The first professional women's baseball postseason in more than seventy years begins Wednesday night in Springfield, Illinois.
How to watch
Every playoff game is on ESPN, exclusively. ESPN is the league's U.S. distributor for the full postseason including the championship series. Scripps Sports Network carried eleven regular-season games but has no postseason slate.
If you have ESPN through a TV provider, the games are in the ESPN app — sign in with your credentials.
If you don't, you need an ESPN subscription:
ESPN Select — $12.99/month or $129.99/year. This is the tier the league named, and it's the cheaper one. Also available in a Disney bundle.
ESPN Unlimited — $29.99/month or $299.99/year. Everything Select has, plus ESPN's linear channels.
Finding the games is not obvious. In the ESPN app, or through Disney+ or the Hulu-ESPN bundle, scroll to the bottom of the home screen to Leagues, then select WPBL. The games don't reliably appear on the main carousel.
International: free on YouTube at @wpbl_official.
In person: every game is at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois — named for the Hall of Fame pitcher, not the journalist. Tickets through the league.
Games are seven innings.
The bracket
Semifinal A — No. 1 San Francisco vs. No. 4 Boston. Best of three.
Semifinal B — No. 2 New York vs. No. 3 Los Angeles. Best of three.
Championship — Best of five, beginning Sept. 16.
Final standings
1. San Francisco — 10-5, .667
2. New York — 8-7, .533
3. Los Angeles — 8-7, .533
4. Boston — 4-11, .267
The schedule
All games are at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield. Team listings indicate home-team designation only, not location.
All times Eastern.
Semifinals
Wed, Sept. 9 — Boston at San Francisco, 8:00
Thu, Sept. 10 — Los Angeles at New York, 8:00
Fri, Sept. 11 — San Francisco at Boston, 6:00
Sat, Sept. 12 — New York at Los Angeles, 7:00
Sun, Sept. 13 — Boston at San Francisco, 3:00 (if necessary)
Mon, Sept. 14 — Los Angeles at New York, 7:00 (if necessary)
Championship
Wed, Sept. 16 — Game 1, 7:00
Thu, Sept. 17 — Game 2, 7:00
Sat, Sept. 19 — Game 3, 7:00
Sun, Sept. 20 — Game 4, 3:00 (if necessary)
Tue, Sept. 22 — Game 5, 7:00 (if necessary)
Wednesday in Springfield
The first 400 fans through the gates Wednesday get an Amanda Gianelloni bobblehead. Cubs Hall of Fame closer Lee Smith throws the ceremonial first pitch.
San Francisco was presented with a regular-season champions pennant before Sunday's finale.
Semifinal A: San Francisco vs. Boston
Kelsie Whitmore hit 11 home runs in 15 games. She batted .451 with a 1.137 slugging percentage and 32 RBIs, and she started six games on the mound. That's the best player on the best team, and she does both.
Around her: Skylar Kaplan hit .490 and did not strike out once in 58 plate appearances. Andréanne Leblanc hit .385 and handled 107 chances at first base. Jill Albayati hit .406 and has a 1.40 ERA over three appearances. Alexia Jorge, Jua Park and Samantha Gutierrez all hit .400 or better.
Boston went 4-11 and closed the season losing 13-7 to San Francisco.
The Hunters can hit at the top — Suzuka Yamamoto at .471, Alli Schroder at .412 with a 1.230 OPS, Lexi Hastings at .400 with three homers and six steals in 12 games, Ticara Geldenhuis with a .900 OPS.
The pitching is the problem. Boston used eight arms and only two finished under 4.00. Every regular had a WHIP above 1.95. Gigi Schiano threw the most innings at 26⅔ with a 4.73 ERA. Beth Greenwood catches and coaches.
Semifinal B: New York vs. Los Angeles
The league is billing this as its most even matchup. New York and Los Angeles finished tied at 8-7 and split the season series.
Eleven home runs, 38 RBIs, 25 runs and 15 stolen bases in 15 games, with a 1.752 OPS. She caught every game and handled 106 chances. She hit the first home run in league history on opening night and never slowed down.
Behind her, New York got Natsuki Yonetani at .397, Madison Willan at .458, Kylee Lahners with 12 walks in 51 plate appearances, and Claire Eccles with a 2.10 ERA in four appearances.
And Emi Saiki, who arrived from Los Angeles on Aug. 21 with Suzu Narasaki in exchange for Diana Ibarra. Saiki has gone 8-for-12 in six games since the trade and started two games on the mound with a 4.45 ERA. She hits, she pitches, and she plays short.
Los Angeles counters with Ashton Lansdell, who hit .477 with a 1.441 OPS, four home runs, eight steals and more walks than strikeouts. Jamie Mackay had five homers and 18 RBIs in 15 games. Samaria Benítez hit .426, Caitlin Eynon posted a 1.060 OPS.
The Queens' best arm has been Meggie Meidlinger — 1.83 ERA, 0.98 WHIP over 15⅓ innings. Ayami Sato, the 36-year-old Japanese ace and the league's most recognizable pitcher, has a 6.09 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 23 innings. Mo'ne Davis, who twelve years ago became the first girl to win a game and throw a shutout at the Little League World Series, hit .231 in 13 games.
The home run race ended in a tie
Whitmore and Benites finished with 11 each. Whitmore tied it in the regular season finale.
Nobody else in the league hit more than five.
What it means to the people running it
"This postseason is the culmination of decades of fighting for women to have a place of their own on the professional diamond," commissioner Justine Siegal said. "Our athletes are proving that the time for women's professional baseball is now." Siegal threw a ceremonial first pitch in Williamsport last week alongside Carsynn Meyer and Kinley Rasmus, two of the three girls who played in this year's Little League World Series
What else is happening
The league enters its first postseason with an unresolved dispute in the boardroom. Board member and investor Mina Kim filed a complaint in Delaware Chancery Court seeking corporate records, citing a $60,000 payment from the league to a company controlled by CEO Keith Stein and an undisclosed relationship between Stein and another investor. The league has called the filing vexatious and said it has participated fully.
Meanwhile fans on the league's subreddit are debating expansion drafts and whether a six-team schedule rotating through minor league parks would work better than a single neutral site.
That's where the WPBL is: a league whose supporters are planning season two before season one has finished.
Standings, schedule and statistics via the WPBL, through Sept. 7. Court filing details via the Associated Press.