AJAX — Few in women’s baseball can appreciate how far the sport has come over the years like Ashley Stephenson can.
Since the Canadian program began in 2004, Stephenson, the third baseman who doubles as a gym teacher in Burlington, Ont., has been a part of it. Now with a Pan American silver medal around her neck here in Ajax, where her sport made its debut at these Games, she’s looking down and kicking at the dirt with her running shoe, trying to hold back tears just minutes after Canada dropped an 11-3 decision to the rival Americans.
“I said to the girls, ‘Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but in a year or so, we’ll be proud of this medal,’” Stephenson said, tears in her eyes, voice shaking. “We’re really disappointed today, but this was a huge opportunity for us.”
That’s an understatement.
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Before this tournament, women’s baseball players had one tournament every other year to look forward to: A World Cup. The Pan American Games represent another stage for them to showcase their talent, even if it’s only every four years.
And that they did. In the bottom of the sixth, for example, American third baseman Michelle Snyder hit one off the top of the left-field wall to score the final run of the game. The wall here is 401 yards away at centre, just like at a lot of MLB parks.
Snyder joked afterwards that she had to “hit the weight room” to turn that into a home run.
Canada got off to a terrible start. After stranding three runners on base in the top of the first, the Americans came to the plate and did what Canada couldn’t. Pitcher Sarah Hudek ripped a single to right field to score two. And the hits kept coming, forcing pitcher Vanessa Riopel from the mound after just six batters.
But it looked like Canada was going to make a game of it, with a three-run effort in the top of the fourth to make it 5-3.
“We have strong bats throughout the lineup,” said Team Canada’s DH Amanda Asay, who came in to pitch and also played first base in the final. (The 27-year-old from Prince George, B.C., is working on a PhD and got the time off to play in this tournament. She thanks her supervisor for that.) “There was definitely a chance we could come back,” she said. “I think those first three runs gave us a bit of a starting point, but we couldn’t quite capitalize.”
As manager Andre Lachance put it, “the big hit never came.”
“With the U.S., we cannot make any mistakes. To their credit, they played a better game today,” he said. “Every time they had runners in scoring position they scored a runner, which we failed to do.”
The Canadians could only watch as the Americans jump-hugged on the mound after the final out, and dumped a Gatorade bin full of ice water on their manager, Jonathan Pollard, and posed for a team picture with their flag.
Team Canada wore black jerseys in the game and then had to wear sweat pants and jackets for the medal ceremony in 30-degree heat. They wore thin smiles as they received their silver medals and stuffed Pachi dolls. (The stuffed mascots the medallists get are extra special: They wear medals, too). The real smiles came when they tipped their hats to the sold-out crowd of more than 4,000 here.
That was the positive to take out of Sunday: Women’s baseball, especially when Canada and the U.S. clashed, drew a good crowd.
“We sincerely hope that people realize that those guys can play baseball, we’re not softball,” Lachance said. “And we sincerely hope also that we’re gonna remain a Pan Am sport because of this bunch of outstanding individuals.
“Every time we talk about women’s baseball, every time we see women’s baseball for the first time, like you guys, you’re amazed by the level of competition we can put on the field.”
Asay’s hope is that young girls who saw this tournament will pick up the game, and the ones that play won’t feel pressure to switch to softball.
“Hopefully these little girls see us playing with each other and against each other, all women, so they keep striving for that,” she said. “That would be ideal.”
The American players could’ve gone on and on about their big win, but they didn’t. The focus was how good this showcase was for the sport.
“We’re the best in the world, and we showed it today,” Hudek said. “I feel this is a huge step for women’s baseball, showing we can be as good as any guys team out there. Our class, both sides. What a great game.”
Team Canada probably doesn’t agree with that last point.
Canada and the U.S. were 4-4 head-to-head before today’s matchup. The Americans now have the edge.
It’s back to real life for most of these women, now. Back to school and back to work. Canadian pitcher Autumn Mills is a police officer, and she’s working the midnight shift tomorrow. Most of these women used up all their vacation days to play in this tournament.
“We love to play ball,” Stephenson said. “You can call it a sacrifice, or an opportunity. Maybe both.”