First Female Pro Baseball Starting Pitcher in 72 Years Realizes Long-Awaited Dream

[Anchor]

Today, a women's professional baseball league has returned in the United States for the first time in 72 years. Kim Ra-kyung, a leading figure in South Korean women's baseball, took the mound as the starting pitcher in that historic game. Although she pitched well without earning a win, Kim expressed deep emotion over fulfilling her dream of turning professional.

Reporter Lee Seonghun has the story.

[Reporter]

The 1992 film A League of Their Own, starring pop star Madonna, tells the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which faded into history in 1954.

72 years later, women's professional baseball has been resurrected.

In the opening game of the WPBL, a women's professional baseball league starting with four teams, the starting pitcher for the New York team was—

[New York Heights starting pitcher, number 29, Kim Ra-kyung!]

It was Kim Ra-kyung, who has served as a standard-bearer for South Korean women's baseball since her middle school days in 2015.

[Kim Ra-kyung / New York Heights Pitcher: I threw a bullpen session on Tuesday so the manager could check on the pitchers, and I guess he thought my pitching was really impressive. He announced in front of the team, "Ra-kyung is starting," and I think I received a round of applause.]

Facing Los Angeles leadoff hitter Mo'ne Davis—who became a global sensation in 2014 as the first female pitcher to win a game in the Little League World Series—Kim threw the historical first pitch of the WPBL for a swinging strike. She also etched her name in history by inducing a swinging strikeout with a powerful fastball on a full count with one out and runners on first and second.

Armed with a fastball and a sharp-breaking curveball, Kim lasted through four innings, racking up four strikeouts while allowing four runs on two hits. She was replaced in the fifth inning with her team leading 8-4, putting her in line for the win, but the team gave up four runs in the final seventh inning to allow a comeback, narrowly missing out on her first victory.

However, for Kim—who underwent elbow surgery during her college years out of her love for baseball and chose to play corporate baseball in Japan instead of regular employment—today was the greatest day of her life.

[Kim Ra-kyung / New York Heights Pitcher: It feels like all the loneliness, pain, and sorrow I felt while playing baseball have been completely washed away. I think this is the first time I've felt rewarded like this, and since I shouldn't be the only one feeling this way, I need to prove myself in a way that befits being a professional.]

(Video Editing: Ha Sung-won, Video Source: YouTube 'WPBL')
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.