Temecula’s Kelsie Whitmore (middle, standing) signed with the Portland Pickles to continue her baseball career. Valley News/Courtesy photo

In another major move for Temecula’s Kelsie Whitmore who has made waves in the world of baseball as a female player, she is continuing her quest to keep playing the sport she loves, at an elevated level. It was announced last week that Whitmore has signed with the International All-Stars for the Portland Pickles, joining the squad as the first female player in the team’s history.

Kelsie, who is also is a part of Team USA Women’s Baseball, played baseball in the Temecula Valley through her high school years and was a standout asset for the softball team at Cal State Fullerton where she was named Big West Field Player of the Year as a senior this past year. Whitmore also played for the Sonoma Stompers, an independent baseball team from the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball and broke the gender barrier of professional baseball in 2016. Her gear from her first season resides in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Temecula’s Kelsie Whitmore helped the 2019 Women’s USA National Team win gold at the COPABE Women’s Pan-American Championships. Valley News/Courtesy photo

The Portland Pickles are a wood bat baseball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the South Division of the West Coast League, a premier baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Recently, the team of international players took their talents to Mazatlán, Mexico where they played the Venados de Mazatlán professional baseball team and won a two-game series. Whitmore was the starting pitcher for the Pickles in game 2, throwing five scoreless innings.

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.

JP Raineri

JP is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and head of the Sports Department for the Valley News. As a former Southwestern League head baseball coach, and former President of the Temecula Youth Baseball league (TYB), JP was also a local on-air radio personality at All Pro Broadcasting and was a television host for the Outdoor Channel. When not covering local, or national sports, JP also works for the Media Technology Department for Major League Baseball.