Pitcher/outfielder Kelsey Whitmore returns to familiar surroundings after San Francisco selected her with the first pick in the Women's Professional Baseball League's inaugural draft on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Mo'na Davis had to wait until the 10th pick to be selected by Los Angeles. Davis, 24, of Philadelphia, played in the 2014 Little League World Series at age 13 and became the first girl to win a game and pitch a shutout.
Whitmore is from San Diego and made her professional debut in the Bay Area with the Sonoma Stompers co-ed team in 2016. The 27-year-old won two silver medals representing the United States at the Women's Baseball World Cup and won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
“If you asked the six-year-old version of me about this opportunity right now, she would, number one, probably not believe you, but number two, she would just be so, so, so, so excited about it,” said Whitmore, who signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks in 2022, becoming the first woman to play professional baseball in the Atlantic League. She played for the Savannah Bananas this season.
Whitmore was among 120 players selected in the six-round draft, which also included teams representing New York and Boston.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred opened the project by congratulating the WPBL on its launch. The league is scheduled to begin on August 1st.
Each team made five selections per round, with the selection order determined by a random draw. Teams will reduce their 30-player rosters to 15 by the start of the season.
Japan's Ayami Sato went to Los Angeles at No. 2. The 35-year-old right-hander is a five-time World Cup winner and the only player to win three tournament MVP awards.
New York selected American infielder Kylie Laners with the third pick. Boston selected South Korean catcher Hyunwoo Kim with the fourth overall pick.
This summer, the startup league held a four-day tryout camp in Washington, D.C., that attracted more than 600 applicants.
The league is scheduled to play all of its games at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springville, Illinois. Teams will be based there for a seven-week season, divided into a four-week regular season, an all-star week and a two-week playoff game.
The WPBL was co-founded by Justine Segal, who in 2015 became the first woman to coach an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics. It would be the first professional baseball league for women since the All-American Women's Professional Baseball League, immortalized in the film A League of Their Own, disbanded in 1954.
