Women’s Baseball - The Inside Pitch
Join Amy McCann, Team Australia alumni (2002-2014) and 6-time WBSC World Cup representative, for a trip around the bases with some of women’s baseball’s elite players and coaches, in addition to a host of trailblazing women making their way in baseball all across the world. Learn what got them into baseball, how and where they developed their passion for the game, about their challenges and motivations, and what drives them each day.
Listen on:
Episodes
Friday Feb 04, 2022
Friday Feb 04, 2022
S02 E02 - Tahnee Lovering - Australia
When you’ve spent 18 years at the highest level of any sport, one thing is clear, you must be one of the very best in the game.
And Sydney’s Tahnee Lovering is just that.
Tahnee was hooked on baseball from the age of 6 and instantly fell in love with catching.
Selected to make her National Championships debut with New South Wales at 16 as a bullpen catcher, in a cinderella story, just six months later, Tahnee found herself in the green and gold of Australia, and one of the youngest players at the 2004 World Series and World Cup.
Since 2004, Tahnee has amassed one of world baseball’s most stunning resumes including contesting seven World Cups for Australia, winning silver and bronze medals, being selected to the 2016 all-world team, plus a host of national titles with New South Wales.
But between the list of accolades is one of the most inspirational stories of hard work and fierce determination. Tahnee discusses her start in the sport, setbacks, fightbacks, her favourite memories and just how she has spent 18 years at the top in one of the most brutal positions in all of world sport.
Full disclosure, I did put her on the spot by asking her to name the best pitcher she has ever caught too…. and I fully appreciate the magnitude of the question days later after she has messaged me asking me to read a long list of names of people she didn’t say… so that’s on me, I will apologize to everyone she has ever caught too!
Anyway, it was an absolute privilege to share the field with Tahnee at multiple world cups for Australia and be a part of her amazing career as a teammate and rival.
And it is my honour to share her story with you today.
Thursday Jan 20, 2022
Thursday Jan 20, 2022
17-year-old Australian Genevieve Beacom made history in January 2022 as the first female pitcher for an Australian professional baseball team.
Gen took to the mound in the sixth inning for the Melbourne Aces in the team's Melbourne Challenge Series game against the Adelaide Giants. She pitched a scoreless inning without giving up a hit at Melbourne Ballpark.
It wasn't the first time however that Gen has become the first girl or woman to break a new barrier or set a new milestone in baseball with the Melbourne pitcher also boasting the honours of being the first woman to pitch in a Victorian Summer League division one game, the first girl selected to a Victorian U16 team and to play for Australia at the Cal Ripken Series.
Listen to Gen's story about this memorable night, about why she chose baseball, why she loves the sport, and what the future holds!
#WomensBaseballInsidePitch #WomensBaseball #InsidePitch
Monday Sep 27, 2021
Monday Sep 27, 2021
#WomensBaseballInsidePitch Up next on The Inside Pitch, I head to Europe, Rotterdam in The Netherlands to be specific, to chat with five-time World Cup veteran Loes Asmus.Loes chats about her start in baseball at seven years of age, before a switch her sport of choice to softball as there were no opportunities in the Netherlands for girls to keep playing baseball as a teenager. Loes was part of the inaugural Dutch National Team in 2010, and her journey has included five World Cups, the first European Women's Championships and a trip to play ball down under.
Apple iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/womens-baseball-the-inside-pitch/
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/7JUNZohOnJcnPwblYtRpxV?si=P-76Qs_JQYGuO-pp1GKfXA
Podbean https://womensbaseballinsidepitch.podbean.com/
#WomensBaseball #WomeninBaseball #WomenInSport
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
2021 signifies the twentieth anniversary of the inaugural Women's World Series held in July of 2001.
The World Series, which was won by the USA and featured games at the Toronto SkyDome, was the precursor of the Women's World Cup as we know it today.
The first episode in a special three-part series on the World Series featured Donna Mills of the USA, with episode two featuring Canada’s Kate Psota.
At just 15 years of age, Kate was one of the youngest at the World Series, and credits the experience in launching her international career which boasts a record eight World Cup appearances including six medals!
Amy McCann caught up with Kate to talk all things World Series, World Cup, her move from player to coach and more!
Key Links
Baseball Canada Women's National Team
Olympic Team Canada Kate Psota
Women's Baseball World Series
Psota announces retirement from Canada Women’s Baseball National Team
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Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
#WomensBaseballInsidePitch In celebration of the 2021 Women In Baseball Week which runs July 25-31, and in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the inaugural Women's World Series held in July 2001, we bring to you a special three-part mini-podcast series!
The theme of Women In Baseball Week in 2021 is 'Breaking Barriers: Women in Baseball Around the World' and the 2001 Women's World Series did just that!
In 2000, American Jim Glennie made a call to Japanese, Canadian and Australian baseball representatives asking them to travel to Canada to play an international women’s tournament.
The World Series, which was won by the USA and featured games at the Toronto SkyDome, was the precursor of the Women's World Cup as we know it today.
The first episode in this series features Donna Mills of the USA. Donna took part in the 2001 World Series and credits the tournament for launching her baseball career that boasts dual World Cup gold in 2004 and 2006, in addition to World Cup MVP honours in 2006.
