ARLINGTON — Abigail Moore grew up a Rangers fan, and while left-handed pitcher Derek Holland was her favorite player when she was younger, the infield duo of third baseman Adrián Beltré and shortstop Elvis Andrus stood out because “they were like kids out there.”
Moore, an Arlington High senior, class salutatorian and catcher on the school’s baseball team, will play in the Woman’s Pro Baseball League’s inaugural season this summer. She was selected in the sixth round of last fall’s draft by the New York team.
“I’m ecstatic just to be part of the trailblazers that can hopefully open doors for women in the future,” Moore said. “It means so much.”
The WPBL, founded two years ago, will be the fifth American professional women’s baseball league and the first to play this century. The league consists of four teams — Boston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco — and will start a seven-week regular season in August. Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill. will serve as a neutral venue for all games played.
Moore, who also played basketball in high school, became the first girl’s baseball player in program history when she made the junior varsity team in her freshman season. She’s played baseball since she was 4 years old, always with boys, and hadn’t played baseball alongside girls until two years ago when she competed in the All-American Women’s Baseball Classic.
“A lot of the women that play baseball, I didn’t even know they existed until the league started connecting us,” Moore said. “Now, just being able to foster that community and relate to different things we’ve gone through as we’ve been raised in baseball, it’s so cool. I know have a much larger family than I did before.”
And, on Tuesday, she threw a strike to one of her childhood favorites.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to be nervous, and then I got out there, and saw all the fans around you, and it’s just you and Elvis,” Moore said. “I’m not going to lie, I broke a sweat, but it was cool. I’m just happy I threw a strike.”