Genevieve Beacom Becomes First Woman to Pitch for Professional Baseball Team in Australia

Beacom became the first woman to pitch for a professional baseball team in Australia.

There was history to be made in Australia on Saturday.

Meet Genevieve Beacom. The 17-year-old left-handed pitcher became the first woman to pitch for a professional team, the Melbourne Aces, in Australia. 

Seventeen-year-old Genevieve Beacom speaks on her professional debut with the Aces as the first women pitcher to pitch for a professional baseball team in Australia #GenevieveBeacom pic.twitter.com/YF1qNbYCit

— Melbourne Aces (@MelbourneAces) January 8, 2022

While the Aces suffered a 7–1 loss to the Adelaide Giants in the Melbourne Challenge Series, Beacom did not allow any hits or runs in one inning of work. While Giants leadoff hitter Griffin Weber reached first, she recorded a groundout against Brock Wells followed by a walk and a second groundout by Darcy Barry. 

Then, with two runners on bases, Beacom got Jack Partington to fly out to end the inning. 

Genevieve Beacom makes history in her debut as the first woman to play for a professional baseball team in Australia! pic.twitter.com/SFAVGRzmO6

— Melbourne Aces (@MelbourneAces) January 8, 2022

Beacom, who played youth baseball in Australia, signed as a developmental player with team for the 2022–23 season. When she took the mound in her debut, Beacom said she simply wanted to stop the Giants from scoring.

“When I got out there, I just wanted to shut down [and stop] the runs,” Beacom said. “They had some momentum and my goal was to just stop the runs from scoring.”

Beacom previously pitched in the Victorian Summer Baseball League, becoming the first woman to pitch in that league while also becoming the first woman named to the Baseball Victoria under-16 team. 

Beacom is ready for the challenge of being the first woman in this league and encouraged all women to go after their dreams. 

“If anyone tries to push you to do something you don’t want to do, push you to softball or play a sport that you ‘should be playing,’ don’t listen,” Beacom said. 

“Do what you want to do and just know that if you work hard enough, you can definitely make it somewhere. It’s not impossible, you can see, it can be done.”