Joely Leguizamon:Making History in Professional Baseball
Nominated by Community
A Jacksonville University alumna and Dominican Republic national team player, Leguizamon became the first Dominican player signed by the Women's Professional Baseball League. Now, she's representing her country on a professional stage while helping redefine who gets to see themselves in baseball.
For Joely Leguizamon, baseball has never been just a sport. It has been a part of her life since childhood, a path that eventually took her from Jacksonville to the international stage and now into professional baseball.
Leguizamon grew up immersed in the game and learned early how difficult it could be for women to find space in baseball. Rather than letting those barriers define her career, she continued finding ways to compete. Her journey eventually included a transition into softball, where she played at Florida State College at Jacksonville and later Jacksonville University. At FSCJ, she posted a .377 career batting average and earned both Most Inspiring and Most Valuable Player honors.
Leguizamon represented the Dominican Republic Women's National Baseball Team at the 2018 Women's Baseball World Cup and the 2019 Pan American Games, carrying her country onto an international stage. That experience eventually led her back to baseball at the professional level.
In the inaugural Women's Professional Baseball League draft, the San Francisco Firebells selected Leguizamon ninth overall in the first round. She became the league's first signed Dominican player, joining San Francisco as a shortstop.
Her arrival carries significance beyond the draft selection. As a Dominican woman playing professional baseball in the United States, Leguizamon is entering a sport deeply woven into Dominican culture while simultaneously breaking into a professional space where women have historically had far fewer opportunities. Her story reflects both sides of that experience: representing a baseball-loving country while helping create a future where more Dominican girls can imagine themselves playing the game professionally.
And now, that future is no longer hypothetical. Leguizamon is taking the field for the San Francisco Firebells in the WPBL's inaugural season, becoming part of a league that is giving women a professional baseball platform while creating new possibilities for the generations coming behind them.
"Para los hombres, al inicio, siempre es una experiencia nueva jugar con una mujer, pero ya a los 12 años yo tenía cinco o seis años siendo la única. Los retos se volvieron parte de mi normalidad."
Translation: "For men, playing with a woman is always a new experience at first, but by the time I was 12, I had already spent five or six years being the only one. Challenges became my normal."
PLAYER CARD
- Heritage / Representation: Dominican Republic
- Sport: Baseball
- Position: Shortstop
- College: Jacksonville University
- National Team: Dominican Republic Women's National Baseball Team
- International Experience: 2018 Women's Baseball World Cup; 2019 Pan American Games
- Professional Team: San Francisco Firebells
- Drafted: 9th overall, Round 1, inaugural WPBL Draft
- Historic Milestone: First Dominican player signed by the Women's Professional Baseball League
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Joely Leguizamon's story is about more than becoming a professional baseball player. It's about being able to return to a sport that did not always have a clear professional path for women and finally finding that path waiting for her.
Her journey from youth baseball to softball, from representing the Dominican Republic internationally to being selected in the first round of a professional league, reflects how much women's baseball has changed, and how much further it can go. For Dominican girls who grow up surrounded by a culture where baseball is everywhere, Leguizamon offers something that previous generations rarely had: a professional woman to point to and say, "I can do that."
And for the WPBL, her presence means the league's story isn't only about creating professional opportunities for women. It's also about expanding who gets represented within professional baseball.
