[Litty]

2022

As the draft neared, the Bears started clearing house. On Christmas Day 2021, they traded catcher Bev Cadden to Charlotte for the #66 and #81 prospects. Cadden had hit .266 in 2021 while the prospects, Vania Epps and Dany Lora, were pitchers who had been fairly battered in around 50 innings each. Charlotte then turned around sent Joan Shea, #1 overall in the expansion draft, back to New York in exchange for #19 prospect Jenny Thurber. They also sent underperforming starter Mandy Allen to Cape Code in exchange for #33 prospect Charlie Ghorley and first basewoman Jeanie Bazan. Finally, Bristol made a trade with New York to acquire Joey Decker and the #63 prospect Amanda Klein.

With the first overall pick, the Bears selected pitcher Alex Quirk from the University of Miami (FL). Their 2021 #1 pick, AJ Timan, had had a mediocre season, hitting .215 and leading the league in striking out with 67 Ks in 47 games.

Cape Cod were once again North Division champions, going 52-20 and beating the second place New York Valkyries by four games. The Sirens were hot from the start, getting over an opening day loss to start the season 8-2. Things looked especially good for them in mid-August, when they enjoyed a twelve game winning streak. They sealed their second straight division title thanks to a nine-game winning streak to start September. Sharing New York’s 48-24 record were the South Division winners Richmond, who dominated the division, finishing eleven games above Salisbury. Bristol improved by five wins to finish 11-61 while Charlotte finished 20-52.

In the first round of the playoffs, Cape Cod saw off Salisbury in four while New York/Richmond once again went the distance. However, despite blowing a 2-0 series lead, it would be Richmond who came out on top, beating New York 3-2 in a close game five. In the WBLA Cup, Richmond jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before losing focus and letting Cape Cod tie the series. The Cup came down to a tense game seven in Provincetown and thanks to the hitting of Belle Leachy, the series MVP, Richmond was able to take the game 3-2 and claim their first title.
Salisbury’s Billie Eischens, who had led the league in batting average in its inaugural season, enjoyed an excellent, leading the league once more with a batting average of .362 alongside a new single-season home run record of 27. Meanwhile Belle Leachy, the two-time MVP, was the best at bringing home her teammates with 77 RBIs. Cape Cod’s Jay Bell was ERA queen with a phenomenal 1.38 while the new length of the season allowed for a new wins record, with Richmond’s Madeeha Baqri earning 11 Ws in 14 starts. The season length also allowed New York’s Dawn Constable to break the 100-K mark, finishing the season with 107 strikeouts. Twelve of Constable's strikeouts came on August 10th, when she threw the first perfect game (and thus the league's first no-hitter) against Salisbury. Three other pitchers also broke 100 strikeouts in the 2022 season- Mica Agazzi of Salisbury (106), Jay Bell (101) and Kerry Hendrickson of Salisbury (100).

At the end of season awards, New York’s Jo Gorman was named Rookie of the Year after a phenomenal .324 average season. Jay Bell won Pitcher of the Year, having led the league in ERA and breaking 100 strikeouts. Billie Eischens was named MVP after their excellent season.

A major retirement of note was Meg Harrington, who had been drafted in the second round of the inaugural drafted by Richmond. She played 163 games in Richmond and Charlotte and managed a .228 career batting average.

With next expansion draft two years away, work was well underway to ensure that the four cities receiving WBLA teams would be ready to go. Offers were still being accepted for the 2029 expansion but right now, the league was in a good place.