Leagues of their own

After the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League—made famous by the 1992 movie A League of Their Own—folded in the mid-1950s, opportunities for women to play baseball or softball professionally became scarce and fleeting. But that could quickly change, depending on the growth and success of two new leagues.

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), whose two-month season begins in June, launched last year with four teams: Carolina Blaze, Chicago Bandits, Texas Volts, and Utah Talons. The AUSL has since added two teams, the Oklahoma City Spark and the Portland Cascade.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) will begin its inaugural season Aug. 1 and play through mid-September. The WPBL has four currently unnamed teams affiliated with four cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

While AUSL teams will play in or near the cities, states, or regions whose names they bear, all four WPBL teams will share one venue: Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill. However, the AUSL has partnered with the Women’s Sports Bar Alliance, which boasts 16 establishments nationwide—12 in non-AUSL markets—where fans can catch the action on ESPN, the MLB Network, or other sports networks. An undisclosed ­network will show WPBL games.

The WPBL has more known star power: pitchers Kelsie Whitmore, who competed with the Staten Island (N.Y.) Ferryhawks of the independent Atlantic League in 2022, and Mo’ne Davis, a Philadelphian who in 2014 became the first girl to win a game—and throw a shutout—at the Little League World Series. Whitmore and Davis will suit up for San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively.

Softball streak

No team in college softball has had a longer winning streak this season than Grand Canyon University. The Phoenix-based Christian school won 30 consecutive games to start the season before falling on March 17 to Oklahoma State.

GCU’s streak wasn’t quite half of the longest in NCAA history: Oklahoma won 71 consecutive games from 2023 to 2024 under Christian coach Patty Gasso.

The University of Arizona is the only school besides Oklahoma with more than 40 straight victories, having 47 in a row from 1996 to 1997. Seven universities—Florida, Oregon, South Carolina, UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, Princeton, and Canisius—own streaks of 35 or more.

GCU could become the next Christian university to play the role of giant-slayer in the NCAA Division I postseason, which begins mid-May: Last season, Virginia-based Liberty University—coached by two-time Olympic gold medalist Dot Richardson—stunned top-ranked Texas A&M in the regional round before falling to Oregon in the Super Regionals.