Mexican Players Benítez, Ibarra and Hernández Help the LA Queens Make Women’s Baseball History
By Drafted Team
The first champions of the Women’s Pro Baseball League include three women from Mexico. Samaria Benítez of Nayarit and Diana Ibarra and Luisa Hernández of Jalisco were part of the Los Angeles Queens roster that defeated the San Francisco Firebells in a deciding fifth game to claim the league’s inaugural title.
The Queens defeated the San Francisco Firebells 2–0 in the deciding fifth game on September 22, winning the championship series 3–2. After Los Angeles took the first two games, San Francisco won the next two and forced a winner take all finish.
Benítez, an infielder from Nayarit, and Ibarra, an outfielder from Tepatitlán, joined Los Angeles as signed players. Hernández, a first baseman from Lagos de Moreno, was drafted by the Queens. Their places on the championship roster connect this new chapter of professional baseball in the United States to the Mexican players building careers in the sport.
In the final, Japanese pitcher Ayami Sato threw a complete game shutout, while the Queens found the two runs they needed to secure the league’s first crown. Benítez, Ibarra and Hernández were part of the team that reached that moment together.
Every league’s history begins with a first champion. For the Women’s Pro Baseball League, that team is the Los Angeles Queens. And the names of three women from Nayarit and Jalisco are part of its first chapter.
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