Korea's women baseball players are making rare gains abroad even as the sport lacks a real development pathway at home. The article says there are no girls-only baseball teams in Korean elementary, middle or high schools, and only 11 of 11,155 elite youth baseball players registered with the KBSA in 2025 were female. Experts and coaches say opening national competitions and building regional clubs could help create school teams and, eventually, a professional pipeline.
Kim Ra-kyung pitches for the New York Heights against the Los Angeles Queens during the opening game of the 2026 Women’s Pro Baseball League at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill., Aug. 1. AFP-Yonhap
The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) opened its season at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, on Aug. 1 with a game between the New York Heights and Los Angeles Queens.
The matchup carried historic significance as the first game of the WPBL, revived after 72 years.
At the top of the first inning, a short-haired pitcher in the Heights’ pinstriped uniform confidently took the mound. It was Kim Ra-kyung, 26, who made history as the first female player to hit a home run in the Korean Little League baseball and, in the same year, became the youngest player ever selected for Korea’s women’s national baseball team at age 15.
