On Monday, Sept. 23, Pizza with the Pros welcomed Little League World Series trailblazer Mo’ne Davis.
In 2014, Davis made history as the first woman to earn a win and throw a shutout in Little League World Series History. That same year, she also became the first Little League baseball player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Davis grew up an all-around athlete. At the age of ten, she was a point guard in basketball, a pitcher, shortstop, and third baseman in baseball, and a midfielder in soccer. However, the sport in which she excelled the most was baseball.
Davis’s rise to stardom came during the 2014 Little League World Series. On August 10, 2014, she pitched an 8-0 shutout to qualify her team for LLWS. Davis had the same result when the tournament rolled around five days later. Pitching six innings and striking out eight batters, Davis led her team to a 4-0 win.
Immediately after pitching the shutout, Davis’s life would forever change. She received recognition from celebrities such as Mike Trout, Marcus Stroman, Kevin Durant, Ellen DeGeneres, and Michelle Obama. One student asked Davis which celebrity conversation meant the most to her.
“I would say the one that stuck with me the most would probably be Kobe Bryant…He was actually supposed to be on the cover and I ended up bumping him off the cover. So when I first talked to him he brought that up and I didn’t know what to say…He said he sat his daughters down and made them watch every single game, and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world,” Davis said.
Despite losing in the semifinals, Davis’s impact was felt, as ESPN’s broadcast brought in a 3.4 rating, the highest of any Little League World Series game ever. Ten days later, she was featured on the front cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. Davis received multiple awards later that year, including Time Magazine’s “The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014” and Sports Illustrated Kids’ “SportsKid of the Year.”
Davis played softball at Hampton University and graduated with a journalism degree while earning a master’s degree in sports management from Columbia University. However, Davis wasn’t as passionate about baseball as one might think. Growing up, she dreamed of playing point guard for the UConn Huskies and eventually making it to the WNBA. Unfortunately, Davis stopped growing at a young age, and most professional teams want their smaller guards to play “scrappy,” which didn’t fit her play style.
In 2024, women’s sports viewership skyrocketed, most notably at the NCAA Women’s March Madness tournament and the WNBA. Caitlin Clark has been given a lot of credit for this success. Another student asked Davis if she sees her younger self in terms of her rise to stardom.
“A little bit. I just feel like social media is more heavily involved, the things that she’s going through, the hate and everything. I did not have that, good thing, just because it wasn’t that big, but I think she’s done a phenomenal job handling everything; her teammates are protecting her as well,” Davis said.
Based on the number of women in the room, it became very noticeable that Davis inspired many of them. One girl asked Davis for advice for women trying to make it in the sports world.
“I would honestly say just go for it. A lot of women feel like they’re not qualified for a position…but there are a lot of organizations out there that want women in their higher leadership roles because, in my opinion, women are just natural-born leaders…They want women to run and take control of their team, so just go for it,” Davis said.
Davis recently worked an internship with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and her goal is to work in the front office of Major League Baseball.
Pizza with the Pros will continue on Sept. 30, with Leslie Walker, Executive Director of the Sixers Youth Foundation.
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