The 18 Girls Who Have Made Little League Baseball® World Series History
In 1974, the Little League® Federal Charter was amended; allowing girls to play Little League Baseball® and the Little League Softball® program was created. That same year, tennis legend Billie Jean King established the Women’s Sport Foundation. In 1987, the foundation launched National Girls and Women in Sports Day, to celebrate the accomplishments of all female athletes, including the millions of women from around the world who are Little League graduates.
Of those millions, there are only 18 that have played in the Little League Baseball World Series. In 2014, as Little League celebrated its 75th Anniversary and the 40th Anniversary of girls in Little League, two girls helped celebrate those milestones, helping their teams advance to the 68th Little League Baseball World Series.
Mo’ne Davis on the Mid-Atlantic Region team and Emma March on the Canada Region team, were the 17th and 18th girls to play in the series.
Ms. Davis made headlines around the world. Her performance on the mound for the Taney Youth Baseball Association Little League from Philadelphia helped the Mid-Atlantic Region Champions advance deep in the tournament. For the entire series, she threw 14 strikeouts and only allowed three earned runs in 8 1/3 innings pitched. Since competing with her team at the Little League Baseball World Series, she has returned back to Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, where she is on the honor roll and, as an eighth-grader, she’s playing varsity girls basketball.
Ms. March also had a solid Little League Baseball World Series performance for the South Vancouver Little League team from British Columbia. Pitching and playing first base, she registered a fielding percentage of .917, with 11 putouts. Now in seventh grade Corpus Christi Elementary in Vancouver, the straight-A student is playing volleyball, soccer, and softball, with baseball and potentially football on the horizon.
“I believe every girl should have the opportunity to play sports and enjoy it,” said Ms. March. “Sports are not something you should be afraid of. It should be something that excites you. You should never be afraid to fail, nor should you care what the boys think.”