St. Louisan Adelaide Frank playing in the Women’s Pro Baseball League

By Sally Tippett Rains

The inaugural year of the Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) is underway and for this first year, all games are taking place in Springfield, Illinois, and there’s a reason for St. Louisans to be interested.

Fans from St. Louis who are curious about it or want to see some good highly competitive baseball will be happy to know if they travel to see the game they can watch Adelaide Frank from St. Louis. Where did she go to high school?  Oakville.

The lefty second baseman, Adelaide Frank, called Addie, plays for the Los Angeles Queens. Drafted at just 17 years old, she is the youngest on the team. She had her birthday and is now 18. When this article was written she had 17 plate appearances with a .333 batting average. She has been playing mostly first base. She’s only struck out once and when she gets out it’s usually a hard-hit ball right at someone.

Her family has had fun with the whole thing, and they have gone over to Springfield to watch.

The WPBL plays all of their games at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois for the inaugural season. The stadium is named for  Robin Roberts the Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and legendary MLB player, who was a Springfield native. For information on the league, check out the previous article we posted, CLICK HERE.

“We are very proud of Addie and her accomplishments,” said her mother Elaine. “It is so exciting to see her have all of these great opportunities in sports.”

“I’ve been to every Queens game in Springfield,” said her Dad Karl Frank, Jr. “It’s been an amazing 45 days, and it was very unexpected.

Addie Frank was drafted by the Los Angeles Queens in November but received very little communication until two days before the league started. She got a call from Manager Eric Young (who had not yet been publicly announced) telling her to pack her bags for Springfield–and be there ASAP.

‘I was really happy when I got the call,” she told STL Sports Page. “I didn’t believe it at first. I love playing baseball, so getting the chance to join the team meant a lot to me.”

Strange how timing is everything, as she was about ready to hang up her cleats for a while and was start a job. The new job was to start the same day they wanted her to report.

“I was thrilled for her, but honestly not surprised,” said her high school baseball coach from Oakville Richard Sturm. “Addie has always possessed incredible talent, a strong work ethic, and a deep love for baseball. Seeing her earn a spot with the Los Angeles Queens in the inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League season is a well-deserved reward for all her hard work.”

Growing up she loved going to Cardinals games with her family,

In recent years her own professional baseball career has taken precedence over going to the Cardinals games, but she is still a Cardinals fan and her favorite player is Alec Burleson.

“She has been so busy traveling and playing that we haven’t been able to attend many  Cardinals games in person lately,” said Karl Frank, Jr. her father “But we watch them almost every game on TV.”

Addie Frank has been involved in baseball all her life and was a USA Baseball standout.

“She has actually always played baseball rather than softball, having only played softball for a couple of years in high school,” her dad said. “Her background is rooted in baseball, participating in Baseball for All, MLB Develops events, and playing on travel baseball teams growing up (including the St. Louis Swarm, Adidas Athletics, St. Louis Force, and St. Louis Pirates with Rick Strickland). That is how the Women’s Pro Baseball League found her.”

During the time when Frank played softball for Oakville, it was in the fall and she played baseball in the spring. She was the only girl on the baseball team and Rich Sturm was the coach of both the baseball and softball teams.

“She played two years of baseball at Oakville; her Freshman year and on the JV team,” said Coach Sturm, the  Oakville Baseball coach, “Ella Strickland (2021) is the only girl who has played on the Varsity Baseball Team at Oakville.”

Addie Frank was named First Team All-State in Missouri Softball for Class 5 schools, breaking several of Oakville’s single-season offensive records (MO Class 5 1st Team All-State, Conference Softball Player of the Year, and was a three time First Team Conference-Region-Metro)

“Addie was a dominant force at the plate in her four years on the Varsity Softball Team,” said Sturm. “She had fantastic power and a tremendous on-base percentage. She was also an awesome defender at both first and second base. Addie handled pressure on the field with incredible composure.”

