A Bronzed Panda

Back on July 13, I had mentioned that the young lady to the left - Madison Willan - was headed to Mexico. Madison made the Canadian women's baseball team, and she headed to the 2019 COPABE World Cup qualifying tournament in Aguascalientes, Mexico to try and secure a spot for Canada at the 2020 Women's Baseball World Cup. The top-four teams would qualify automatically, so Canada had a lot to play for after being ranked second in the world entering the tournament. And it would turn out that Madison Willan played a role in how Canada finished this tournament!

Willan, as stated in the July 13 article, is slated to play hockey for the University of Alberta Pandas this season once she gets to the Edmonton campus. She's a heckuva hockey player, but she's also a stellar ball player as evidenced by her history-making play in 2017 when "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". Maybe a minor-pro team should consider signing her if they need a clean-up hitter?

Canada began the tournament strong with three-straight wins over the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Cuba before running into the Americans who hung a double-digit loss on the Canadians. The following day, the Canadians suffered a second loss against Venezuela before they rallied to beat Puerto Rico, putting the Canadians in the top-four teams at the tournament. The win also set them up against Mexico in the bronze medal game that they played today.

The first two innings of today's game saw Mexico hold the Canadians scoreless before Madison Willan flexed her muscles and broke the game open. Madison launched a three-run homerun over the fence in the third inning as part of a four-run frame to put Canada up. Carrie Jespersen hit a solo shot in the fourth inning, and Canada broke the game open with a six-run inning that activated the mercy rule as Canada took this game in five inning by an 11-1 score!

Former UBC Thunderbirds hockey player Amanda Asay earned the win in the bronze-medal game, surrendering just one run on five hits with one walk, one hit batsman, and four strikeouts. The 31 year-old was a consistent threat all tournament, hitting in the middle of the order with power while drawing walks with some good plate protection.

"Our ability to bounce back from those two tough losses in the middle of the tournament was most impressive," Asay said after the celebration. "We even had a slow start to today's game, and then we really came on fire, so the resiliency and heart came out here."

Willan, one of today's heroes, added, "It's unbelievable. It definitely wasn't an easy tournament for all of us – we had to battle a lot throughout the week, and it was great for all of us to come together in this bronze medal game and really put together a well-played game."

With Canada finishing with the bronze medal in this tournament, they have automatically qualified for the 2020 Women's Baseball World Cup. They actually found out they had qualified last night when Cuba upset the Dominican Republic, but Canada wanted to finish the tournament strong with a win and a medal to show for their efforts.

"It shows that baseball in Canada is growing," Asay stated. "We had a big turnover coming into this tournament, so to show that we have a new generation, another set of younger players who can come up and do another really excellent job, it shows the strength of women's baseball in Canada right now."

Kudos go out to Madison Willan whose homerun today kicked off an onslaught of runs from the Canadians. Along with Willan and Asay, there was another Canada West hockey player on the roster as well. Kaitlyn Ross, who will suit up for the Mount Royal Cougars this winter, also brought home a bronze medal with the Canadian women's baseball team, serving as a backup catcher in this tournament!

Clearly, Canada West is getting some amazing athletes coming into programs this winter, and has featured some incredible athletes when one considers the amazing career of Amanda Asay on the diamond. These three women, along with their teammates, have made this Canadian baseball fan extremely proud, and I can't wait to see Willan and Ross on the ice this season for Canada West hockey action!

Congratulations, Team Canada!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!