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Kansas City's first professional women's softball team officially announced its launch Tuesday morning at Legend's Field in Kansas City, Kansas.
The KC Diamonds will compete as a founding member of the newly formed Professional Softball League, opening their inaugural season in 2026.
The team's home opener is set for June 17 at Legend's Field.
Tickets for the inaugural season go on sale Feb. 1.
"This is a defining moment for softball in Kansas City," said Jeremy McDowell, general manager of the KC Diamonds. "The KC Diamonds represent opportunity, visibility and growth for professional women's sports. Kansas City has already proven it shows up for softball, and now it has a team to call its own."
The team will share the stadium with the KC Monarchs, marking another major addition to Wyandotte County's growing sports and entertainment landscape.
The Diamonds signed their first two players Tuesday. Savanah Henley will pitch for the Diamonds, and Leah Boggs will be a catcher. Both women are University of Virginia alumni.
Several local leaders attended and spoke, including Olympic Team USA softball player Monica Abbott and newly-elected mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, Christal Watson.
Watson spoke with KSHB 41's Megan Abundis on Monday about local involvement in the Chiefs' stadium negotiations after the Dec. 22 announcement to move to Wyandotte County.
"This is a huge deal in the world of softball,” said Chris Burch, at-large board member of the Kansas City Fast Pitch Association. “It's absolutely fantastic that our girls don't have to leave home now.”
Burch, a Wyandotte County native, says this dream is 10 years in the making.
Over the past year, a board was formed to make the professional team a reality.
"I was born and raised in Wyandotte County, so for me to come back home, this is absolutely special and tremendous," Burch said.
The Diamonds will play a 39-game season and join six other founding teams in the Professional Softball League: Atlanta Smoke, Chattanooga Chill, Florida Breeze, Florida Heat, Florida Vibe and New York Rise.
Each team will carry a roster of 20 players.
The league's inaugural season will be broadcast exclusively on the All Women's Sports Network, with coverage featured on Amazon Prime, Pluto TV and DirecTV.
Boggs, a four-year starter and team captain at the University of Virginia, is recognized as one of the nation's top defensive catchers.
"We're just so grateful for the turnout today," Boggs said. "They've already shown so much support for us, so we're ready to go out there and give back to the community already."
She led the Atlantic Coast Conference in runners caught stealing, earned NFCA All-Region First Team and UVA Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Boggs has competed professionally with the Chattanooga Steam, New York Rise and Florida Vibe.
"I always say, 'If you want to be great, you have to surround yourself with great people,'" she said. "And there's great organizations here, obviously lots of championships in this city, and we're looking to bring more championships."
Henley recorded 277.1 innings and 249 strikeouts while at the University of Virginia, including a 2.80 ERA in 2024-2025.
In her professional career, she went 13-0 with a 0.10 ERA for the Bonn Capitals, earning Pitcher of the Year honors. Henley will play in the Mexican Softball League before joining the KC Diamonds.
For Henley, this was her first time in Kansas City.
She attended the team’s open tryouts on Monday.
"This is just amazing, and I'm just super grateful to be here with Leah," Henley said. "It's awesome for our sport. Like this is what we dreamed of. I know for me, when I was little, this was not an option, and so the fact that this is real is still something that I'm trying to get used to."
The announcement comes as Wyandotte County continues to attract major developments.
"You have the building of Buc-ee's, you have, hopefully, the building soon of the Chiefs coming, you're going to see something so special, and this area's going to be a place to call home," Burch said.
Kansas House Majority Leader Chris Croft, who attended the Top Gun event in his district last year, emphasized the state's transformation with the KC Diamonds as the latest addition.
"It all fits into it," Croft said. "It's the city of champions now. We've taken that title away from everybody else. We are no longer a fly-over state; we are a destination.”
The team's presence is already inspiring young athletes.
Jr. KC Diamonds players Madison Morris and Allie Compton, both high school juniors, attended the announcement.
"It's really exciting that we get our own team in Kansas City," Morris said. "They were somewhere in our spot, and it's showing they made it to where they wanted to be and to just keep going."
Compton hopes the professional team will grow the sport's popularity.
"I'm glad to see the support from everyone and how the softball community is growing," Compton said. "I really hope that it shows the younger girls that they can also get to love softball as much as everyone else around them, and I just hope the community keeps growing for the love of softball."
Both professional players emphasized their role as mentors for the next generation.
"It shows the desire to have role models like us and people like us in this position for those girls, and they want it, and we want to give it to 'em," Boggs said.
The Diamonds operate as a nonprofit organization led by a volunteer board and are seeking sponsors.
"We are truly what I like to call the Mecca of Sports here in Kansas City," Burch said. "Even if it's Kansas, it's Missouri, I'm just happy that we stayed in this area, and we truly are building something special to make sure everyone is taken care of from a total fan experience."
The launch builds on Kansas City's recent success hosting national softball events, including the KC Pro Softball Series, the Top Gun Invitational and local Olympian Monica Abbott’s Speed Retreat.
More Diamonds roster announcements will be made in the coming months.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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