The Women’s Professional Baseball League has begun its inaugural season, marking the return of a professional women’s baseball league in the United States after more than 70 years. Its debut matters because it gives women a dedicated professional pathway in baseball, a sport in which opportunities have long been more limited than in softball.

The four inaugural teams are the New York Heights, Boston Hunters, Los Angeles Queens and San Francisco Firebells. Each team plays 15 regular-season games, with the season and play-offs held at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois; the league has also secured coverage through ESPN and the Scripps Sports Network.