The baseball diamond is a very special place for Amanda Asay.
The 31-year-old from Prince George will be looking to throw some heat for Team Canada from the pitcher’s mound as she was named to the Canadian national women’s team once again.
Asay is the most experienced player on the team having been named to the roster every year since 2005.
She tells MyPGNow.com getting the call to represent your country never gets old.
“I have been doing it for a long time and I am honoured they keep taking me back. I am looking forward to spending the time in Mexico and this is our first ever World Cup qualifier.”
Asay and Team Canada will be making the trek to Mexico from August 18-25 where the Canadians are ranked second in the world according to the World Baseball-Softball Confederation standings only behind Japan, who’ve won the last six tournaments since 2008.
“We’ll have to go in there and not take anyone lightly. We need to put our game faces on and make sure we put on a good show – we do feel pretty confident despite the turnover on our team this year but it should give the new players some experience.”
It’s been a storied journey for Asay who has cherished every opportunity to travel the globe and enjoy the game she loves.
“Representing your country is a fantastic feeling, it never gets old. Being able to travel the world where I have been to seven World Cup going to countries like Japan, Taiwan, Venezuela, South Korea, Canada, and the United States and I have also travelled to Cuba so it’s been a pretty amazing experience playing the sport you love.”
During those seven World Cups, Asay has accumulated two silver and three bronze medals and also had the chance to dawn the Canadian jersey at the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto, where Canada fell in the gold medal against the US.
Her best performance at the World Cup came in 2006 where she was named a tournament all-star logged a .500 batting average while accumulating nine RBI’s.
One of her three bronze medals came at last year’s Women’s World Cup in Florida where they dispatched the arch-rival Americans 8-5.
If the Canadians place high enough in the qualifying tournament they will be eligible for the 2020 World Cup.