Still in high school, Indiana's Addisyn Baird makes women's pro baseball debut
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What Addisyn Baird has come to call "the pushback" started as a tiny, 4-year-old playing T-ball, a girl on the boys' team. She quickly developed into a youth baseball star, playing at the elite level nationally, a girl on the boys' team. She played baseball for her high school team last season, a girl on the boys' team.
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The soccer team. The hockey team. The football team. "The pushback" was real, Baird says.
Her father, Travis Baird, says he was constantly asked, "'Is that a girl? What's a girl doing on the team? Shouldn't she be playing softball? Why isn't she playing with the girls?'"
"Because, she holds her own. She's not only on the boys' team, but she's outperforming almost every boy on that team," Travis said. "She'd be one of the best hitters, but when she'd get a hit off somebody, it's always ... I mean, they'd always razz her."
Baird had a bat thrown at her in Little League by another player, she says. She sometimes had lukewarm receptions from opposing teams and, sometimes, even from her own teammates. She had coaches fighting to get her thrown out of this league or that league. She had parents who didn't want her playing with the boys.
"I really never paid attention that much to them," says Baird, 18, of Granger, Ind. She wants to make clear those incidents were not the norm. There were wonderful coaches and players and parents on her journey.
But the pushback happened enough that it ignited a spark in Baird. Every time adversity came her way, Baird pushed forward to prove she should be playing with the boys.
Baird's fight and perseverance catapulted her to become the only Indiana prospect selected in the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League Draft at 17 years old, picked 19th in Round 6.
When Baird signed with the Los Angeles Queens in late August and made her professional debut earlier this month on ESPN+, Baird was the only high school player in the league, a senior at The Hill School in Pennsylvania.
In her first pro game Sept. 3, Baird started in left field against the New York Heights, batting eighth and going 1-for-3 with a single to left field, drawing a walk and scoring a run.
She made her start in the Queens outfield with baseball star Mo’ne Davis, who at the 2014 Little League World Series was the first girl to earn a win and pitch a shutout in tournament history.
Meeting Davis was "kind of scary," at first, Baird says.
"Because, you know, the big names are always scary at first. Like, 'Oh, my gosh, it's Mo'ne Davis,'" she said. "And once you get to meet her, she's really down to earth. She has really good advice. She's really nice, funny, a good person."
As Travis listens to his daughter describe Davis, he says it sounds a lot like Baird. Humble and down to earth, confident in who she is and ready to give everything she has on the field.
'She wasn't just hanging with the boys, she was beating them'
Baird started playing T-ball and soccer as a 4-year-old in Granger. That progressed to baseball, football and hockey.
"She wasn't just hanging with the boys, she was beating them," Travis says. "And we're not talking mid-level. Addisyn hasn't seen a girl play against her on a boys' team since she was 8 or 9 nine years old. It's just, she's playing at a very high, elite level."
Growing up, Baird was part of MLB youth development programs and Baseball For All. In 2023, she went to Japan and, in 2024, to the Philippines, playing for Baseball For All USA teams.
Baird participated in the All-American Women’s Baseball Classic and other elite women’s baseball development programs before reaching the WPBL evaluation and draft process.
Baird was still in high school as the draft was playing out. She attended Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., for three years, playing softball for the first time and helping to lead the team to its 23rd IHSAA sectional title and 15th regional crown.
Baird transferred to The Hill School in Pennsylvania last year, where she played JV baseball, softball and hockey, a sport she picked up at 8 when she saw a family friend's son playing and thought "that looks really cool."
When she was drafted to women's pro baseball, Baird was playing in a high school hockey match. She had no idea, but her dad was in the stands, and he knew.
That hockey game, for Baird, had been mediocre until the third period when she ramped it up, got aggressive and scored two goals. It was as if she knew, Travis says.
Baird scored the two goals in that high school hockey game and was drafted to pro women's baseball within a matter of 15 minutes.
"We're kind of in uncharted territory," Travis says. "And what I mean by that is, can you think of another athlete that is actually going to high school that's a professional?"
Baird has a 4.5 GPA, taking AP classes, and has career dreams of going to medical school to become an obstetrician or a neonatologist. She also wants to play baseball professionally as long as she can.
"I'm excited," Baird says. "I can't wait to get back out there."
.Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Hunsinger on X: @danahunsinger33. Reach her via email: [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Still in high school, Indiana's Addisyn Baird makes women's pro baseball debut