Hundreds of women will flock to Washington on Friday to take their first swings at turning pro baseball dreams into reality.
Some at the historic tryout will be seasoned veterans and trailblazers in the women's game. Plenty others are beginners chasing a shot at the pros.
They'll meet on the same field in a camp organized by the Women's Pro Baseball League. Set to debut next year, the league is holding the first pro women's baseball tryouts in more than 80 years this weekend in partnership with Major
League Baseball's Washington Nationals. The U.S. hasn't had a pro women's league since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — the one immortalized in “A League of Their Own” — dissolved in 1954.
Players will take part in drill-focused sessions, athletic performance testing and player evaluations at the Nationals’ Youth Baseball Academy over the first three days, and the showcase will culminate in a live game at Nationals Park on Aug. 25. In the end, 150 players will advance to the league's inaugural draft in October.
For co-founder Justine Siegal, the tryouts mark a crucial step in creating a true arena for female baseball players to compete against one another, which was the driving force behind her vision for the league.
“I didn’t get to grow up and play girls baseball. I had to play baseball with the boys," said Siegal, the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015. “We have players who have been waiting a lifetime for an opportunity not to just have a chance to try out for a professional women’s baseball league, but to be seen and to be given a chance.
“It’s very important to us that women know that we see them.”
More than 600 players registered for the four-day camp.
Here are five notable competitors to keep an eye on:
At 13, Davis became the first girl to earn a win — and pitch a shutout — in the Little League World Series. She drew national attention and became an instant celebrity, gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated and earning AP Female Athlete of the Year honors in 2014.
Davis later played softball at Hampton University, where she last played competitively in 2020 before graduating in 2023. With few professional baseball avenues available, she sometimes wondered if her baseball career had ended.
“A lot of times I’ve talked to people in school,” Davis told The Associated Press, "and ... they just kind of assume that I have everything planned out in life, which isn't true at all.”
Davis, now 24, has provided commentary on ESPN for Little League games but recently has explored other career options, including flag football, basketball and content creation.
She hopes the next chapter of her career begins with the WPBL, where she will try out as a pitcher, shortstop and center fielder.
“I’m excited to get out there with all the women,” Davis said. “Very excited just to play with each other, to share the field, to bring our love to each other and also to the fans watching.”
Whitmore became the first female player in an MLB-partnered league when she suited up for the Staten Island FerryHawks in the Atlantic League in 2022. She first played on the U.S. women's national baseball team as a 14-year-old, helping earn a silver medal at the 2014 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women's World Cup and gold at the 2015 Pan American games.
The 27-year-old's pursuit of a pro baseball career has largely meant finding opportunities to compete alongside men. In 2016, she and Stacy Piagno played for the Sonoma Stompers of the independent Pacific Association, and last year, she became the first woman to play for the Pioneer League with the Oakland Ballers.
Whitmore debuted with the barnstorming squad Savannah Bananas earlier this month.
Sato, 35, has led the Japan national team to six women's baseball World Cup championships and is widely considered one of the best female pitchers ever, with a nearly 80 mph fastball and a precise curveball.
A three-time MVP, Sato earlier this year debuted for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Canada's Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) as the first woman to play professional men's baseball in Canada.
Sato also grew up playing baseball alongside or against boys — but longed for a career on the mound even when she played girls basketball in middle school.
Now, she's a special advisor to the WPBL and was featured in the baseball documentary “See Her Be Her,” which chronicled the paths of seven female baseball players from around the world.
Schroder, a right-handed pitcher, has played for Canada's national team since 2018. She debuted for the team at 16, helping Canada win bronze in the 2018 World Cup.
In 2021, Schroder became the first woman to play in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference at Vancouver Island University.
She also works grueling two-week stretches fighting major wildfires. From her career as a firefighter, she deals with chronically sore shoulders and knees that could shorten her playing career, and the fingers on her non-throwing, left hand were injured to the point that she once worried whether she could even swing a bat.
“There’s a lot more at stake on the fire line than there is in a big game," Schroder told the AP last year, "and I think that’s something that I’ve really been able to use to calm myself down on the baseball field in big situations.”
Lahners played softball at the University of Washington from 2012 to 2015, helping the Huskies reach third place in the 2013 Women’s College World Series and finishing her college career fourth in school history in home runs and walks.
Now 32, Lahners has played third base for the U.S. national team since 2018 and was a part of the squad's silver-medal run in the World Cup last year.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
