S.F. Firebells finish second in inaugural season of Women's Pro Baseball League
· Yahoo Sports
Kelsie Whitmore and San Francisco Giants legend Matt Williams had the San Francisco Firebells near the top of the Women's Professional Baseball League's mountain in its inaugural season.
In the best-of-five finals, the Firebells scratched back from a 2-0 series deficit to take the Los Angeles Queens to a deciding fifth game on Tuesday night at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill. The Fireballs lost the winner-take-all game 2-0 to finish second in the four-team league.
Visit h-doctor.club for more information.
San Francisco Firebells standout Kelsie Whitmore hit .415 with 11 home runs, 31 RBIs and a 1.669 OPS this year in the Women's Pro Baseball League. (Jessie Alcheh/Getty Images)Can San Francisco claim this season as its own? The Firebells wore the city's name across the chest of their purple and red uniforms but none of the four coastal cities - Los Angeles, Boston, New York and San Francisco - played a single game this year outside of Springfield.
Though all four are expected to return to their home cities in 2027, it is to be determined what venue each will call home.
Bay Area fans would have to see their home team compete on TV or online, and those who did know a competitive championship series was a fitting end for a Firebells team that came out on top of nearly every major statistical category.
With a combination of familiar stars - Whitmore and Williams, the manager - two-way players and breakout bats that became foundational parts of what turned into an offense that knew how to put on a show.
By the numbers: The Firebells swept the Boston Hunters 2-0 in the first-round series to get to the finals.
The Firebells finished as regular-season champions with a 10-5 record, two games up on L.A. and the New York Heights.
This team mashed. Heading into the playoffs, they led the league in home runs (19), OPS (1.041) and batting average (.376) while scoring an average of 9.47 runs per game. New York had the next highest rate, scoring nine runs per game.
The WPBL is a high-scoring league; Boston scored the fewest runs per game with a 5.73 average. San Francisco still operated one of the more efficient pitching staffs of the league. The Firebells' 5.96 ERA was second best to New York's (5.92) over 101 total innings.
Who stood out: Whitmore is the face of the team, the captain and No. 1 overall pick in the league's draft. She's no pro-ball newbie having played for three men's teams in the Oakland Ballers, Staten Island FerryHawks and Sonoma Stompers; her two-way mastery came into play for the Firebells.
Whitmore hit .415 with an 1.137 slugging percentage and 1.669 OPS. She had 11 home runs and 31 RBIs, six fewer than league leader Denae Benites, catcher for the New York Heights (11 home runs, 37 RBIs).
As a pitcher, Whitmore started six games and finished the regular season with a 3-1 record. She was one of five pitchers to log at least 20 innings and recorded a 5.25 ERA with 15 strikeouts, 13 walks and four home runs allowed in 24 innings.
San Francisco's big offense has depth. Outfielder Skyler Kaplan batted .490 with seven walks and a .552 on-base percentage. Jua Park added 13 RBIs with a .400 average.
Jill Albayati chipped in on both sides of the ball, hitting .406 with seven RBIs while keeping a 1.40 ERA. She pitched in three games, starting two, and struck out 10 with three walks over 10 innings.
The woman to step up in the spotlight: Joely Leguizamon was a postseason hero and player of the game in back-to-back championship series wins, going 4-for-4 in Game 4.
Key moment: The team's signature effort came in an August game against New York.
Down 9-4 entering the seventh and final inning, San Francisco loaded the bases to set up Samantha Gutierrez's two-run double and Leguizamon's RBI single. Then, with the bases loaded, Andreanne Leblanc hit a two-out, two-strike grand slam. It was her first home run and the league's first walk-off.
Subscribe
There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at S.F. Firebells finish second in inaugural season of Women's Pro Baseball League.