OTTAWA- Baseball Canada is pleased to announce the names of 30 players who will represent Canada at the Canada-Japan Women’s Series in Granby, QC July 17th-21st.
At the conclusion of the Senior Women Invitational yesterday, Women’s National Team Manager André Lachance announced the names of 30 players who will be split into two squads (Canada Red and Canada White) to compete against a pair of touring Japanese clubs, the Saitama Sakae Beavers and the Saitama Sakae Orange.
Ontario repeated as champions of the Senior Women Invitational with a 7-3 win over Québec and Lachance was impressed with the talent level at the tournament. He is looking forward to a competitive week of baseball when the Japanese squads roll into town.
“The Canada-Japan series will provide an excellent opportunity for our athletes to play against competition from the best women’s baseball nation in the world,” he said. “The tournament will allow our coaching staff the opportunity to evaluate talent for upcoming international events.”
Japan has won the past three IBAF Women’s World Cups, including the 2012 event in Edmonton where Canada claimed bronze.
The next World Cup is scheduled for the summer of 2014 at a location that is to be determined.
In 2015, Canada will participate in the Pan Am Games where women’s baseball will be part of the sport program for the first time ever.
Seventeen players out of the 30 named to Canada Red/White rosters were members of the 2012 Women’s National Team, while 11 players will be participating in the Women’s National Team program for the first time.
Canada Red features Ashley Stephenson (Oakville, ON) and Kate Psota (Burlington, ON), both members of the inaugural Women’s National Team from 2004 along with 2012 National Team MVP Stéphanie Savoie (Québec, QC). Savoie was recently named Top Catcher at the Senior Women Invitational.
Fifteen year-old Kelsey Lalor (Red Deer, AB) was also named to Canada Red. Kelsey is the daughter of former Junior National Team Head Coach, Dwayne Lalor.
A pair of 2012 World Cup All-Stars- Bradi Wall (Swift Current, SK) and Nicole Luchanksi (Edmonton, AB) highlight the Canada White roster.
Joining Wall and Luchanski on Canada White is Jenna Flannigan (Cornwall, ON) who took home the Top Hitter award at the Senior Women Invitational, while Wall was named the tournament’s Top Defensive player.
Action gets underway on July 17th at Napoléon-Fontaine Stadium in Granby with the Saitama Sakae Beavers taking on Canada Red at 2pm ET and Canada White meeting the Saitama Sakae Orange at 7pm ET.
You can follow all of the action live courtesy of Pointstreak by clicking the following link.
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