San Francisco Firebells, LA Queens to meet in decisive WPBL championship Game 5

The GIST: The inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) championship will come down to a winner-take-all Game 5 after the No. 1 seed San Francisco Firebells roared back with two weekend wins over the LA Queens. Another chance to see the game’s best in action? Say less.

🔥 Firebells flip the script with offensive explosion: After LA put up 18 runs in Games 1 and 2, San Francisco brought the firepower while facing elimination — the Firebells scored a whopping 27 runs in Games 3 and 4. And it was a full-team effort with the bottom of the order contributing 10 RBI yesterday.

• Now, it all comes down to tomorrow’s 7 p.m. ET Game 5, where fans should expect another high-scoring affair. Both teams are ultra familiar with each other’s pitching staffs at this point in the series, a surefire recipe for runs.

👀 What’s next for the WPBL after tumultuous Year 1?: Tomorrow’s trophy presentation marks the end of an up-and-down debut. The WPBL brought pro women’s baseball back after decades, but questions remain about the league’s finances, communication, broadcast strategy, and more.

• It’s a classic women’s sports conundrum: How do you balance the promise of opportunity with the knowledge that players, fans, and the game itself deserve more than what can realistically be offered early on?

• We’ll dive deeper on the topic in Thursday’s members-only The GIST Plus newsletter (join the community here). In the meantime, soak up every pitch and enjoy history in the making.