It’s been over a month since the dramatic conclusion of the 2026 WPBL Inaugural Season, but the memories will live forever.
As the planning for what comes next gets underway, it’s time to take a look back at how the first season of the Women’s Pro Baseball League unfolded.
An Opening Day to Remember
After waiting seventy years for the return of women’s baseball, the weather decided to make WPBL fans wait just a little bit longer. What’s a couple hours of rain delay after all that time?
Soon enough, the opening ceremonies for the inaugural season of the WPBL were underway. The rain may have stopped, but there were more than a couple of wet eyes in the crowd as the Los Angeles Queens and New York Heights took the field in the first-ever WPBL game.
Once the Hits Started… They Didn’t Stop
The first home run in WPBL history came quickly courtesy of Denae Benites of the New York Heights, who hit one out of the park in the first game of the WPBL’s Opening Weekend.
This wasn’t an anomaly. Sarah Edwards hit the first grand slam of the WPBL just a few days later, and home runs quickly became a regular part of WPBL games – especially when Denae Benites or Kelsie Whitmore were at bat. The two power hitters traded home runs all season long, ultimately finishing with 11 each at the end of the regular season.
A Tightly Contested Race
Throughout the season, the fight for position in the standings was tight, with the gap between first and second never growing to more than a few wins. With each game that passed, new stars were born, with players like Jamie Mackay of the Queens, Denver Bryant of the Hunters, Skylar Kaplan of the Firebells, and Natsuki Yonetani of the Heights becoming fan favorites.
The San Francisco Firebells: Regular Season Champions
By the end of week three of the 2026 WPBL Inaugural Season, the San Francisco Firebells had claimed the top spot in the standings. Despite continually close competition, the Firebells would go on to finish each week at the top of the standings throughout the rest of the regular season, becoming the WPBL’s first-ever regular season champions and claiming the top seed as the WPBL headed into its first Postseason.
An Intense Postseason
The WPBL Postseason saw a pair of East Coast vs. West Coast semifinals, with Boston playing San Francisco and New York facing Los Angeles. The Postseason provided some of the most scintillating games of the year, with fans witnessing a clear shift in play and approach in real time as teams adjusted to the high stakes of the moment. Ultimately, the West Coast won out – San Francisco and Los Angeles won their respective semifinals and were set to face each other in the first-ever WPBL Championship.
The First-ever WPBL Champions
It was a five-game Championship series, and it came down to the final one. LA came out hot, winning the first two games of the series. Every remaining game was a potential title-decider, making for a nail-biting finish to the season. The Firebells fought back, tying the series at two games apiece, but the Queens would not be denied, claiming the crown in a defence-heavy final game where a pivotal performance from pitcher Ayami Sato earned her the first-ever WPBL MVP nod. Queens captain Ashton Lansdell lifted the trophy and the champagne sprayed, marking the end of the 2026 WPBL Inaugural Season.
What a season it was, and there’s so much more to come.
Thank you to Oakley for being a part of the 2026 WPBL Inaugural Season.