City Reveal "Around the Corner," Draftees Attend National Development Program, and More WPBL News
Plus: Justine Siegal on the 1A show, Beyer Stadium groundbreaking photos, and six great player profiles
Every week (or so) I publish a fresh WPBL News Rundown, a collection of all the most notable and interesting stories on women’s pro baseball I’ve read since the last post.
I usually like to post a different, standalone article1 between Rundowns, but I’ve been saving my typing power/mental energy for whenever the Women’s Pro Baseball League drops their team announcement. Onto the rest of the news while we wait:
I’m hoping we learn team details soon – just yesterday the league said on Instagram “the big reveal is right around the corner.” The WPBL has been doing a great job fueling the discussion on potential cities. Everything we’ve heard up until this point has pointed to the inaugural season taking place at one or two ballparks in the northeastern United States. Is there any chance we see a team in the Midwest? I doubt it, but these recent Reels have me dreaming hard:
I’m not going to dig in too deeply on Ashton Lansdell saying “over 120 girls’ lives are about to change” (could there be more than about 15 women drafted to each roster?) or asking us to suggest four distinct cities instead of just one or two. People are talking about the league, they’re excited to hear the news, and we’ll get the details when we get them. I’m just going to enjoy the ride.
Lansdell is on the 40 player roster announced by USA Baseball for the 2025 Women’s National Team Development Program (WNTDP). According to the release, “the event will serve as a key component in the ongoing identification and preparation of future Women’s National Team programming in 2026 and 2027” and will feature five days of seminars, workouts, and scrimmages, including games against the Canadian women’s national team.
I count 31 players heading to the WNTDP on October 15th who are also in the WPBL draft pool: 24 for USA Baseball (Kelsie Whitmore, Kylee Lahners, Amanda Gianelloni, Alexis “Lexi” Hastings, Stephanie Everett, and Paloma Benach, among others2) and 7 for Baseball Canada (including Alli Schroder, Ela Day-Bédard, Michelle Roche, and more3). Best of luck to all involved.
Speaking of international competition, a few weeks ago I wrote about the International Women’s Baseball Center – host of the 2026 Women’s Baseball World Cup group stage – and the Beyer Stadium renovation project. Shovels hit the ground on Monday in what was, from all accounts, an exciting and successful event. Kara Hawley at the Rockford Register Star took a ton of great photos of the ceremony you should check out.
This week’s podcast4 recommendation is WPBL co-founder Justine Siegal’s appearance on the 1A show: “The exploding popularity of women’s sports in 2025.” In her conversation with Todd Zwillich, Siegal discusses the league’s emphasis on being “player-centric.” She talks about pay opportunities and how the WPBL will compare to minor league baseball. The episode also spends time on the explosion of women’s sports bars across the country – the whole thing is worth a listen.
In her piece about the WPBL, Carme Sanz-Muñoz via the Wellesley News writes “there are plans to expand the league to eight teams in 2027” based on how things go in 2026. This is the first I’ve read about considerations for the second season. Anything that far in the future needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but I wanted to pass the nugget along regardless.
I’ll conclude today’s post with a few “quick pitches.” Since the tryouts in August I’ve read a number of player profiles5 by various news outlets. It’s great to see the league coverage continue, and I’ve enjoyed learning more about the players who will make up the November draft pool. Take a look below – you might just find your new favorite player!
RF Bella Espinoza-Molina spoke with Sara Cardine of the Daily Pilot on her drive to stick in baseball instead of switching to softball, and the familial support she received in Washington.
RF Adelaide “Addie” Ziebart is the feature of a nice, long story by Joe McFarland of Saskatchewan Dugout Stories. In it she discusses fighting for her dreams and the experience of playing at Nationals Park.
2B Isabella “Bella” Villarreal told Carli Petrus of WXYZ Detroit about her eye-opening experience with Baseball For All and her hopes not just to be drafted, but to inspire.
2B Denver Bryant expressed the desire to write a new chapter in women’s baseball history in her conversation with Joe Whitfield of the Albany Herald.
RHP Sydney Barry spoke with Vincent McDermott of Fort McMurray Today about the great support system that helped her reach the draft-eligible list.
Finally, 1B Adelaide “Addie” Frank talked about her nerves and excitement surrounding the tryouts with Ellie Marshall of Call Newspapers.
For any new-ish readers – welcome! My two favorite pieces you might’ve missed are WPBL Merch Wishlist: 10 Items I’d Buy Instantly and Debating the Pros and Cons of Potential WPBL Rule Innovations.
The rest of the names for Team USA: Jordan Andreas, Kaija Bazzano, Denae Benites, Olivia Bricker, Denver Bryant, Niki Eckert, Beth Greenwood, Gabrielle Haas, Amira Hondras, Alexia Jorge, Skylar Kaplan, Mia Kruspe, Jamie Mackay, Meggie Meidlinger, Jacqueline Reynolds, Isabella Villarreal, and Valerie Perez.
The rest of the names for Team Canada: Liz Gilder, Andréanne Leblanc, Raine Padgham, and Addie Ziebart. Apologies if I missed anyone else for either squad.
I think technically this is a radio show segment, not a podcast. 🤫 Shhh, don’t tell.
A programming note – after the WPBL draft, I think I’d like to flex those college newspaper skills again and write a few player profiles of my own. If you’re a player who is reading this and you’re interested in being a guinea pig, hit me up on Instagram.
Was this (the Instagram post) also the first confirmation of only 4 teams? That would make 120 roster spots... unlikely.