06 October 2026
Lessons from the WPBL: Four Australian women lead the way in professional competition
For most of their lives, playing professional baseball was never an option for Australia’s best female baseballers. In 2026, that changed.
Ticara Geldenhuis, Claire O’Sullivan, Caitlin Eynon and Molly Paddison can now say something no other Australians can.
They were the first Australians to play in the Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL).
The four Aussies were drafted and signed for the inaugural season, which took place across August and September in Springfield, Illinois. Games were broadcast nationally in the United States on ESPN, bringing women’s professional baseball to a major television audience.
Each Australian arrived at the WPBL at a very different point in her baseball journey.
Paddison was 18 and only months removed from graduating high school. Eynon was Australia’s national team captain and became an inaugural WPBL champion. Geldenhuis described the season as one of the biggest periods of growth she has experienced as an athlete. At 31, O’Sullivan finally had the chance to experience something she never thought would exist during her playing career.
Their experiences were different, so let’s get into them! Here is how Australia’s first four WPBL players performed and what they took away from a historic first season.
CAITLIN EYNON | LA QUEENS
Our first champion learns from different cultures
At 23 years old, Australian national team captain Caitlin Eynon has another nice accolade to her name: Australia’s first WPBL champion.
Eynon kept progressing as the season rolled on for the LA Queens, eventually helping them capture the inaugural championship.
Her final regular season stat line: 12 games, a .368 average, one home run, 10 RBI and six doubles.
She ended the regular season on an eight-game hitting streak, going 11-for-24 down the stretch.
That carried into the playoffs, where she hit .440 across eight games on the way to the championship. That included a three-hit performance in the Championship Series, where she doubled and later put LA ahead with a sacrifice fly.
“This is probably the most fun I’ve had playing baseball in a really long time,” she told The IX Sports.
For Eynon, however, some of the biggest value came from the knowledge she gained by playing alongside people from around the world.
She loved learning about the different cultural styles of playing the game.
“We’ve got players from Mexico, from Japan, from Korea, like just being able to play with all these players from all around the world, you just learn different styles of baseball, and it’s good to have so much knowledge that you can just absorb, and then you choose what you wanna play with after that,” she said in the IX article.
Eynon returns to Australia where she is expected to play for Western Australia again at the 2027 Women’s Nationals. She captained Australia at the 2026 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Qualifiers and will hope to suit up again for the Finals. A WPBL return could also be on the cards.
Her fascination with learning from other baseball cultures extends beyond the WPBL. Eynon told This Is Women’s Baseball that her previous stint in Japan had already opened her eyes to different approaches.
“It’s cool to gain exposure to different training drills and exercises, learning new tools and learning the ways that other countries build athleticism and strength,” Eynon said. “This was something that was very evident in Japan. They train to move in a very different way than what we do in Australia. It’s also very interesting to learn what data and technology is used around the world to analyze different skillsets.”
After a season alongside players from across the baseball world, Eynon returns home with a championship and plenty of new ideas.
TICARA GELDENHUIS | BOSTON HUNTERS
A transformative experience
Ticara Geldenhuis, like the other three Aussies, went almost directly from Australia’s World Cup Qualifiers campaign to the WPBL.
Her parents even flew over to watch her play. Why would they miss it?
Geldenhuis has been playing baseball since she learned how to properly walk. At 25, she finally had the opportunity to call herself a professional baseball player.
She didn’t take it for granted.
“This is a dream I never thought I’d get to live out so to be sitting here reminiscing on this season is truly a fever dream,” she posted on Instagram.
The New South Wales outfielder hit .250 in 15 games, slugging two home runs with eight RBI.
Her Boston Hunters were eliminated in two games by the San Francisco Fireballs, but Geldenhuis finished strongly, going 4-for-6 across the two playoff games.
The numbers only tell part of her story.
When asked to reflect on what the WPBL experience had given her, Geldenhuis described one of the most transformative periods of her baseball career.
It’s probably best if we let Ticara take this one away…
“From my perspective, the WPBL was one of the biggest periods of growth I’ve experienced as an athlete. I went into the season knowing I was going to be challenged, but I don’t think I fully understood how much I would learn about myself and what it means to perform at a professional level.
One of the biggest things I learned was the importance of having a “goldfish memory.” You have to be able to let go of what happened yesterday, whether it was a great game or a difficult one, and come back the next day ready to learn, compete and get better. There were so many highs and lows throughout the season, and I learned to take something from every day without allowing one performance to define the next. I really learned what it means to show up day in and day out.
