A Women's Professional Baseball League exhibition game. [AFP]
A Women's Professional Baseball League exhibition game. [AFP]

Kim Ra-kyung, South Korea's top women's baseball pitcher, will take the mound as the starting pitcher in the historic first game of the Women's Professional Baseball League, which is returning to the United States for the first time in 72 years.

Kim will start for the New York Heights against the Los Angeles Queens in the 2026 WPBL season opener at Robin Roberts Stadium in Illinois on Sunday at 7 a.m. Korean Standard Time.

The WPBL is the first American women's professional baseball league since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which ran from 1943 to 1954. Four teams compete in the league: the New York Heights, the Los Angeles Queens, the San Francisco Firebelles and the Boston Hunters.

Each club drafted a total of 120 players last year. Among the Korean players selected were Kim Ra-kyung, catcher Kim Hyeon-a (Boston), infielder Park Ju-a (San Francisco) and Park Min-seo (New York). Of those, Kim Ra-kyung, Kim Hyeon-a and Park Ju-a have signed with their respective teams and are set to play in the WPBL's inaugural season.

Kim has represented South Korea's women's national baseball team since her middle school days. She studied physical education at Seoul National University while continuing to compete, and persevered through a lengthy rehabilitation after undergoing elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in 2022.

Seeking new challenges beyond the limitations of the domestic women's baseball scene, Kim played in Japan's industrial league before setting her sights on the United States when the WPBL launched.

All WPBL games are held at Robin Roberts Stadium, which seats 5,200. Each team plays a 15-game regular season under seven-inning rules before a postseason determines the champion.

Kim Hyeon-a's Boston team and Park Ju-a's San Francisco team also open their seasons Sunday at the same venue.


eyre@heraldcorp.com