A Prince George woman is heading back to the mound for Canada in hopes of qualifying for the 2020 World Cup.
Baseball Canada unveiled its 2019 national women’s roster on Friday (July 12) and pitcher Amanda Asay was among the 20 selected players.
The 31-year-old is now the longest-serving member on the squad, 14 years after making her first appearance in red and white back in 2005.
Since then, she’s competed in seven World Cups, winning two silvers and three bronze, and is looking to lead the team to its first-ever gold medal next year.
Asay wore the maple leaf at the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto, where her team lost in the gold medal match to the United States.
In 2018, Canada defeated the Americans in the third-place match 8-5 to win bronze.
Asay pitched over five innings in the contest and had three strikeouts before being replaced.
She was on the hill two other times in the round-robin stage, winning both games, throwing five strikeouts, and even recorded a complete-game one-hitter against Venezuela.
She was in the batting line-up once at that World Cup in Florida as a designated hitter, getting two hits in her four plate appearances and both resulted in RBIs for Canada.
Asay also played in the Prince George Senior Baseball League (PGSBL) and has other athletic talents, including suiting up for the Northern Penguins in the South Coast Senior Women’s ‘AA’ Hockey League.
She and her Canadian cohorts will be in Mexico next month, Aug. 18 to 25, for the Women’s Baseball World Cup Qualifier.
Currently, our nation ranks second in the World Baseball-Softball Confederation (WBSC) standings behind Japan, who’ve won the last six tournaments since 2008.