There came a time in her Junior year, that for personal reasons, she chose to stop playing baseball with the boys, even though she had performed well and had a spot on the Oakville team.  Her high school coach is excited for her future.

“It’s really special to be a part of a player’s growth and development,” Sturm told STL Sports Page. “I am extremely proud of Addie, and she has worked incredibly hard to reach this level.”

Frank is not the first to achieve professional success out of Oakville.

“We’ve had a few players drafted out of Oakville High School—and others drafted later out of college—who went on to play in the minor leagues,” said Sturm.

He says he has not gotten over to watch her in Springfield yet, but keeps up with her play.

“Since Addie is focusing soley on baseball, the sport she loves, she is extremely grateful for the growth of girls’ and women’s baseball,” said Karl Frank.

She is also a prospect for the USA Women’s National Baseball Team, which competes in the Women’s Baseball World Cup and the Pan-Am Games, with hopes of a future in the Olympics.

We wondered why Addie Frank loves baseball so much over softball. Was someone I her family involved in baseball?

“My background in baseball is just playing while growing up,” said her dad. “Cardinals baseball is a multi-generational tradition in our family, like many from St. Louis.”

And as for her mother, she was also athletic,  having played CYC softball, volleyball, soccer, and track in grade school and some in high school.

“I played, but it was definitely not at the high level our sons or Adelaide have played,” said Elaine.

Both parents were there for their children, supporting each in the sport they chose.  With Karl coaching some of her teams, Elaine tried to go the extra step in helping her daughter, also.

“I’ve attempted to help Addie train, and offer to play catch with her,” she says. “That usually ends up in her laughing hysterically at me because how unathletic I look to her when I’m throwing or when I’m flinching behind the pitching net when she’s hitting soft toss.”

Karl coached and managed many of the teams his children were on, including when she was on the Swarm and Adidas Athletics.  Addie has three older brothers, two of whom played baseball for many of the same club organizations as she did. H

Elaine works in retail, which often means working nights and weekends – so from a young age, Addie was often with  Karl.

“From her pumpkin seat on up, she was always watching, listening, and eventually playing,” he said. “When she was old enough to start, it was clear she already had the mechanics and mindset to excel. “

In T-ball at Affton Athletic Association, she was hitting balls into the woods at practice while most of the kids were barely getting it off the tee.

After T-ball when the girls generally went into softball, Addie wanted to play baseball.

“Right after T-ball, Mo’ne Davis was on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the Little League World Series, so everyone was excited to have Addie on their team,” he said. “We almost never had issues with other players or  parents because she was always one of the top hitters and a Sunday pitcher in tournament play.”

Mo’ne Davis was the first female to throw a shutout in Little League World Series history, doing that in 2014.

In fun turn of events, Frank and Davis are on the same team now.

“It has been really fun,” said Abbie Frank. “I’ve liked getting to know my teammates better and being around other people who love baseball as much as I do.”

She also loves it that the WPBL can give young girls something to strive for. It opens up more opportunities for girls as they look towards their future.

“Girls my age didn’t grow up seeing many women play professional baseball,” she said.  “This league gives younger girls something we didn’t really have. They can watch us and know that playing professionally is something they can work toward.”

When she was 10 years old, she hit a home run at Ellisville with a team called the Force. That team played in the USSA 10u Demarini Elite World Series at the Space Coast facility in Florida and she pitched, so there are others in St, Louis who will be sharing in her baseball career.

“I’m thankful to everyone who gave me this chance and helped me get here,” she said “I wasn’t trying to prove anything by playing. I just wanted to play. I’m excited to keep working hard and see what happens.”

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WPBL Playoffs Are Underway

The road to the WPBL Championship has started. No. 1 San Francisco faces No. 4 Boston in Series A, while No. 2 New York takes on No. 3 Los Angeles in Series B. The semifinals begin September 9 and 10 at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinos.  Get your playoff tickets now. Abbie Frank plays for the L.A. Queens: CLICK HERE.

For WPBL schedule: CLICK HERE