The Women’s Pro Baseball League commenced its first season on a Saturday at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, marking the first women’s professional baseball league in the United States in almost three decades. The opening matchup featured the MLB.com facing off against the MLB.com in front of a crowd of more than 4,000 fans who braved a steady rain that soaked the 101-year-old ballpark, according to AP News.
Historic Debut of the Women’s Pro Baseball League
Regulation WPBL games are seven-inning contests, and the inaugural game delivered a thrilling comeback Los Angeles Queens win. Facing a four-run deficit through five innings, Los Angeles surged in the final two frames, including a four-run outburst in the top of the seventh, to defeat New York 10-8. Mo’ne Davis, who 12 years prior became the first girl to win a game and throw a shutout in the Little League World Series, fittingly scored the league’s first run in the top of the first inning as the Queens’ center fielder. New York catcher Denae Benites hit the first home run in WPBL history during a 4-for-4 night that included three runs and two RBIs.
Martha Reeves Anthem Performance Goes Viral
Before the first pitch could anchor the headlines, the league’s high-profile debut was nearly upstaged by a rendition of the national anthem. Classic Motown singer Martha Reeves, 85, took to the mound to perform the Star-Spangled Banner
alongside two other female singers, as reported by The Independent. Reeves, the former lead singer of Martha and the Vandellas, delivered a vocal performance that quickly went viral on social media as her voice appeared shaky and struggled with the song’s high notes.
Cameras captured audience members smiling and players attempting to contain their reactions during the song. A clip of the performance posted to X accumulated more than three million views and thousands of comments. Observers and commentators noted that the Star-Spangled Banner
carries a reputation for awkward renditions due to its wide vocal range and treacherous melodic leaps, putting it in line with other heavily discussed sports anthem moments in recent years.
Honoring the Past and Building a Broadcast Future
The league’s opening day featured a rain-delayed pre-game ceremony that paid tribute to the history of women’s baseball, honoring the lineage of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which operated from 1943 to 1954 and inspired the film A League of Their Own. The largest ovation of the evening went to 99-year-old Maybelle Blair, a veteran of the AAGPBL who serves on a WPBL advisory board and threw a ceremonial first pitch to San Francisco player Kelsie Whitmore, according to AP News.
Off the field, the league has secured wide-reaching infrastructure. The ESPN Press Room makes ESPN the national streaming home for the WPBL’s 2026 season across the United States and its territories, broadcasting 37 games including regular-season matchups and an exclusive postseason culminating in a best-of-five Championship Series. Selected games are also simulcast on the Scripps Sports Network.
Founding Teams and League Structure
The WPBL features four founding clubs playing their games at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. Each club plays a 15-game regular season running through September 6, followed by two weeks of playoffs.
* Los Angeles Queens * New York Heights * Boston Hunters * San Francisco Firebells
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