SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Fans Sarah Hodel and Rachel Koehler arrived at Robin Roberts Stadium more than four hours before the first official game in Women’s Pro Baseball League history.
Once inside, Hodel stopped periodically for pictures as she walked along the concourse.
She wanted to savor every moment.
“Back in high school, I was on my speech team, and my informative speech was on women in baseball,” said Hodel, a 43-year-old athletic trainer from Duluth, Minnesota. “So as soon as I saw this happening a couple years ago, it was my goal to come.”
That moment finally arrived Saturday night, when the Los Angeles Queens rallied for a 10-8 victory over the New York Heights in a rainy debut for the first women’s professional baseball league in the United States in almost 30 years.