Stompers will start two women players

In an effort to promote the recruitment, development and advancement of women in baseball, Francis Ford Coppola’s Virginia Dare Winery in association with the Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club has been actively searching for the best women baseball players in the United States to join the team.

The search has resulted in two women joining the Stompers. Outfielder/pitcher Kelsie Whitmore. 17, from Temecula and 25-year-old pitcher/infielder Stacy Piagno from St. Augustine, Fla., have been recruited, and will play with the Stompers beginning on Friday when Sonoma hosts the San Rafael Pacifics. The two female players will be in the Stompers starting lineup Friday.

The Stompers, who are part of the independent Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, will be the first co-ed professional baseball team since the 1950s when Toni Stone, Mamie “Peanut” Johnson and Constance Morgan achieved the distinction of becoming the first women to play alongside men in the Negro Leagues.

In September, Whitmore and Piagno are also slated to play for Team USA in the Women’s Baseball World Cup in South Korea. Whitmore, who recently graduated from Temecula Valley High School, will attend Cal State Fullerton on a softball scholarship next season. Piagno, who threw a no-hitter for the United States team when it captured a gold medal at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, Canada, played softball at the University of Tampa.

The Friday game from Peoples Home Equity Ballpark at Arnold Field in Sonoma will be available via a live streaming broadcast on BAOSN.TV (Bay Area Online Sports Network). The broadcast will begin at 5:45 p.m. with a special pre-game show prior to the 6 p.m. first pitch.