August 1, 2024

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

A high pressure ball game for Canada with a bronze medal on the line is deja vu for Mia Valcke.

Six years ago, Canada’s starting outfielder was a key part of them leaving the Women’s World Cup with bronze. Valcke (St Marys, Ont.) hit .500 with an RBI to help Canada to a win over Team USA in extras.

Fast forward to Saturday, and Valcke will be back on the diamond for Canada in a bronze medal game against Mexico, this time on home soil at Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay. First pitch is 11 a.m. E.T.

And this time, her impact will come at shortstop.

“I’m really lucky to be here,” Valcke said, who filled a hole Canada needed at the World Cup in her current position at short.

In the six years since her bronze medal win, Valcke has been busy, playing softball for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, and on the academic side, won the Henrik Moberg Parker Memorial Award in Kinesiology in 2021.

In 2019, Valcke competed in the Women’s Softball World Cup and is the second current player on Canada’s baseball roster to also play softball with the national team, the other being third baseman Zoe Hicks (Boissevain, Man.).

In the upcoming medal matchup Saturday morning, Valcke is not the only veteran returnee to the roster. Second base Maddie Willan (Edmonton, Alta.), pitcher Alli Schroder (Fruitvale, BC) and catcher Kaitlyn Ross (Redcliff, Alta.) were also on that 2018 team. Current coaches Kate Psota (Burlington, Ont.) and Ashley Stephenson (Mississauga, Ont.) were also part of that roster, and will help Canada from a different vantage point.

Pride and excitement - Valcke feels both at getting to represent her country for the second time in a World Cup. In the tournament so far, she’s batted .500 in 18 at bats with nine hits for Canada, including a double, three RBIs and a 1.127 OPS.

Back in 2018, Valcke was a starter in that high pressure medal game, and now, will bring that veteran game play to the field Saturday. It’s going to be beneficial for her going into the medal round, Valcke said.

“Having that experience under my belt can hopefully help relieve some pressure, because I know I’ve been there before and we’ve succeeded before, so I think it will help the team,” Valcke said.

The Canadians enter the bronze medal game with a 3-2 record. They started off the World Cup on a high note with a 7-2 win against Mexico on Sunday, then had a tough 7-6 loss to Japan, world ranked number one, in extras, had a lopsided loss to the Team USA 13-4, blanked Venezuela 10-0 and on Thursday, Canada beat Chinese Taipei 9-8 in extras.

Team USA also defeated Japan in extra innings on Thursday, Japan’s first loss in a World Cup since 2012. Team USA and Japan will meet for the gold medal game again on Saturday, while Canada faces Mexico for bronze. Mexico beat Venezuela 3-2 in extra innings to advance to the medal game.

On Thursday, in Canada’s 9-8 win over Chinese-Taipei, Valcke was 5-for-5, knocking in three runs, each one extending or giving her team the lead. Willan (Edmonton, Alta.), who went 3-for-5, and Andréanne Leblanc (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que.) who had a hit, drove in two runs each.

Pei-Chen Huang, Chinese Taipei’s right-fielder, put her team ahead 7-5 in the third inning after hitting a two-run home run to left. She finished the night 2-for-4. Canada’s Sena Catterall (Pierrefonds, Que.), who went 3-for-4 and now has six hits in her last two games, and Lucie Anctil (La Pocatière, Que.) drove in the remaining runs for the hosts.

Sophy Gagné (Sainte-Martine, Que.) was the winning pitcher for Canada, pitching two innings and not allowing a hit. Hsiao-Mei Chen was the losing pitcher.

Approaching Saturday, the Canadians are ready to “give it everything they have,” Valcke said.

They’ll be leaving with a medal, she said, an echo of righthander Schroder’s comments after Canada’s game against the U.S.

“I totally agree with her, we’re not leaving without that medal,” Valcke said. “I’m so confident in this team and our abilities that we’re going to make that happen.”