CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kelsie Whitmore pinch-ran for the Staten Island FerryHawks in their season opener Thursday night, becoming one of the first women to play in a league connected to Major League Baseball.
The 23-year-old Whitmore entered at first base for catcher Norberto Susini with two outs in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Charleston Dirty Birds. She was left stranded at second base.
A former college softball player at Cal-State Fullerton, Whitmore signed with Staten Island this month, one of several notable moments for women in baseball this season.
Last week, San Francisco Giants coach Alyssa Nakken filled in as first base coach, becoming the first woman to coach on the field for a big league game. A few days before that, Rachel Balkovec won her debut managing the Low-A Tampa Tarpons in the New York Yankees’ system, becoming the first woman to skipper a team affiliated with a major league club.
Whitmore pitched and played in the outfield for the U.S. women’s baseball team from 2014-19 and spent parts of two seasons with the Sonoma Stompers of the independent Pacific Association.
Credit: Source link
