A Panda Is Off To Mexico

The title of this post is a little misleading because she's not actually a Panda just yet, but she is a recruit of the University of Alberta and she will be going to Mexico after making the cut at Baseball Canada's selection camp over the last few days! Madison Willan, who was the captain of the St. Albert Slash this past season, will be part of Team Canada at the COPABE Women's Baseball World Cup Qualifier in Aguascalientes, Mexico from August 18-25! It's a huge honour for Willan who was part of the Team Canada squad at the 2018 Women’s Baseball World Cup in Viera, Florida where the team won a bronze medal, and Madison will get a chance to add more hardware to her mantle with this new opportunity!

As stated above, Willan was the captain of the St. Albert Slash this past season where she scored 24 goals and added 27 assists in 30 games. She led her team to a three-peat of the Esso Cup this season, and scored the Cup-clinching goal at 2:46 of overtime to down the Saskatoon Stars for the championship. She's a force to be reckoned with on the ice, and clearly she's got all the tools on the diamond as well!

She's not only making history on the ice, but she actually made a little Baseball Canada history in 2017 as well! Willan became the first player in Women's National Team program history to hit a home run out of the park when she crushed a 3-run shot at the Washington Nationals Youth Academy! Her home run put the "Canada Leaf" team ahead of the "US Stripes" team by a 5-2 score after she was called upon to pinch hit! Canada would hold on for the victory by a 5-4 score in that game as her history-making bomb came in a victory! I'm not sure about those of you reading this, but she sounds like she'd be a shoo-in for any future Baseball Canada teams with that kind of resumé!

If you know anything about me, I usually try to avoid giving kudos to anything related to the Pandas because they are they arch-rivals of the Manitoba Bisons. It's not that I don't like them; in fact, it's quite the opposite. You have to respect how good they are because all they do is win. And win. And win some more. And to see them get a player like Madison Willan next season only means that winning tradition will likely continue for the foreseeable future. Credit to Howie Draper and his staff for getting Madison to commit to their incredible program.

Because it isn't hockey season just yet, you can be sure I'll be cheering for Madison Willan and her teammates as they suit up for Canada at the COPABE Women's Baseball World Cup Qualifier in Aguascalientes, Mexico from August 18-25. Canada comes in as the second-ranked team according to the most recent WBSC Women's Baseball world rankings, and there's hope they can capture another medal at this tournament.

Go Canada Go, and congratulations to Madison Willan on being named to Team Canada!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!