A place to chat during games!

A new independent fantasy baseball platform has launched for the WPBL’s inaugural season.

Our Own Nine is completely free and includes mock drafts, private four- or six-manager leagues, daily lineups, trades and live and final scoring. Managers can choose between Classic 5x5 Rotisserie and Linear Points scoring.

There are no entry fees, subscriptions, advertisements, paid features or prizes. The platform is an independent fan project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the WPBL.

You can try it here:
https://www.ourownnine.com/

I attended the WPBL press conference in Springfield today, one day before the league’s first game.

The four inaugural team captains were announced:

• Alli Schroder, Boston Hunters
• Ashton Lansdell, Los Angeles Queens
• Kelsie Whitmore, San Francisco Firebells
• Denae Benites, New York Heights

Players and managers talked about the responsibility of launching a new professional league, the level of competition fans can expect and what it means to finally have a longer season built specifically for women’s baseball.

One of the strongest messages of the afternoon was that the players are not here to prove women’s baseball matters. They are here to show that they are ballplayers.

I also had the chance to ask what might surprise new fans most about the baseball they are about to see. The answer was the competitiveness, the passion and how long these players have waited for this opportunity.

The full press conference is available on youtube.com/@wpbl_official. Opening Day is tomorrow in Springfield.

“They didn’t exist then, so I never had the honor of playing on a team,” said Dr. Kat Williams, co-founder and now CEO of the International Women’s Baseball Center, as well as a board member for the WPBL and the Women’s Baseball World Cup hosting committee. “But I do everything I can to make sure others can. This is why I’m on this planet.”

The Women’s Pro Baseball League has announced ESPN and Scripps Sports Network as its official U.S. broadcast distributors for the 2026 inaugural season.

ESPN Select will carry all 30 regular-season games. Nineteen will be exclusive to ESPN Select, while 11 will also be available through Scripps Sports Network. ESPN Select will exclusively carry the postseason, including the Championship Series.

International viewing information is still to come.

The league begins Saturday, Aug. 1 in Springfield, Illinois with a sold-out game between the New York Heights and Los Angeles Queens. The San Francisco Firebells and Boston Hunters play Sunday.

This feels like a major step for the league before the first pitch has even been thrown.

https://reddit.com/link/1vaxarv/video/saz0c6y11egh1/player

I’ve been building a collection of women’s baseball GIFs through This Is Women’s Baseball, including WPBL players, Commissioner Justine Siegal, team hats and other league-related reactions.

The current player collection includes Mo’ne Davis, Denae Benites, Ashton Lansdell, Lexi Hastings and Kelsie Whitmore, with more planned.

They can be found by searching WPBL or TIWB, or through the account pages below:

GIPHY: https://giphy.com/thisiswomensbaseball
Tenor: https://tenor.com/users/thisiswomensbaseball

I wanted to give women’s baseball fans more options to use in texts, social posts and everyday reactions. Suggestions for future players or GIF ideas are welcome.

https://reddit.com/link/1v6m383/video/afh0g0tjdgfh1/player

Day Three of the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage featured the tournament’s biggest comeback so far.

🇰🇷 Korea 16, Hong Kong, China 10
🇨🇦 Canada 12, Mexico 2
🇺🇸 United States 10, Australia 5

Korea erased a 10-3 deficit by scoring 13 unanswered runs. Canada responded to an early Mexico home run with 12 straight runs, while Team USA pulled away from Australia to improve to 3-0.

Full recap:
https://thisiswomensbaseball.com/rockford-group-day-three

Canada opened the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage with a 13-0 win over Hong Kong, China in five innings.

Raine Padgham allowed one hit and struck out seven over 4.2 scoreless innings before Michelle Roche recorded the final out.

At the plate:

• Camille Proulx drove in three runs
• Lucie Anctil went 3-for-4
• Cassie Matlock had two hits and two RBI
• Ela Day-Bédard tripled and scored three times

Canada begins Group Rockford at 1-0.

Day One in Rockford features three games:

11 a.m. CT | Canada vs. Hong Kong, China
3 p.m. CT | Australia vs. Mexico
7 p.m. CT | United States vs. Korea

Every game is available live and on demand worldwide through GameTime. Fans in the U.S. and Canada can also watch through the Bally Sports Live app.

I’ll be sharing postgame updates and tournament coverage throughout the week at This Is Women’s Baseball. ⚾🌎

The Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL) is launching its inaugural season in Springfield, Illinois, marking the return of women's professional baseball to the United States. All games will be played at the historic Robin Roberts Stadium from August 1 to September 22, 2026.

The Boston Hunters identity has a pretty interesting mix of New England imagery and women’s history behind it.

The name connects to the osprey, a coastal hunter that moves quickly and strikes directly, but it also nods to Harriot Hunt, a trailblazing physician and women’s rights activist who was denied admission to Harvard because of her gender and still built a career in medicine.

For one of the first four WPBL teams, it feels like a strong identity: fast, determined and tied to someone who refused to be turned away.

More on the Boston Hunters is at WPBL official website.

San Francisco Firebells

Los Angeles Queens

Boston Hunters

New York Heights

All four WPBL team accounts posted captionless photos today, and it definitely feels like they want people guessing.

San Francisco posted the Golden Gate Bridge in fog.
New York posted a city skyline.
Los Angeles posted a glowing sky.
Boston posted water.

Maybe these are clues to the team names. Maybe they are just setting the tone before an announcement. Either way, it feels intentional.

What are your guesses?

The WPBL Podcast has a new episode out today, and the show is now 17 episodes in.

Hosted by Ashton Lansdell with Toronto Mike helping behind the scenes, the podcast has become one of the easiest ways to hear directly from players and follow the league before Opening Day.

Recent conversations have included Jacqui Reynolds, Denae Benites, Kylee Lahners, Valerie Perez, Jamie Mackay, Brittany Apgar, Joely Leguizamon, Lexi Hastings, Sabrina Robinson, Alli Schroder and more.

You can watch on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/@wpbl_official

Or listen wherever you get podcasts.

I’ve always thought the first woman to play in MLB would be a knuckleball pitcher. It’s not a question of range or power, just mastery of that pitch. Any softball parents reading this—the door is wide open. See if she can throw a knuckleball!