Menomonee Falls girls make 'a league of their own' with baseball

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. - On this field of dreams in Menomonee Falls, these girls of summer have turned their dreams into reality.

Local perspective:

Meet Finnley Chesak, Hadley Zigler and Allison Wollersheim. 

They're just 11 and 12 years old, and these girls are baseball's biggest advocates.

FOX6's Lily Zhao: "A lot of people ask you, why baseball and not softball? What do you say to that?"

"I feel like it’s faster and a lot more happens and it’s a completely different feel, a completely different ball and like the fields are bigger," said Finnley Chesak. "The ball is smaller. It’s just harder to hit."

And they're out to prove that baseball is for everyone.

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"I just love the sport, and I feel like more girls should be able to play it because it’s just so much fun," Finnley said.

"I hear the boys like, there’s a girl on the team, they’re like girls, that can’t be right," said Allison Wollersheim. "Yeah, that’s right."

Big picture view:

This trio can more than play with the boys. They hit, they catch, and they can play anywhere in the infield and outfield. 

And they have the second annual Maria Pepe Little League Baseball Legacy Series to thank for bringing them all together.

Finnley and Hadley, who are from Menomonee Falls, and Allison, who is from Whitefish Bay, were also joined by Shorewood's Lili Douros.

They were all a part of an elite group of 96 girls from all over the country who got chosen to play in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

"I was like, I get to go the Little League World Series to play with all girls?" said Hadley Zigler. "I’ve never played with all girls before."

Even though they were all on different teams, they were destined to meet. 

"It was really nice to just say like yeah, there’s more girls in my area that play," said Allison.

They also met the namesake of the Legacy Series, Maria Pepe, who has been a trailblazer for the last 50 years advocating for girls to play Little League Baseball.

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Finnley has taken up what Maria has championed for all these years.

Dig deeper:

"We’ve put Instagram posts on Instagram, and we’ve put flyers in the hockey rink that I play at and like giving out stickers and stuff," said Finnley.

She's a member of the Menomonee Falls Little League Majors Brewers team and she also participates in a new nonprofit organization, Wisconsin All-Stars Girls Baseball, which also supports girls who love the sport.

Here's her mom, Kira:

"She’s inspirational, truly," she said. "It’s an honor to be helping her through this, like I just get to kind of ask questions and guide her and just say alright, but she’s the image, she’s the voice, right?"

Seeing Finnley lead by example has inspired her newest friends to do the same.

"It’s really empowering, I think, because it’s like, I’m the role model, I’m the rule-setter basically," said Allison.

They're proof that girls belong anywhere they want to be.

"Don’t be afraid to go play with the boys," said Hadley.

And the future is certainly bright on the diamond with these girls leading the way. 

For more information on Wisconsin All-Stars Girls Baseball, visit: https://www.wiallstarsgirlsbaseball.com/aboutus.

The Menomonee Falls Little League team is also holding a clinic on June 21, run by two female coaches from the Minnesota Twins. For more information on the team, visit: https://www.fallslittleleague.org/.

Beyond the GameSportsMenomonee Falls