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Independent team backed in part by Francis Ford Coppola signs two women

Two women are about to get a chance to do something that's extremely rare in baseball.

Kelsie Whitmore and Stacy Piagno will make their professional debuts Friday after being signed by the Sonoma Stompers, a team in the independent Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs.

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Whitmore is a 17-year-old pitcher and outfielder from Temecula, Calif., while Piagno is a 25-year-old pitcher and infielder from St. Augustine, Fla. Both women are members of the U.S. women’s national baseball team.

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SB Nation noted the women will become the first to play on a professional co-ed team since Eri Yoshida did it earlier this decade.