Amy McCann caught up with Donna to discuss her beginnings in the game, breaking college softball records, her World Cup feats and what she remembers of that first World Series all these years later!
#womeninbaseballweek
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
For Episode 6, we travelled to Ota City, Gunma prefecture, about 80 kilometres outside of Tokyo, to chat with Chelsea Forkin!
From her start as the 2003 Baseball.com.au Women's Nationals batgirl to the 2004 World Cup Baseball All-World Team, onto numerous World Championships with Softball Australia and a USA Pro Softball career, before returning to the Team Australia Baseball in 2016, Chelsea's resume with either bat and ball is one to be envied.
And on July 1, she was named to the Australian Olympic Team 15-woman softball squad for Tokyo 2020!
#WomensBaseballInsidePitch #WomensBaseball #WomenInSport #womeninbaseball #Softball #Tokyo2020
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
#WomensBaseballInsidePitch Episode 5 has dropped!
After travelling from Australia to the USA, over to the UK, back across to Canada, this week we are off to the land of the rising sun - Japan!
We chat with five-time World Cup rep Risa Nakashima who started her Team Japan playing career in 2002 before going on to win four world titles between 2008 and 2014.
Moving into the coaching ranks, Risa was an assistant coach for Team Japan in 2016 and Team Australia in 2018.
For the 2020/21 World Cup (fingers crossed we see it played soon) Risa will aim to lead Japan to a seventh straight World Cup gold as the Women’s National Team Head Coach.
Enjoy!
Search "Women’s Baseball - The Inside Pitch" or visit:
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🎧 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/7JUNZohOnJcnPwblYtRpxV?si=FFvYo6jvSNOxL8UdGSWAfQ
🎧 Podbean https://womensbaseballinsidepitch.podbean.com/
#WomensBaseball #InsidePitch
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
#WomensBaseballInsidePitch Episode 4 - Bonjour fans!
Bienvenue to episode four of Women's Baseball, The Inside Pitch which features Canadian National Women’s Team member Daphnee Gelinas.
24yo Daphnee, who hails from Canada's mostly French-speaking Québec province, talks with us about how she got started in the sport in Canada (teaser - she is actually a leftie who decided to switch so she could catch!), juggling training in sub-zero degree temperatures, her rise through the ranks of the national team, her amazing performance at the 2018 World Cup and a whole lot more women’s baseball!!
#WomensBaseball #InsidePitch
Links
USA v Canada 2018 World Cup Bronze medal Game
Canadian Girls Baseball
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Tuesday May 18, 2021
Tuesday May 18, 2021
For episode three of women’s baseball the inside pitch, we travel to Cornwall, a town located on England’s most southwestern tip to catch up with Amanda, Doris, Hocking.
It was pretty obvious to most who knew her that Amanda was destined to make a difference in the world of baseball.
After getting her first baseball ball and glove at age 7, she took it to school and convinced them to switch from rounders to baseball.
And from little things, big things grow. Over the last few years, Amanda founded Women’s Baseball UK (WB-UK), was named first General Manager of the GB Women’s Team and has overseen the development of the Women's Baseball UK League which begins May 22!
Amanda also shares with us how she credits baseball with saving her life, and we discuss the aftermath of “that post” that dominated social media.
So sit back, grab a cup of tea, and enjoy episode three of women’s baseball the inside pitch.
Links
Women’s Baseball UK https://www.wbuk.co.uk/
British Federation launches Women's Baseball league, names Amanda Hocking first National Team manager
https://www.wbsc.org/news/historic-british-federation-launches-womens-baseball-league-names-amanda-hocking-first-national-team-manager
British Baseball Federation apologises for "pain and distress" caused by Women's Baseball League image https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1107399/british-baseball-federation-apologises
Baseball in Britain Confronts Issues With Sexism https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/sports/baseball/britain-amanda-doris-hocking.html
#WomensBaseballInsidePitch #WomensBaseball #WomenInSport #InsidePitch
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Tuesday May 04, 2021
My next guest for episode two needs no introduction, mainly because to do so would take longer than the podcast interview!
But I wanted to provide a snapshot of what is fast becoming of the most impressive baseball resumes going around, and it is not even close to being complete.
To summarise, as a player she was a collegiate softball player with Villanova, a 4 time World Cup representative for USA Baseball Women’s National Team & won two medals.
As a coach, she took over the Head Coach role of the USA Women’s National Team Coach in 2019 and has been a member of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball coaching staff since 2019.
And of course, because she is simply a superwoman, she is a firefighter by trade!
I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did with Veronica Alvarez.
Links
USA Baseball usabaseball.com
2019 Pan Pacific Gold usabaseball.com/news/topic/womens/team-usa-wins-gold-at-copabe-pan-american-championships
Alvarez Oakland Athletics mlb.com/news/veronica-alvarez-coaching-in-athletics-camp
A game of their own - Jennifer Ring booktopia.com.au/a-game-of-their-own-jennifer-ring/book
Stolen Bases - Jennifer Ring https://www.amazon.com.au/Stolen-Bases-American-Girls-Baseball
MLB Trailblazer mlb.com/trailblazer-series
MLB Breakthrough Series mlb.com/breakthrough-series
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