Baseball NSW congratulates Ticara Geldenhuis, Claire O’Sullivan, Elodie O’Sullivan and Maddi Erwin for their selections in the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) Draft.
This draft populated four teams representing four major cities in the USA – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York – ahead of the league’s first season, planned to start on the 1st August 2026 at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois.
Ticara Geldenhuis became the first Australian selected in the draft, going in Round 2 as Pick 9 to Boston.
Geldenhuis, who has represented NSW across multiple levels and plays for the Blacktown Workers in the NSW Women’s Baseball League competition, said this selection “means absolutely everything” and “having this opportunity in front of me is such a surreal feeling… and it fills my heart with so much joy knowing that the next generation of girls get to grow up fully, wholeheartedly believing that this is a real possibility for them.”
Following her was Claire O’Sullivan, selected in the third round as the 14th pick, by New York. The right hand pitcher is not only a threat on the mound but offers so much at the plate, making her two way skills an asset to the New York roster.
In her testimony, Claire states this chance “is a great opportunity for me to play baseball internationally at the highest level” and held the hope that this league will give “young girls in Australia something to aspire to in the future & helps to grow baseball in Australia, and around the world”.
Her sister Elodie, meanwhile, was chosen two rounds later as the 7th pick by the Los Angeles team. A big day making history for the O’Sullivan family.
Finally, Maddison Erwin, who is an ACT native but represents NSW at the Australian Women’s Championship and competes in the NSWWBL alongside teammate Ticara Geldenhuis for the Blacktown Workers, was selected as Pick 2 in Round 4 of the draft.
She is headed to New York joining Claire O’Sullivan. Maddi commented that “this league allows us to leave baseball bigger than we found it, and it puts us on a whole new platform to grow the sport”.
Notably all nine Australian women who were in the pool, were selected across all rounds of the draft this year.
The WPBL Draft was a snake-style draft, with San Francisco holding the first overall pick, which they used on American Kelsie Whitmore. In all, the draft comprised six rounds, each team picking five players per round.
Besides the Australians, the Draft also saw selections representing various countries, including the powerhouses USA, Japan, and South Korea, as well as the Dominican Republic.
These players were a select few in a pool of 150 players pulled from over 600 baseballers from across the world who attended the draft tryouts last August.
BNSW congratulates Ticara, Claire, Elodie and Maddi for taking the next step in their baseball journey and for leading the charge for women’s pro baseball!
