Pitcher and outfielder Kelsie Whitmore returns to familiar surroundings after being selected by San Francisco with the first pick in the inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League draft Thursday night.
Mo’ne Davis, for her part, had to wait until the 10th pick before being selected by Los Angeles. Davis, 24, a Philadelphia native, played in the 2014 Little League World Series at age 13 and became the first girl to win a game and throw a shutout.
Whitmore is a San Diego native and made her professional debut in the Bay Area with a co-ed team, the Sonoma Stompers, in 2016. The 27-year-old won two silver medals representing the United States at the Women’s Baseball World Cup and won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
“You ask a 6-year-old version of me about this opportunity that’s happening right now, she probably wouldn’t believe you, but, two, she would be so, so, so excited,” said Whitmore, who in 2022 signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks, becoming the first woman to compete in the Atlantic League of professional baseball. She played for the Savannah Bananas this season.
Whitmore was among 120 players selected in the six-round draft that also included teams representing New York and Boston.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred opened the draft by congratulating the WPBL on its launch. The league is scheduled to begin play on August 1.
Each team made five picks per round, with the order of selection determined by a coin toss. Teams will reduce their roster from 30 players to 15 for the start of the season.
Japanese Ayami Sato became No. 2 in Los Angeles. The 35-year-old right-hander is a five-time World Cup winner and the only player to win three tournament MVP awards.
New York selected American infielder Kylee Lahners with the third pick. Boston selected South Korean catcher Hyeonah Kim 4th overall.
The startup league held a four-day tryout camp in Washington this summer with more than 600 hopefuls.
The league is scheduled to play all of its games at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springville, Illinois. Teams there will be based on a seven-week season, divided into a four-week regular season, one week for all-star activities and a two-week playoffs.
The WPBL was co-founded by Justine Siegal, who became the first woman to coach an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015. It will be the first women’s professional baseball league since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – immortalized in the film “A League of Their Own” – disbanded in 1954.
