Kelly Gunn - 2004 - One World Cup Wonders

2023 will see the return of the WBSC women’s baseball world cup for the first time since 2018, so to coincide with this, this season will focus on each of the eight World Cups held since 2004 …….. but with a twist! 

A little background before we dive in. Less than 70 Australian women have donned the green and gold for Australia at a World Cup. 

I was privileged and honoured to represent Australia at the first six World Cups between 2004 and 2014 and it got me thinking about all the great team mates I had, many of which played one World Cup. 

Sometimes I hear people say “I only played one… they only played one….’ And I figured we need to stop using the word ‘only’... cos I reckon that to reach the heights of national team selection, whether it is for one, or 6,  or eight World Cups, well, you can play! 

So for this upcoming eight-episode series, I will be sharing the stories of some of Australia’s One Cup Wonders. Eight amazing women who represented Australia at one of these World Cups!  

For the first episode, we head back to the inaugural World Cup in Canada in 2004 to hear Kelly Gunn’s story. 

A right-handed pitcher from NSW, Kelly Gunn shares her baseball journey which took her from a 13-year-old playing with the boys in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire to one of the country’s leading pitchers in the early 2000s including being the winning pitcher in New South Wales’ first ever Nationals victory in 2003 and on the mound when Australia recorded its first ever victory over Japan at World Cup. 

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