SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Sarah Hodel and Rachel Koehler arrived at Robin Roberts Stadium more than four hours before the first game of the Women’s Professional Baseball League. Once inside, Hodel stopped periodically for pictures as she walked along the concourse.
She wanted to savor every moment.
“Back in high school I was on my speech team and my informative speech was on women in baseball,” said Hodel, a 43-year-old athletic trainer from Duluth, Minnesota. “So as soon as I saw this happening a couple years ago it was my goal to come.”
That moment finally arrived on Saturday night, when Mo’ne Davis and the Los Angeles Queens rallied for a 10-8 victory over Denae Benites and the New York Heights in a rainy debut for the first women’s professional baseball league in the United States in almost 30 years.
“Growing up I played softball,” said Koehler, 33, of St. Paul, Minnesota. “I wanted to play baseball because going professional was always like the dream, but there (were) no opportunities. … So now that that’s actually an opportunity and something that girls can look up to I think is amazing.”
Maggie Foxx picked up the league’s first hit on a two-run single for Los Angeles in the first inning. Benites connected for the WPBL’s first homer, a two-run drive to center in the bottom of the fourth.
The Queens trailed 8-4 before scoring two runs in the sixth and four more in wet and windy conditions for the final frame of the seven-inning contest.
“When I walked on the field I started crying because of how much this moment meant, and how much it meant to everybody,” Foxx said. “It means everything to us.”
A steady rain fell for much of the day, soaking the 101-year-old home of the WPBL’s inaugural season. But much of the crowd of more than 4,000 started lining up hours before the game, hoping to grab a Davis bobblehead on the way to the metal bleachers.
The line for the main merchandise booth stretched all the way to the outfield along one side of the ballpark.
“Having a daughter, it’s really exciting to give her exposure to female professional athletes,” said Antonietta Mabry, 47, an accountant from Columbus, Ohio. “It’s such a rare thing, so it’s really cool to give her some really positive female role models and examples.”
Mabry was accompanied by her husband, Jason, a 48-year-old auditor, and their daughter, Rosalee. The 9-year-old Mabry got her glove autographed by San Francisco second baseman Amanda Gianelloni.
The Firebells and Boston Hunters — the league’s other two teams — play on Sunday. A couple players from each team helped the grounds crew pull the tarp off the field after the rain subsided.
“I’m excited to be here because I play softball and I really like it and it’s really cool that I get to see professional women play,” Rosalee Mabry said.
The WPBL paid tribute to the past, present and future of women’s baseball during a rain-delayed pregame ceremony. The crowd cheered as the lineups for the Queens and Heights were announced.
But the biggest ovation of the night was for 99-year-old Maybelle Blair, who threw a ceremonial first pitch to San Francisco’s Kelsie Whitmore, one of the biggest stars of the WPBL. Blair, who serves on a WPBL advisory board, played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which ran from 1943-54 and inspired the 1992 movie, “A League of Their Own.”
“I think that’s pretty incredible,” Benites said. “Maybelle’s been sticking with us since the beginning of this journey. She’s paved a path for us, really. … She’s a special person and I’m so happy that she got to make it out here and do that today.”
Lindsey Keirsey, 42, a high school history teacher in Fenton, Missouri, said she is obsessed with the AAGPBL and “A League of Their Own.” She attended the game with her husband, Drew, 43, and their four children, Hadley, 17, Nolan, 15, Elam, 11, and Abbott, 10.
“We go to St. Louis Cardinals games all the time,” Hadley Keirsey said. “As much as I love baseball, I think it’s an amazing opportunity to see so many women be able to play and just break ground like that. Even though it’s just a sport, I think that if we can do things like this and let women play in sports like this, women can do so many more things.”
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