WPBL looking for longevity as players take the field amid rising popularity for women's sports

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — When Alli Schroder first saw “A League of Their Own” — a 1992 movie based on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — she saw herself in the story on the screen.

“It was kind of motivating as a kid to watch it because even though there wasn’t a platform for us to play professional baseball when I was growing up, playing Little League and youth baseball, like there was a vision that there could be,” Schroder said. “And we’re here now.”

They sure are.

The inaugural season of the Women’s Pro Baseball League begins on Saturday — weather permitting, with rain in the forecast — when Denae Benites and the New York Heights face Mo’ne Davis and the Los Angeles Queens. The other two teams in the league — the Boston Hunters and San Francisco Firebells — play on Sunday.

Each team will have 15 active players for the seven-inning games. The 15 regular-season games for each club and the playoffs will be held at Springfield's Robin Roberts Stadium, a historic ballpark that has a seating capacity of 5,200 and opened in 1925.

“What excites me most is having the chance to compete against players who have been my teammate, as well as Team USA players, and other athletes I’ve always considered rivals,” Japanese right-hander Ayami Sato, one of Los Angeles' top pitchers, said Friday through a translator. “Being able to play against them in this league is something I’ve been really looking forward to.”

The opening weekend of the WPBL marks another major moment in a scattered history for women's professional baseball in the United States. The AAGPBL, which ran from 1943-54, was the first professional women’s league in the U.S. There were at least two attempts to start a league in the 1990s, but each one was short-lived.

The WPBL was co-founded by Justine Siegal, who became the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the Athletics in 2015. And its players, taking the field in an era of unprecedented popularity for women's sports, have big dreams.

The fledgling league got a lift Thursday when it announced a media rights deal with ESPN and the Scripps Sports Network to air regular-season and postseason games in its inaugural campaign.

“We want to make this thing last forever and ever,” Los Angeles infielder Ashton Lansdell said. “We want this to become the MLB of women’s baseball.”

Lansdell, Benites, Schroder and Kelsie Whitmore were named team captains on Friday. Schroder plays for Boston, and Whitmore was selected by San Francisco with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

“We were talking earlier today, I was telling them we’re a family now,” Whitmore said. “This is our new team, this is our crew, all 15 of us. And my goal is just to lead them the best way that I can, both on and off the field.”

Whitmore and the Firebells will be managed by Matt Williams, a five-time All-Star during his 17 years in the major leagues. Former Boston Red Sox closer Keith Foulke is the manager of the Hunters, and former big league infielder Eric Young is the skipper for the Queens. Rachelle “Rocky” Henley, a former player with a long history in women's baseball development, rounds out the managers with the Heights.

With only 15 active players for each team, the managers and their coaching staffs are going to be busy as they execute their strategy for each game.

“When I saw them play down in (Florida) this spring, it was like, ‘Wow. These aren’t women playing baseball, these are athletes playing baseball,’” Foulke said. “And I just want to bring that passion to my club, to the league, help build this and just be able to go out there and have a good time, put on a good product.”

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This story corrects Ayami Sato's team to Los Angeles.