savannah Bananas star Ashton Lansdell leads the Queens in runs with six.
WPBL action returns tomorrow, as LA takes on San Francisco at 7:30 PM ET (ESPN Select).
The Women's Professional Baseball League (WPBL) made its debut over the weekend with an international talent pool that set the tone from the first pitch.
Ayami Sato, International Pitchers Headline WPBL's Inaugural Game
Ayami Sato, a six-time World Cup champion with Team Japan, took the mound for the LA Queens in the WPBL's first-ever game on Saturday. She gave up seven runs across three innings against the New York Heights. But Los Angeles mounted a comeback, eventually finishing 10-8 in a back-and-forth opener that gave fans a thrilling preview for the league's future.
On the other side, New York Heights pitcher Rakyung Kim gave up four runs over four frames. Still, Sato and Kim were far from the only international names on the field, though.
When the WPBL held its draft last November, eight of the top 20 selections came from outside the US. Sato went No. 2 overall.
Beyond the final score, Sato made her intentions clear. She wants to open doors for Japanese players who have long faced barriers like language, distance, and uncertainty, when it comes to pursuing professional baseball abroad.
"I'm sure there are many talented players in Japan who have dreams of playing here," Sato said.
All four WPBL teams are currently playing the inaugural season at Springfield's Robin Roberts Stadium.
The WPBL throws out its first pitch tomorrow. The country’s first professional women’s baseball league since 1954 kicks off its inaugural season.
Superstars Kelsie Whitmore, Mo’ne Davis, and Ayami Sato headline the four-team upstart, with all games set inside a neutral Springfield, Illinois stadium.
“Playing in a male-dominated environment, [we] kind of shrink ourselves,” Savannah Bananas and Call State Fullerton alum Whitmore told The Huddle.
“Once we all step on the field and we’re all with each other, it’s like the walls let down.”
Each team (New York, San Francisco, LA, Boston) plays a 15-game regular season leading to a championship series. And this season arrives with live national coverage.
ESPN and Scripps have signed on as broadcast partners. ESPN will stream all 37 games, including 11 simulcast on Scripps Sports Network.
Watch as LA takes on New York tomorrow at 6 PM ET, live on ESPN Select.
Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL) star Kelsie Whitmore received the Amazin' Mets Foundation's 2026 Legacy Award on Wednesday night during a pregame ceremony at Citi Field.
MLB's Mets Honor Whitmore as Women's Baseball Pioneer
The Mets present the award annually to individuals who leave a lasting mark on the game, both on and off the field. Whitmore joins past recipients like All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pioneer Maybelle Blair and researcher Sarah Langs. After accepting the honor, she threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The recognition follows a stretch that has reshaped the future of women's pro baseball. Whitmore was the No. 1 overall pick in the WPBL's inaugural draft last year. She'll lead the San Francisco Firebells when the league kicks off its season in August.
But Whitmore's path to professional ball started well before the WPBL existed.
Whitmore's Major League Baseball Record and WPBL Future
In 2022, she signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks and became the first woman to start an Atlantic League game. She later became its first woman pitcher. That run through Major League Baseball partner leagues laid the groundwork for what the sport now celebrates as a new chapter.
"Baseball has given me the chance to compete, grow, and prove that there is room in this game for girls and women at every level," Whitmore said after receiving the award.
"If my journey helps even one young girl believe she belongs on the field, then that means everything."
The Women's Pro Baseball League has revealed the identities of its four WPBL franchises.
Ahead of an August 1st launch in Springfield, Illinois, the upcoming league unveiled its new logos and names, each one honoring a woman trailblazer from its home city.
Women's Professional Baseball League Team Names & Logos
- The New York Heights draw from civil rights leader Dorothy Irene Height, with a logo blending a fastball's motion and the city skyline.
- The San Francisco Firebells nod to Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a champion of volunteer firefighters, pairing a bell with a phoenix.
- In Los Angeles, the Queens pay tribute to baseball pioneer Lizzie Murphy, known as the "Queen of the Diamond."
- And the Boston Hunters honor 19th-century physician and activist Harriot K. Hunt, featuring an osprey clutching a bat.
