Sisters Enter the Draft Pool, Groundbreaking in Rockford, and More WPBL News
Plus: See Her Be Her in theaters, umpire interview, Baseball For All Nationals, and the Happy Chasers podcast
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.
It’s been an exciting week around here. I set up a custom domain for the blog, I got to debut my new WPBL merch around town, and of course the inaugural draft pool recently dropped. Read onwards for more news about the Women’s Pro Baseball League:
The league mentioned in their draft pool announcement that more names could be added in the coming weeks. They’re already making additions as 11 new names have appeared, bringing the total up to 1271. Big congratulations to new draft-eligible players IF Luciana Moreno and 1B/RHP Jordan Andreas of USA; 2B Braidy Birdsall, IF Ela Day-Bedard, OF Emily Baxter, and RHP Zoe Falardeau of Canada; and LHP Rosa Maria Del Castillo and CF Edith De Leija of Mexico.
Two more Australians have entered the draft pool: 30 year old RHP Claire O’Sullivan and 32 year old OF Elodie O’Sullivan (rhymes with “Melody”). Baseball is a sisterhood, but Claire and Elodie bring it to the next level as they are literally sisters! It’s possible there are other examples in the draft but the O’Sullivans are the first sister pair I’ve come across. I think that’s pretty darn cool – congrats to both.
The latest new draft hopeful I’d like to call out is OF Jill Albayati, 21. Albayati is a big-time slugger for the US Women’s National Team whom I’ve had the privilege of seeing play up close a few times. As with most players in the pool, she can pitch as well as hit and was tabbed as USA’s starter in the 2024 Women’s Baseball World Cup Gold Medal game against Japan. Earlier in the tournament she hit a three-run home run off the legendary Ayami Sato (be sure to click the Instagram post below and check out the second slide for the video). Circle Albayati as a name to watch in the upcoming draft.
During the 2024 MLB World Series I watched2 the documentary See Her Be Her premiere on MLB Network. The film follows the journey of seven baseball players, each from a different country, through the lens of the 2024 Women’s Baseball World Cup. Grassroots Baseball has been on tour since February bringing the doc to the big screen all over the country, and the final showing is this Saturday, October 4th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A book signing and Q&A session featuring Kelsie Whitmore, director Jean Fruth, and others will take place after the screening. Tickets are available here, or for those unable to make it in person you can watch at home at your leisure on Amazon – I highly recommend it.
It’s a big weekend for women’s baseball. During the last WPBL News Rundown I wrote about the substantial investment and upcoming renovations to Beyer Stadium, former home of the Rockford Peaches. The International Women’s Baseball Center (IWBC) will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the project on Monday, October 6th. Those in attendance will have an opportunity to take a photo with WPBL honorary advisory board chair Maybelle Blair and witness the start of this historic undertaking.
Next July, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association3 will host the AAGPBL reunion in Rockford, Illinois. The IWBC will host the Women’s Baseball World Cup qualifiers – an exciting tournament set to feature many WPBL players – during that week. On Tuesday it was announced the 2026 Baseball For All Nationals will also take place at the same time. It is the largest girls’ baseball tournament in the United States and it’s possible a few far-in-the-future WPBL stars take the field. The BFA Nationals announcement rounds out what is sure to be an amazing week celebrating the past, present, and future of women’s baseball in Rockford, Illinois.
Robert Rivera of Who’s On First: The Show recently sat down with the umpiring crew from the August tryouts: Kelly Dine, Janet Thomas, Sophiyah Liu, and Greta Langhenry. The conversation features a touching anecdote about the umpiring at Nationals Park; it also covers the importance of baseball in Taiwan and the future makeup of WPBL umpiring crews. It’s a short conversation but well worth a watch.
This week’s podcast recommendation is the debut episode of The Happy Chasers. Host Max Chase discusses his hopes and dreams for the WPBL plus his background as a sports announcer. I really enjoyed hearing Max’s personal stories about his familial history and why women’s sports in particular are so important to him. Max paid his own way to attend and cover the August tryouts, and subsequent episodes of his podcast feature play-by-play audio from the games that weekend. Give it a listen below:
UPDATE 10/2/25: An earlier version of this post incorrectly implied the City of Rockford was the host of the AAGPBL reunion. This event is, in fact, hosted by the AAGPBL Players Association. I apologize for any confusion.
Spoiler alert: it was great.
If you are interested in supporting the AAGPBL Players Association or attending the reunion, you can do so by becoming an Associate Member. Anyone can become a member, even those with no direct ties to the history of the league. I personally signed up for an associate membership last month.
OMG thank you so much for the shout-out!!! What a nice surprise! :)