The Los Angeles Queens certainly made things interesting. Their 9-2 lead during Monday’s Game 3, winner-take-all Women's Pro Baseball League semifinal matchup against the New York Heights soon disappeared into an 11-11 tie – thanks in part to home run queen Denae Benites’ 13th of the season.
But the Queens didn’t fold. They scored four runs against the Heights’ Claire Eccles and superstar pitcher Ayami Sato came out of the bullpen to toss two scoreless innings to secure the victory for L.A., 15-11.
Now, beginning Wednesday night, we’ll have the San Francisco Firebells – who finished first in the league with a 10-5 regular season – taking on their California rivals.
Here’s what you need to know before the WPBL’s inaugural best-of-five championship series. (And a reminder: WPBL games are seven innings long.)
WHEN: Game 1 will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Here’s the rest of the series schedule:
Game 2: Sept. 17, 7 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sept 19, 7 p.m. ET
Game 4: Sept 20, 3 p.m. ET (if necessary)
Game 5: Sept 22, 7 p.m. ET (if necessary)
WHERE: Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill. For the league’s first season, the four teams played in one location.
HOW TO WATCH: You can stream the finals on ESPN+.
HOW DID THEY GET HERE: The Firebells were the league’s best team, finishing two games ahead of the Heights and Queens with a 10-5 record. Led by the two-way superstar Kelsie Whitmore, the Firebells scored the most runs in the high-powered league (142) and had the highest OPS (1.041), while they were second in ERA (5.96) and WHIP (2.06).
The Firebells then swept the Boston Hunters in two games to advance to the Finals.
The Queens finished the season 8-7 – tied with the New York Heights. The two teams were very close to each other statistically, too, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that their postseason series was so tight, too. The Queens were third in runs (112) and OPS (.946), while their pitchers were third in ERA (6.45) despite the league’s best WHIP (2.04).
HEAD-TO-HEAD: San Francisco took the season series, 3-2. Going forward, the number you’ll want to look for is eight. The team that scored eight runs was the winner in each of the matchups.
Here are the season scores:
Aug. 7: LA 12, SF 3
Aug. 8: SF 10, LA 3
Aug. 12: SF 8, LA 2
Aug. 14: SF 17, LA 3
Aug. 21: LA 8, SF 6
WHAT’S IN A NAME: Each of the WPBL team names is more than just a cool moniker. They’re also supposed to pay homage to important women through history. The Queens are named for Lizzie Murphy, who was the first woman to play against Major League players. Her nickname was “Queen of the Diamond.”
The Firebells are named in honor of Lillie “Firebelle Lil” Hitchcock Coit, who was a champion of San Francisco’s volunteer firefighters.
THREE FIREBELLS TO WATCH:
Kelsie Whitmore
The No. 1 overall Draft pick showed why she deserved the selection. The trailblazer – she was the first woman to sign with an MLB-affiliated league when she joined the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League in 2022 – was one of the most valuable players at the plate and on the mound. While many players in the WPBL have to pull Shohei Ohtani-style double-duty, few can do it as well as Whitmore: She finished the regular season tied with the New York Heights’ Denae Benites for the WPBL lead in home runs with 11 and finished second to the Heights’ catcher in OPS (1.669).
She then pitched the second-most innings in the league (24) with the fourth-most strikeouts (15).
Jill Albayati
Albayati is often given the ball for some of Team USA’s biggest games and she proved that with her work on the mound in the WPBL: In three appearances, Albayati posted a 1.40 ERA in 10 innings – a remarkable number given the heightened offensive environment of the league – while striking out a batter per inning. She was a key contributor at the plate, too, slashing .406/.513/.688 with a home run and six doubles.
She gave up two runs in 2 2/3 innings in Game 2 of the semifinals against the Hunters and catcher Alexia Jorge admitted that she may have been tiring toward the end of her start. The Firebells will hope she’s fresh for the championship, though they’ll have Niki Eckert and Liz Gilder – the two arms who relieved her against the Hunters – as more than capable backup options.
Skylar Kaplan
Kaplan came up huge for the Firebells in the semifinal series against the Hunters. The outfielder was 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs in San Francisco’s Game 1 victory and followed that up with a three-run homer in Game 2. This wasn’t new, though: Her .490 batting average was second in the league among qualified batters behind Benites’ .552 and her 1.179 OPS was fifth.
THREE QUEENS TO WATCH:
Ashton Lansdell
One of the faces of the nascent league – she is the host of the official WPBL podcast – Lansdell has succeeded wherever she’s played. She was the first woman to play baseball in her high school district before becoming the first woman to play at the junior college level. She later transferred to play softball at Ole Miss, where she helped the team reach the Women’s College World Series for the first time in program history.
Named MVP of the Women’s Baseball World Cup group stage that was played in nearby Rockford, Ill., just a week before the start of the WPBL, Lansdell has kept up the hot hitting. She finished the regular season fourth in home runs (4), second in stolen bases (8), and third in OPS (1.441).
Meggie Meidlinger
A veteran of Team USA’s gold medal-winning team in 2006, Meidlinger remains an absolute terror for batters. Armed with an over-the-top, almost hatchet-tossing motion, Meidlinger made nine appearances during the regular season, posting a 1.83 ERA and striking out 13 batters in 15 1/3 innings. Given the league’s offensive environment, it’s a huge boon to the Queens to have a reliable reliever at the back end to close things out.
Ayami Sato
The only three-time Women’s Baseball World Cup MVP Award winner, Sato is one of the most decorated players in modern women’s baseball history. Just look at the lines for autographs and you’ll see how her impact on the women’s game can’t be overstated.
However, despite her 80 mph fastball – one of the best in the league – and solid breaking stuff, Sato has struggled this year, finishing with a 6.09 ERA in 23 innings. There have been signs of her putting it all together – her 17 K's were third-best in the league – and has shown flashes like in her two-inning relief appearance on Monday or her five-inning, one-unearned-run performance against the Firebells in August.
(Oh yeah, and don't forget: the Queens have former Little League World Series star Mo'ne Davis in the outfield.)