Together, the four teams will open professional women's baseball's newest chapter when the season begins at Robin Roberts Stadium. The season will run through the second half of September and include a playoffs series.
Standout pitcher Kelsie Whitmore, former Little League standout Mo'ne Davis, and veteran Ayami Sato are all set to compete.
For a sport built on the legacy of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the launch marks a concrete step in women's sports expansion.
"This is just every little girl's dream to play professional baseball," Whitmore said of the new league. "Now for us to actually be with each other — there's so much freedom and peace within it."
Women’s baseball is leveling up, as authentication site The Realest partnered with the WPBL to launch the first officially licensed card and memorabilia program for an active US pro women’s baseball league.
The cards will capture historic photos, action shots, and team gear, while game-used items like baseballs, jerseys, and more hit the auction block.
The Realest is also co-designing the WPBL’s inaugural logo, plus custom Opening Day patches to honor the August 1st debut of the first US pro women’s baseball league since 1954.
The WBPL joins the PWHL, Unrivaled, and the USWNT’s ‘85ers in the online marketplace’s growing women’s sports portfolio.
“Every young girl who plays this game dreams of one day seeing herself on a trading card,” said WPBL Commissioner Justine Siegal.
“Together, we will also be preserving the historical stories and memorabilia of the WPBL while inspiring the next generation of female athletes to chase their dreams.”
Baseball dreams became a reality last Thursday, as the Women's Professional Baseball League (WPBL) held its first-ever draft ahead of four-team league's 2026 inaugural season.
WPBL side San Francisco selected pitcher and outfielder Kelsie Whitmore first overall, with the 27-year-old officially becoming the first member of a US women's professional baseball league since the legendary World War II-era AAGPBL folded in 1954.
No stranger to making baseball history, Whitmore has primarily played on men's pro teams throughout her career, becoming the first women to start and to pitch in the MLB partner Atlantic League in 2022 before also breaking multiple glass ceilings in the Pioneer League in 2024.
"I truly didn't know if this moment would come, to be able to have a women's professional baseball league while I'm still in the prime of my career," said Whitmore.
WPBL teams select international stars for debut rosters
While the Savannah Bananas alum is the first member of San Francisco's roster, Los Angeles used its No. 2 pick to snag five-time World Cup winner Ayami Sato — a 35-year-old pitcher from Japan — while New York took former University of Washington softball infielder Kylee Lahners at No. 3 and Boston began its lineup by picking South Korean star catcher Hyeonah Kim at No. 4.
Notably, 24-year-old center fielder Mo'Ne Davis also earned a Top-10 overall selection, with LA tapping the former 2014 Little League World Series pitching star for its debut roster.
Now at 30 players each, the four debut WPBL teams will next whittle their lineups down to 15 players before the inaugural 2026 season.
With five countries — Japan, South Korea, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and the US — represented in the first nine picks in Thursday's WPBL Draft, the sport's global best will be heading to Illinois to kick off baseball's newest era in August.
"[The WPBL is] not just for me, but for a lot of young girls. They now have a platform to look up to," noted Whitmore. "Maybe my daughter one day will be able to play in the league."
Women's professional baseball has landed a home base, with Front Office Sports reporting on Monday that the newly formed WPBL will play the entirety of its 2026 debut season at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois.
The incoming league prioritized a neutral venue without an existing baseball team to house its four inaugural clubs — New York, Boston, LA, and San Francisco — for its first campaign, with barnstorming games also planned for each team market.
"Our sport is for everybody," WPBL co-founder Keith Stein told FOS. "It's for middle America, everybody. We thought, 'Our teams are on these two coasts, it would be good to be in the middle of the country.'"
Founded in 2024 as the first professional women's baseball outfit in the US since 1954, the WPBL will hold its first-ever draft on Thursday, with the league's four teams drawing from a pool of 120 eligible players.
The WPBL recently fielded an oversubscribed Series A investment round, telling FOS that they're closing a $3 million raise with another round planned ahead of its August 2026 season-opener.
Each 30-player team will operate under a $95,000 salary cap for the first year, with the league also covering living costs throughout the seven-week season as well as giving players a percentage of sponsorship funds.
How to watch the first-ever WPBL Draft
The 2025 WPBL Draft kicks off at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage streaming across the league's Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels.