The countdown is on for the start of the Women’s Pro Baseball League — and the great news is, Champaign-Urbana area fans don’t have far to drive to see it.
The four-team league will, on Aug. 1, become the first women’s professional baseball league in America since 1954. And, in its inaugural season, all games will be played at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield.
In November, the league announced that the four teams — Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston — will play all their games in Springfield because it wanted a neutral venue.
“Robin Roberts Stadium not only offers a central, strategic location with convenient access to Chicago O’Hare and St. Louis international airports, but is a first-rate venue where WPBL teams will be the only baseball played during our season,” the league said in a statement. “This will provide the kind of exclusivity that we wanted for our players.”
Robin Roberts Stadium, named for the Hall of Fame pitcher who is a Springfield native, seats 5,200 and recently underwent upgrades, including the addition of an LED video board.
Each team will play 15 regular-season games from Aug. 1-Sept. 6. The playoffs will begin Sept. 9 with best-of-three rounds followed by a best-of-five championship. Single-game tickets start at $22. There are multiple ticket packages available. Click here for ticket information.
Many people were unaware of the country’s women’s professional baseball roots until 1992, when Hollywood produced “A League of Their Own,” a fictionalized version of the rise of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that sprang up in the Midwest in 1943. It folded in 1954.
The WPBL was announced in October 2024. Tryouts took place last August among more than 600 players, including former Little League World Series star pitcher Mo’ne Davis.
The WPBL will begin following the conclusion of the Women’s Baseball World Cup in Rockford, which takes place July 22-26.
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