MONROVIA, Liberia — It was a perfect pitch. The ball sped straight across home plate, where it was met with an equally powerful kick. Perryline Jimmie sprinted toward first base after her kick as her ...

Ricky Laforge rounds third and heads for the plate. It’s overtime and the former All-American has a championship in mind. He jumps, flips then slides. Safe. Laforge just won a professional kickball ...

Jimmie, 23, is a professional player of kickball, a close cousin of baseball that is beloved by women in Liberia and played all over the country from schoolyards to public squares and dirt fields.