More than 4,000 poncho-wearing fans packed the rain-soaked stands, singing along to Shania Twain\u2019s \u201cMan! I Feel Like a Woman!\u201d as the Los Angeles Queens went to bat against the New York Heights after a 90-minute weather delay.<\/p>\n
Both teams came stacked with star power. Japanese pitcher Ayami Sato and former Little League champion and outfielder Mo\u2019Ne Davis represented LA, while Team USA\u2019s powerhouse duo of outfielder Kylee Lahners and catcher Denae Benites anchored the Heights.<\/p>\n
Nine-year-old Lena Shackleford of Virginia attended the historic game two years after participating in a catching lesson with Benites in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n
Decked out in royal-blue Heights gear, Shackleford said she dreams to be a catcher like Benites, who hit the first, and so far only, home run of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s only like two times I\u2019ve been in a tournament that\u2019s all girls, so I\u2019m kind of used to being the only one.\u201d Shackleford said. \u201cIt feels really great to know that there are other [girls] out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Ayami Sato of the Los Angeles Queens high fives teammates before the Women\u2019s Pro Baseball League Opening Day Saturday in Springfield.<\/p>\n Commissioner and league co-founder Justine Siegal previously made history as the first woman to coach a professional men\u2019s baseball team (the independent Brockton Rox), and in 2011 became the first woman to throw batting practice during Spring training to an MLB team with Cleveland.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not here today to prove that women\u2019s baseball matters,\u201d Siegal said of a league with players also hailing from South Korea, Mexico, Canada, Australia and Curacao. \u201cWe\u2019re here to show you that we\u2019re ballplayers, too.\u201d<\/p>\n The Queens went on to win 10-8. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat you saw out there is what you can expect from women\u2019s baseball,\u201d LA Queens Assistant Coach Emma Charlesworth-Seiler said after the game. \u201cThese women have been shut out of opportunities for a really long time. So when something like this comes up, they\u2019re going to take advantage of it and show these guys what they have.\u201d<\/p>\n The last time Illinois hosted a women\u2019s professional baseball league was 72 years ago, when the iconic Rockford Peaches \u2014 formed as MLB players were drafted into World War II \u2014 played 12 seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team went on to win a league-record four championships, and they were famously depicted in the \u201892 film.<\/p>\n Now, a different league of its own is back in Illinois, albeit a bit further downstate. Blair was among three original Peaches who made guest appearances, along with Jeneane Lesko and Gloria Rogers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fans cheer before the Women\u2019s Pro Baseball League Opening Day Game in Springfield.<\/p>\n Hoffman Estates resident Frank Vito, 57, had just graduated college when the movie came out. An avid baseball fan and former Little League coach, Vito said he wasn\u2019t rooting for any specific players, but for the league as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cI see these women pouring their hearts and souls and bodies into this game, and I just think it\u2019s awesome, and I\u2019m happy for them,\u201d Vito said.<\/p>\n Carol Wolf-Studer is familiar with the work the players have put in to make it into the league. She remembers her granddaughter, London Studer, practicing in a makeshift batting cage her father built in their basement.<\/p>\n Studer played in boys\u2019 leagues growing up but had nowhere to play in college. A first-round WPBL draft pick, she played Saturday as New York\u2019s first base-woman.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen she was two, three, she had a plastic bat and a wiffle ball,\u201d Wolf-Studer said. \u201cShe has worked her butt off to develop those skills\u2026and it\u2019s really almost a work of art to watch her.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maggie Foxx of the Los Angeles Queens reacts after hitting an RBI single as London Studer of the New York Heights looks on during the first inning Saturday in Springfield.<\/p>\n They all took the field at Springfield\u2019s Robin Roberts Stadium, named for the Phillies Hall of Fame pitcher who hailed from Illinois\u2019 capital and had a stint with the Cubs in 1966.<\/p>\n The inconspicuous open-air park doesn\u2019t immediately reveal itself, with no major roads or highways leading up the arena. And because the 5,200-seat stadium only has about 100 parking spaces and no nearby parking garages, many spectators ended up parking along residential streets nearby.<\/p>\n Ahead of Saturday\u2019s game, dozens of people filtered in and out of the Little Corner Bar, the local watering hole serving as the pre-game spot for dozens of fans wearing WPBL merch and MLB baseball caps.<\/p>\n Springfield native Carol Corgan said she\u2019s proud to see Springfield take up the mantle. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a very accessible city to get to, and [fans] are coming from all over the world,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so bizarre, but what a privilege for us.\u201d<\/p>\n The WPBL season runs through early September, when the playoffs start, with all games held in Springfield.<\/p>\n![\"Ayami](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785808234_984_.jpeg\")
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