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(Baseball Canada)
on the world stage

Lalor continuing impressive year of baseball with Team Canada nod

Jul 26, 2019 | 11:44 AM

One of Red Deer’s best and brightest young baseball players is once again set to don the maple leaf.

Kelsey Lalor, 21, who recently began playing with the Sunburst League’s Red Deer Riggers (men’s AAA), has been named to Canada’s national women’s team.

The squad will compete August 18-25 at the COPABE Women’s Baseball World Cup qualifying tournament in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Lalor, now in her seventh year as a member of the national club, says representing her country never gets old.

“It’s always an incredible experience. Playing for your country is an irreplaceable feeling,” she says. “There’s not many people that get to do it. Getting to go back there now as one of the veterans, it’ll be fun for sure.”

This year marks the first time ever there will be the need for a Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament because there are more teams.

Lalor, who has already played in three World Cup tournaments, credits the growth of the women’s game to a number of things.

“It’s grown across the country and the world, and part of it is some of the exposure,” she says. “When we go to a World Cup, the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation), our national team, the US, Australia, do such a good job of promoting.”

Canada is number two in the WBSC Women’s Baseball world rankings, and came third in last year’s World Cup in Florida after defeating the USA in the bronze medal game.