Women's Professional Baseball League makes a rainy debut in front of enthusiastic crowd

Sarah Hodel and Rachel Koehler arrived at Robin Roberts Stadium more than four hours before the first game of the Women's Professional Baseball League. 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 on Saturday night, when Mo'ne Davis and the Los Angeles Queens rallied for a 10-8 victory over Denae Benites and the New York Heights in a rainy debut for the first women's professional baseball league in the United States in almost 30 years.

"Growing up I played softball," said Koehler, 33, of St. Paul, Minnesota. "I wanted to play baseball because going professional was always like the dream, but there (were) no opportunities. ... So now that that's actually an opportunity and something that girls can look up to I think is amazing."

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Maggie Foxx picked up the league's first hit on a two-run single for Los Angeles in the first inning. Benites connected for the WPBL's first homer, a solo drive to center in the bottom of the fourth.

The Queens trailed 8-4 before scoring two runs in the sixth and four more in wet and windy conditions for the final frame of the seven-inning contest.

"When I walked on the field I started crying because of how much this moment meant, and how much it meant to everybody," Foxx said. "It means everything to us."

A steady rain fell for much of the day, soaking the