With the stroke of a pen, 23-year-old Kelsie Whitmore helped to break a baseball glass ceiling as one of the first women to sign a professional baseball contract with a team affiliated with Major League Baseball.

Whitmore will pitch for the Staten Island FerryHawks and be a utility player.

"It feels like there's a little bit of pressure just to be, I don't know, kind of be one of the females to be a part of this league," Whitmore said. "But rather than just looking at it as pressure, it's just something I want to embrace. And I want to, you know, be someone that young girls can look up to and just be someone that not just younger girls, but even other teammates, other guys that I'm playing with or against can like, look up to me with like, the knowledge that we can share, you know, the grind of it together and to just be able to compete."

What You Need To Know

  • Whitmore is one of the first women to sign a professional baseball contract with a Major League Baseball affiliation

  • Whitmore will pitch for the Staten Island FerryHawks and be a utility player

  • Whitmore grew up in California and started playing baseball at 6 years old

Whitmore grew up in California and started playing baseball at 6 years old. She said baseball is her life.

“Honestly, when I think of baseball, I think of the grind, I think of the, you know, the day in, day out, the work you put in perfecting your craft," Whitmore said. "You wake up in the morning, it's the first thing you think of, and the last thing you think of when you go to sleep."

She played with Team USA National Women's Baseball Team and spent time with the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball. General manager Gary Perone said it's a great moment for women in sports but also a great moment for the team.

“Kelsie is a player and she’s good and I’m looking forward to seeing her on the field and competing for a roster spot," Perone said. "She’s a baseball lifer and I see her being in this game for a very long time."

Whitmore said she’s looking forward to learning from her colleagues and team management.

Earlier this year, the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes picked a first woman in a pro baseball draft. She and Whitmore are now expected to become the first two woman to play in the Atlantic League.

Whitmore said she hopes her time with the FerryHawks inspires others to follow their passion.

“I hope it it just, it helps me and is able to grow as a person or player and teammate. And I hope it just inspires people to kind of just keep getting after it and that anything is possible," Whitmore said.  

Spring training begins Monday.