This weekend, a small pocket of Durham, North Carolina, will become one of the most powerful places in baseball.
Not because of a playoff chase or a sold-out crowd, but because of the people stepping onto the field: the pioneers who broke barriers in the 1940s, and the young women carrying the game forward in 2025.
The All-American Women’s Baseball Classic powered by USA Baseball, beginning August 1, is more than just an event. It’s a celebration of history, progress, and the vibrant future of women’s baseball. Some of the best female baseball players in the country will take the field, but they won’t be doing it alone. Watching from the stands will be members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), the women who helped build the very foundation today’s game stands on.
“I never dreamed that it would be like this,” said Dolly Vanderlip, who pitched for the South Bend Blue Sox in the AAGPBL’s final season in 1954. “And people say, thank you for what you did. And I thought, well, I don't know what I did because we were just playing... we didn’t know we were building that.”
But they were. The AAGPBL’s legacy lives on, not just in memories and the Hall of Fame, but in the confidence, drive, and ambition of today’s players.
“We try to show up for everything that we can, and try to get the girls excited about playing baseball and just being athletic and doing what they love to do,” Vanderlip added. “Do what you love. Work hard. Do it well. And don’t give up.”
Now, decades later, that message has clearly landed.
“I think just being a part of history – not the first, but part of that first wave of women who are able to play baseball, it’s incredible,” said Jamie Baum, a three-time Women’s National Team alum. “And being able to share that experience with so many other amazing women? It just shows that there is a way forward.”
From collegiate ball to local leagues, and from international play to high school fields, girls’ baseball is no longer a novelty. This weekend’s Classic reflects the sport’s steady growth, and signals where it’s headed next.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun to coach girls and women in baseball,” said Kristen Caldwell, who is leading the South Bend Blue Sox at the Classic. Caldwell, a former national team player herself, knows firsthand how events like these can shift culture.
“If you're like, oh man, these girls are good, that can change perceptions right there. When the level of play is high, it earns real respect, and I expect to see a lot of talent here.”
The athletes competing in Durham are not just chasing a victory – they’re continuing a story that began long before them. They’ve already inspired a generation of younger girls, and they’re not slowing down.
“I think my place is showing that you can be an athlete and also have a really strong career,” Baum said. “I’m a structural engineer right now, and still playing baseball. You’re not giving anything up. You can do both.”
This weekend is proof.
The game is in good hands. And more than that, it’s growing. Women’s baseball is no longer a thing of the past. It’s a living, thriving part of the sport’s future. And for every player walking onto the field in Durham – whether they’re 90 years old or 19 – that shared love of the game is what makes this moment so powerful.
Because honoring the past isn’t about looking back, it’s about carrying the game forward.
And this weekend, that future will be on full display.
