OTTAWA-For four members of the Women’s National Team, the chance to travel to Australia to play baseball and experience a new country and culture was too good to pass up. So, Kate Psota (Burlington, ON), Autumn Mills (London, ON), Vanessa Riopel (Repentigny, QC) and Megean Cornellsen (Grande-Prairie, AB) packed their bags, and ball gloves, and headed to the land down under.
When WNT Head Coach André Lachance was approached to see if some of his athletes would be interested in travelling across the world to play baseball, it was an easy decision to make for these four players.
“This is a perfect opportunity for all of us to stay in "baseball shape" throughout the winter in preparation for the upcoming World Cup,” said Mills, a right-handed pitcher. “The World Cup will be big for us as we're bouncing back from a poor performance in Venezuela (in 2010) and it's in our home country.”
The IBAF Women’s World Cup will take place next August in Edmonton where eight countries will compete for a World Championship. Normally, National Team players would be working out indoors during the winter months and not play outside until the spring.
“Considering that three of us are pitchers (Mills, Psota and Riopel), it’s really been beneficial to throw all winter long and keep our arms in shape,” added Mills.
The women find themselves on the field 3-4 times per week participating in the Victorian Women’s Summer League and also play in a Men’s League once per week. Psota and Riopel play for the undefeated Springvale Lions, while Mills and Cornellsen play for the Geelong Baycats.
The season has been running since October and will end in April where the players will return home in plenty of time for the North American baseball season to start.
In January Psota, Mills and Cornellsen were able to play together at a tournament in Sydney that they eventually won. Psota was named tournament MVP after pitching five scoreless innings in a semi-final game and going 3-for-3 at the plate in the championship game. Mills started the championship game and allowed only one run through five innings of work to earn the win.
Mills said that the quality of competition was quite high due to the amount of players participating with international experience.
“A few of the girls from Japan played with our team, so the level of competition was much better than the league we normally play in,” explained Mills.
For Psota, the on-field experience has been positive and allowed her to do something that she normally doesn’t get to do while playing in Canada.
“I've been finding it a good challenge especially swinging a wood bat which we don't do at home,” she said. “Training with the Australian and Japanese National Team players has been fun. We learn from each other and push each other to be better.”
Off the field, life in Australia has been full of adventure and new life experiences for the four young women who have each had to find jobs ranging from instructing at baseball camps, personal training, promotional work and working at a tree nursery.
Spare time is normally spent at the beach where surfing has become a popular activity along with exploring some of the popular tourist attractions the country has to offer.
“I've had the opportunity to do a little bit of traveling since Christmas time,” explained Psota. “My highlight was a 6 day sailing trip up north in Queensland through the Whitsunday Islands. I also learned how to surf over New Years.”
According to Mills the overall experience has been a valuable one that will hopefully translate into success on the field in 2012.
“I think we've all appreciated the opportunity to experience another culture and at the same time, get our reps in during what would usually be the off-season for us.”
