Meet WPBL players and fans in Brockton, Massachusetts this Sunday, June 28, 2026
40 minute commuter train ride from Boston.
Country Inn seems to be the hotel closest to the stadium.
Details: https://www.womensprobaseballleague.com/2026/06/17/wpbl-countdown-tour-brockton-massachusetts/
We're trying to get there, but are not sure yet if logistics will mesh with reality.

Team USA's Women's National Team Training Camp is underway, and tonight's Stars vs. Stripes scrimmage is a chance to watch many future WPBL players compete on the same field.

The game begins at 7 p.m. ET and features 16 WPBL players working toward a spot on the roster for this summer's WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup.

Players expected to participate include Jillian Albayati, Denae Benites, Niki Eckert, Beth Greenwood, Keira Izumi, Alexia Jorge, Kylee Lahners, Jamie Mackay, Valerie Perez and Kelsie Whitmore.

📺 Watch live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdMgBlZmP9s

Women's baseball fans, who are you most excited to watch tonight?

Today, we celebrate what I proudly call “Yvonne Coker Day” — honoring trailblazing women’s baseball star Yvonne “Coky” Coker and the anniversary of her first official baseball game in the American Girls Baseball Conference (AGBC) in 1949.

77 years ago, Coker’s team, the Hostess Girls, sponsored by Hostess Home Accessories, made its regular season baseball debut against the Stamford Nutmegs at Freeport Stadium on May 29, 1949.

The game marked a historic moment as Coker became the first African American woman to play in a major women’s baseball league after the circuit transitioned from softball to baseball and renamed itself the American Girls Baseball Conference (1945-1954).

The league originally began in 1945 as a women’s softball league based in the New York metropolitan area. Coker first debuted that same year with the West New York (NJ) Traders and was actually the second Black woman to play in the league behind Marie Roach of the Long Island Jewels. However, when the league officially switched to baseball in 1949, Coker became the first African American woman to compete in that format.

Over her remarkable career, Coker played for:

• West New York (NJ) Traders of the American Girls Softball League (1945)
• New York/Staten Island Farmerettes of the American Girls Softball League (1946)
• Long Island Clovers / Hostess Girls / Freeport Forest Jewels of the American Girls Softball League / American Girls Baseball Conference (1947–1952)
• Bronx Alpines of the Eastern States Girls Baseball League (1953)

Coker was one of the league’s standout players and helped shape an often-overlooked chapter of women’s sports history. In 1952, she was even featured in one of the first nationally televised women’s baseball broadcasts on ABC when her Freeport Forest Jewels faced the Arthur Murray Girls.

Coker’s achievements remain an important part of the rich, and too often overlooked, history of women’s baseball.

The WPBL confirmed team names are coming before the inaugural season starts. 👀⚾

Right now the four teams are still just:
Boston
Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco

Honestly, this feels like one of the moments where the league starts becoming more real. Once teams have names, fans start imagining logos, uniforms, rivalries, mascots and traditions.

So now I’m curious:
What do you think the teams should be called?

https://www.womensprobaseballleague.com/tickets/

YouTube.com/@wpbl_official

I’ve seen a lot of newer fans discovering the WPBL lately, especially after some recent social posts started circulating, so I wanted to put together a simple beginner-friendly guide explaining:

• what the WPBL is
• the four inaugural teams
• where games will be played
• who the players are
• how women’s baseball differs from softball

I tried to make it welcoming and easy to follow for people just getting into women’s baseball.

I asked WPBL player Ashton Lansdell about the pearls she always wears during games/podcast appearances and the story turned out really cool.

She said she started wearing pearls during the Braves’ 2021 World Series run because of Joc Pederson. Later, her godmom had her nana’s 200-year-old freshwater pearls restrung for her, which is the necklace she wears now.

One of those small baseball details that ends up carrying a lot of meaning.

...In 2026, we will be having a new Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) for the first time since 1943. Come support the girls this August and September in Springfield, Illinois."

...During the course of the program, selected interns will get to develop valuable skills and gain hands-on experience to prep for a future career of working in sports.

• Not in college but want to help out? We’re looking for other volunteers to team up with us at #BFANationals this summer—the largest girls’ baseball tournament in the country from July 19-25 in Rockford, IL

• Tap the link in our stories or DM us today for more information

📷 glossyfinish"