OTTAWA- Baseball Canada’s No. 2 ranked Women’s National Team program will be led by longtime Manager Andre Lachance at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s Baseball World Cup in Viera, Florida from August 22-31 the national federation announced today.
Lachance will, be surrounded by a veteran coaching staff including former big leaguer and Canadian Olympian (2004) Aaron Myette who will guide the pitching staff, while Sheen Bromley and Scott MacKenzie return to their posts at third and first bases coaches, respectively. Former Women’s National Team player (2004-2010), Karine Gagné, a veteran of four Women’s Baseball World Cups, joins the staff as an assistant coach after a guest coach appearance in 2017 for the Canada/USA series.
“Our staff is extremely excited for the World Cup and putting together a roster that we feel will give us the best chance possible to compete for a medal,” said Lachance. “The familiarity our staff has with one another and with the prospective athletes on the field can only help us as we prepare for the World Cup.”
With the exception of Gagné, all members of the coaching staff were in their respective roles in 2016 when Canada won the silver medal at the Women’s World Cup in Gijang, Korea that propelled the Women’s National Team program to a No. 2 world ranking according to the WBSC. Bromley was a member of the coaching staff in 2015 when Canada won silver at the Pan Am Games in Toronto while Lachance has been the only Manager since the Women’s National Team was formed in 2004. He has led the program to two silver and three bronze medals in seven Women’s World Cup events.
The coaching staff will gather in Montréal July 5-8 for the Women’s Invitational Championships to evaluate players in the six-team field that will be vying for a national championship. Following the event, Lachance and staff will select 26 athletes to participate in a four-day selection camp that will determine the 20-player roster that will represent Canada at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup.
“The Women’s Invitational in Montréal will allow our staff to get a good understanding of where national team candidates are at both physically and mentally with their games,” added Lachance. “Once we have our roster down to 26 players, we’ll see how they perform in practice and games to ultimately put (our staff) in a position to make decisions on the 20-player roster.”
During selection camp, Team Canada will play a three-game series against squads from Baseball Québec’s Midget AAA (2) at Gary Carter Stadium and conduct daily practices. The final roster will be announced on July 12.
Prior to the start of the Women’s Baseball World Cup, Team Canada will assemble in Orlando, Florida from August 16-21 for a training camp that will feature an exhibition doubleheader against No. 4 Australia on August 17thfollowed by a tune-up game against No. 3 USA on August 18th.
Round robin play is set to begin on August 22 with Canada in Group B along with No. 1 Japan, No. 4 Australia, No. 9 Cuba, No. 10 Hong Kong and No. 13 Dominican Republic. The schedule will be announced at a later date.