The culture within the WPBL was also something really special. It was one of the most supportive and powerfully positive environments I’ve experienced in baseball. Being surrounded by athletes and coaches who genuinely wanted to see each other succeed gave me the confidence to step outside of my comfort zone. I felt like I had the freedom to take risks, make mistakes, try things differently and really push the boundaries of my game. That gave me the courage to take some leaps as an athlete that I might not have been comfortable taking before.
I also learned what it means to compete with some of the best athletes in the world. The level of competitiveness was different to anything I had experienced before. Every day you were competing against players who are incredibly talented, athletic and driven, and there was no opportunity to switch off. It forced me to raise my standards and really understand what professional-level consistency looks like. I was also lucky enough to learn from some of the amazing athletes on my team, not just skill wise but who have been around the game at the highest level for many years.
I definitely feel like I got better as the season went on, but I think my biggest growth was in the way I approached the game. I became more adaptable, more confident and more willing to challenge myself. I learned to trust my preparation, embrace discomfort and keep moving forward regardless of what happened the day before.
I’m really excited to bring that back to Australia — not just the technical things I’ve learned, but the mindset, the standards and the culture. I want to share that experience with the next generation of Australian female baseballers and hopefully help them believe that they can take those same leaps too.”
MOLLY PADDISON | BOSTON HUNTERS
Learning how to be a pro
Molly Paddison was just 18 years old throughout the inaugural season, making her one of the youngest players in the competition.
For someone who only graduated high school in November, it has been quite a year.
Paddison represented Queensland at the Australian Women’s Championships, earned her first roster spot with the Emeralds, played in her first WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup event and then became a professional baseball player in the inaugural WPBL season.
Paddison finished the season 13-for-51 (.255) with three RBI and a stolen base.
For the teenager, the professional environment taught her how much the small details matter.
“I had a bigger purpose behind everything I did, whether that was getting enough sleep the night before a game or focusing on the little skills I was learning at practice,” she said. “It made me realise how important everything you do, both on and off the field, can be when it comes to your performance.”
She also began to understand what she needs from herself.
“I learnt more about what I personally need to do to perform at my best, while also learning how different players approach and play the game,” she said. “I feel like my defence improved, especially in the outfield, where I picked up a lot of little tips and tricks that I can bring back to Australia.”
At 18, Paddison has already experienced something generations of Australian women’s baseball players before her never had the opportunity to experience.
The good thing is now she knows a little more about what being a professional actually requires.
CLAIRE O’SULLIVAN | NEW YORK HEIGHTS
Gratitude, growth and living a baseball life
Claire O’Sullivan became one of the WPBL’s genuine two-way threats.
On the mound, she posted a 3.06 ERA across 16 innings and six appearances. At the plate, she hit .407 with a home run and eight RBI in 13 games.
Yet her reflections on the season have focused less on those numbers and more on gratitude.
“What a ride. An experience I never thought I’d get in my lifetime, and one that makes me so thankful through everything, that younger me didn’t give up,” she wrote on Instagram after the season.
For O’Sullivan, 31, those words carry some weight.
When she was growing up, becoming a professional baseball player wasn’t something she could realistically aspire to. She explained that perspective in a must-read interview with Channel Nine during the season.
“It was never even a thought that crossed my mind when I was a kid. Baseball was always going to be second-choice purely because I couldn’t make money from it,” she said. “But I’ve dropped everything so that I could come do this because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me.”
O’Sullivan certainly made the most of that opportunity. Her experience also gave her ideas about where the WPBL could go next.
“Getting around to all the different areas of America would be great for the sport. At the moment we are in the one location for the whole season which limits the number of people who are able to see our games,” she said.
For an even deeper insight into O’Sullivan’s experience, she joined Amy McCann on Women’s Baseball: The Inside Pitch after the season. It’s probably best you go there and listen.
O’Sullivan spoke about the demanding transition to professional baseball after moving from club baseball in Japan into the WPBL. Her journey to the league included flight cancellations and visa delays before she finally arrived in the United States and pitched four innings on the same day.
It was quite an introduction to professional baseball, as the game continued to bring her lessons.
“I learned how to [better] mentally re-set,” O’Sullivan told WBIP. “It’s really important to have a process of how you mentally reset. Something that helps me is no matter what happens I always get to eat dinner that day. I come home, I eat, I get my recovery and wake up the next day with a fresh perspective.”
O’Sullivan details her weekly schedule, including eating, practicing, playing and how to embrace just being a full time player.
Congratulations on becoming a pro, Claire – and leading the
