Kelsie Whitmore, who has played baseball since she was old enough to hold a bat, was the only female player in the men’s professional baseball in 2022, making history as the first woman to play in the Atlantic League. Spending the season with the Staten Island FerryHawks, the reliever/outfielder joined Shohei Ohtani as the only two-way players in professional baseball in 2022. The Temecula, California native who also plays for the USA Baseball National team, is most at home on a diamond. “If I am out on that field, whether it’s on the mound, in the box, or on the outfield, I’m grateful I am being given the opportunity to play the game I love.”

"Growing up I was always a two-way player. I would pitch, play the outfield, hit for myself. I feel like the credit goes to my coaches growing up. Some were very supportive of me to train to be versatile – to be able to play in the outfield, to pitch — credit goes to the people who didn’t shut me down to be able to do those things and not tell me I had to be one specific type of player."

— Kelsie Whitmore