Women's Pro Baseball League Wraps First Season, Drawing Philly Youth Coaches' Attention

The Women's Pro Baseball League completed its first season on Sept. 22, when the Los Angeles Queens beat the San Francisco Firebells 2-0 for the title. The league began play Aug. 1 with four teams. Philadelphia native Mo'ne Davis, who gained attention in the Little League World Series, played for the winning Queens roster.

The league's existence has altered the advice that coaches in Philadelphia give to young players and their families. Sabrina Robinson, a northern New Jersey native who began playing baseball at age 5 and now plays for the Boston Hunters, coaches with Philly Girls Baseball. She said the new professional league gives girls evidence that the sport is open to them. "These girls have a whole new path, and people literally can't tell them that women can't play baseball because there's really a whole professional league now," Robinson said. "Just pull up ESPN if you want to tell them they're wrong."

Philly Girls Baseball, a nonprofit started in 2019, runs all-girls teams for players starting at age 8 from Philadelphia and nearby areas. Founder Erin Nunes Cooper said she has seen more interest in the program since the league launched. Coach Joey Eckstein said the professional league gives her a different answer when parents question whether their daughters should pursue other sports. In the past, parents raised concerns about soccer or basketball because those sports offered a clear route to college competition and beyond, Eckstein said. Now she points to the professional league as an option for players who are 12 and under today.

Robinson traveled with Philly Girls Baseball in July to a national tournament in Rockford, Illinois, where the pro league is based. Cooper organized the trip so that all five of the group's teams spent a game learning from Robinson. Several players later went to professional games in person to watch players they had met, Cooper said.

Robinson said her work with the young players focuses on their thinking rather than their technique. She said she tells them that a professional league now exists for them to pursue. "I feel like the girls actually can believe it and see it now when we tell them, you can keep going in the sport," Robinson said.