August 3, 2024

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

Canada’s third baseman Zoe Hicks walked away with her second World Cup medal in one summer, after Canada defeated Mexico 4-2 on Saturday to win bronze at the Women’s Baseball World Cup at Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay, Ont.

A sensational outing by Canada’s starting pitcher Raine Padgham (Abbotsford, B.C.), and two doubles from Andréanne Leblanc (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que.) helped Hicks (Boissevain, Man.) and the Canadians to the victory.

It’s Canada’s second consecutive bronze medal at the Women’s Baseball World Cup. The last came in a game against the U.S. in 2018.

Hicks, however, has won bronze more recently, having just come home from Italy with a bronze at the Women’s Softball World Cup less than a week before the start of the Women’s Baseball World Cup.

She’s the first player to medal at a softball and baseball World Cup in one summer, and was a key piece on their baseball roster, manager Anthony Pluta said.

“She played an integral part of our squad, I know she did for softball as well,” Pluta said after the bronze medal game. “What a cool thing for her to be able to walk away with two medals in two different sports.”

Hicks came up clutch throughout the tournament with runners on base, leaving the Baseball World Cup with six RBIs in five at-bats, including two doubles.

How was the two-time bronze medal winner feeling after the game Saturday?

“Tired to be so honest with you,” Hicks said in a post-game interview. “I am exhausted, I've put my all into both teams, but now that we're done I’m ready for some rest.”

Canada celebrated on the field with a standing ovation from the home crowd after Hicks fielded and recorded the last out of the game at third.

She was concentrating on the play at hand, Hicks said, after the inning got interesting with the bases loaded and Canada narrowly holding onto a two-run lead.

“I was just trying to stay focused and think of one thing at a time,” she said.

Padgham got the start for Canada and was stellar on the mound, going four innings and allowing just one run. Between her two starts, she went 8 ⅔ innings allowing just three runs, two of those coming in her start against Japan.

However, things were uncertain for the right-hander after she left that game against Japan early, holding her right elbow.

She did a lot of work with Canada’s trainers and met with doctors to make sure there was nothing wrong and she didn’t need surgery, she said. It wasn’t until Friday that she ramped it up to a full bullpen again and was asked if she was ready to go for the start.

“I was like ‘yeah I can do this,’” Padgham, 19, said.

Mexico got things going early, with a first pitch home run to start the second by Denise Perez, but that’s the only scoring they would accomplish against Padgham.

Canada got its bats going in the third to take the lead, with Emily Baxter (Oakville, Ont.) starting off the bottom of the third with a leadoff single. Sena Catterall (Pierrefonds, Que.) followed with a single to left-centre field to put runners on first and second with none out. Madison Willan (Edmonton, Alta.) was then hit in the back with a pitch by Mexico starter Maricela Aguillera, loading the bases.

Leblanc grounded out, scoring Catterall for Canada’s first run, tying the score at 1-1. Hicks then walked to load the bases again for Canada with two outs. The next batter, Ela Zoe Day-Bedard (Gatineau, Que.), was hit by a pitch, scoring another run for Canada, to make it 2-1.

Alexane Fournier (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.) took over from Padgham in the top of the fifth, getting out of the inning with no runs and no hits.

It wasn’t until the fifth that Canada would score again. In that frame, Mia Valcke (St. Marys, Ont.) reached on an error and Leblanc cashed her in with her second double of the game, and her fifth of the tournament. A base hit from Alizee Gelinas (Trois-Rivieres, Que.) then scored Leblanc to make it 4-1 for Canada.

Things got dicey in the bottom of the seventh, with Canada holding on to a 4-1 lead with runners at first and second. Mexico cashed one in after an infield hit to Valcke deep in the hole at short. That loaded the bases with two outs.

But a hit to Hicks at third ended the inning, and Canada was able to secure a 4-2 win and head back to their respective homes across the country with a medal in their suitcases.

“It feels so awesome and relieving,” Padgham said.

“I think for us to be able to host and come home with a medal is always a huge deal to be able to celebrate with Canadian fans,” Hicks said.

Pluta added that it was a great way to end the tournament on a high note.

“We played great baseball and couldn't have asked for a better outcome,” he said.