Kelsie Whitmore went first overall in the WPBL's inaugural draft, with Mo'ne Davis taken tenth — two of the faces of the league's very first class, and two very different Year One stories as the regular season heads into its final two weeks.
Kelsie Whitmore: living up to the No. 1 pick
Whitmore has been exactly what San Francisco hoped for when they made her the first-ever pick in league history. She's tied for the WPBL lead in home runs (8), sits inside the top five in batting average (.500), and ranks second in the league in RBIs (21) — the offensive engine behind the Firebells' league-best record. If the WPBL crowns an inaugural MVP, Whitmore has to be in that conversation.
Mo'ne Davis: a limited but real role
Davis's path has looked different. The No. 10 pick — famous long before the WPBL existed as the first girl to pitch a shutout and earn a win in Little League World Series history — has appeared in 10 games for Los Angeles this season, playing center field. She's hitting .241 (7-for-29) with a double, 3 RBIs, and 4 walks, and has handled the outfield cleanly outside of a single error. It's a part-time role rather than an everyday one so far, but Davis — who holds degrees from both Hampton University and Columbia University — is also one of three players from her Little League team to reach professional baseball, alongside Scott Bandura and Jared Sprague-Lott. Simply being on a professional roster in the sport's newest league is itself a headline for her first year.
What it means for Year Two
Between a franchise cornerstone already producing like a star and a symbol of the sport's growth finding her footing in a part-time role, the WPBL's first draft class is already showing what the league's talent pipeline can look like: proven stars anchoring rosters immediately, and pathways for players making the jump from other sports and levels. Both stories are worth following as the Firebells and Queens play out the stretch run together in the league's tightening playoff race.
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