Former Madonna Japan infielder Yuki Kawabata, 32, and Miwa Naraoka, 27, became the first players to join the Honey's, a new women's baseball team launched in the Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Former NPB's Fukuoka Softbank Hawks All-Star outfielder Katsuhiko Miyaji will manage the Honeys.
Kawabata represented Japan in four WBSC Women's Baseball World Cups. She is the sister of Shingo Kawabata, a 34-year old switch-hitting infielder for the Tokyo Yakult Softball of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) who represented Japan at the inaugural WBSC Premier12. Naraoka is one of the players considered for the Japanese Women's National Team roster.
"There are two women's national tournaments," Yuki Kawabata told Yahoo Japan. "We will participate and hopefully win."
Japan is currently the top-ranked nation in the WBSC Women's Baseball World Rankings.
