Saskatchewan’s Birdsall, Ziebart making history in Women’s Pro Baseball League

Throughout her childhood, Saskatoon’s Braidy Birdsall made a name for herself as one of the most promising young karate athletes coming out of Saskatchewan, winning medals and trophies at every level.

After over a decade of championship performances, though, she needed a new challenge which came on the diamond with the Saskatoon Royals baseball team.

“I actually did martial arts for 13 years and trained nationally and internationally for that,” said Birdsall. “I kind of felt my career there was done, so I turned to baseball.”

It’s a decision which has paid off significantly for the 19-year-old, who on Nov. 20 saw her professional baseball dreams come true as the 85th pick in the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League Draft.

It was a moment she shared with her family hundreds of kilometres away from a Sudbury, Ont., dorm room.

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“My family, we FaceTimed to watch,” said Birdsall. “I was overall really nervous, after the first two or three rounds I was like, ‘OK, there’s a shot here.’ I was getting nervous, my mom was especially nervous for me. When I saw my name, I just was super pumped.

“I was like, ‘This is it, this is the start of something new.'”

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Birdsall, an infielder with Team Saskatchewan and named one of Canada’s top-40 female players, was nabbed by the WPBL’s Boston franchise in the fifth round of the draft which marked an important milestone for the upstart professional league south of the border.

With the very next pick at 86th overall, Birdsall’s provincial teammate Addie Ziebart continued a historic night for Saskatchewan baseball as she was selected herself by the league’s New York franchise.

“I didn’t have any expectations coming into it,” said Ziebart on the draft. “Just sitting there with my family, as soon as we saw [the name] come on the screen we were super excited, jumping up and down.” Story continues below advertisement

One of Canada’s best young outfielders, the 21-year-old Ziebart split her early sporting career between the diamond and ice as a competitive figure skater before turning to focus her attention on baseball eight years ago.

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What followed has been nine trips to national championships with Team Saskatchewan and a spot on Canada’s national development team, with the possibility of professional baseball landing on her radar last year.

“They dropped the See Her Be Her documentary and I watched that,” said Ziebart. “The second the documentary was done, they posted that the Women’s Pro Baseball League was going to start. It was kind of insane because I thought baseball had been moving in that direction, but I never thought that I would be the one to have it.

“I thought maybe the younger girls from this province and around the world would have this opportunity, but never me.”

Ziebart and Birdsall represent two of 20 Canadian players selected to the first ever WPBL Draft, with franchises in Los Angeles and San Francisco rounding out the original four teams with Boston and New York to hit the field in summer 2026.

The WPBL, which was created by former MLB coach and ‘Baseball for All’ co-founder Justine Siegal and Canadian Baseball League team owner Keith Stein, is following in the footsteps of other leagues such as the Professional Women’s Hockey League, National Women’s Soccer League and the Women’s National Baseball Association.

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It’s a league which is aiming to give those concluding their collegiate careers a shot at playing baseball professionally.

“I play with these younger girls from this province and I’ve met these other girls from around the world, they have so much potential,” said Ziebart.

“The fact that they have something to look forward to and something to strive towards, being able to play professional baseball as a woman is super exciting.”

The league will get underway in August 2026 with all games being played at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill., as a neutral site before more concrete plans around facilities are formed moving forward.

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Being part of the first wave of baseball players from Canada set to compete in the upstart league, Birdsall said it’s an exciting time for the women’s game.

Story continues below advertisement “I think it’s just honestly an honour to have my name on the base level,” said Birdsall. “My name is going to be in the Canadian [Baseball] Hall of Fame with Addie as well, I think that’s just pretty amazing. That’s not something anyone can take away from me, no matter how this goes.”

The WPBL held tryouts for over 600 athletes at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., earlier this summer which Ziebart was invited to and survived four rounds of cuts before cracking the league’s 126-player draft eligible list.

“I think it speaks volumes about the program that we’ve built here in Saskatchewan,” said Ziebart.

“Everyone really supports girls baseball here, Tyson and Tony Black especially. They’ve been fundamental in making sure that the girls baseball program has training, has funding and they’re always there to coach and support us.”

It was a draft-eligible list Birdsall also managed to land on with only tape of her abilities, as she missed the league’s tryouts south of the border due to injury.

Her mindset going into next season will be having few expectations, but a dogged mindset which she added has been formed by years of playing baseball with hard-nosed Saskatchewan players.

“Out of the first season I just want to dip my toes in the water,” said Birdsall. “I don’t really have any expectations of playing time or if I even make the final team, but I’m going to give it everything I got. I want to put myself in the best position I can to succeed.”

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Getting her start with the Saskatoon Blue Jays program after her mom found it was open to both boys and girls, Ziebart said it’s a full-circle moment getting to now pursue her own baseball dreams in the WPBL and one day inspire other girls who hope to fill her shoes.

“I’ve always played on boys teams and have been the only girl,” said Ziebart. “This opportunity for girls to be able to play with other girls and see that there’s a future in baseball, and that there’s opportunities out there for them I think is huge.

“I think it’s going to be super inspirational to a lot of young girls around the world.”

Continuing her own training ahead of her first professional training camp next summer, Birdsall is aiming to get healthy and her body ready for the rigours of facing some of the best women’s baseball players in the world in 2026 — authoring a new chapter of Saskatchewan women getting the chance to play professionally on the diamond.

“I think it’s been baseball’s time for a while,” said Birdsall. “I think we’ve got so many amazing women that have been playing baseball and girls programs that are starting at the grassroot levels and holding steady in every province.

“I think it’s our time.”