Canadian Pan Am women's baseball team taking on youthful look
Eccles, Lalor part of next generation of athletes
Claire Eccles' passion for baseball didn't develop in the conventional way. It started with a video game.
Eccles, one of two 17-year-olds on the Canadian women's baseball team, was introduced to the sport by playing "Backyard Baseball 2003" when she was five.
"I had been playing T-ball and I got the video game for my birthday and actually learned all the rules from that," the left-handed pitcher said in an interview from her home in Surrey, B.C. "That's how it all started."
Eccles and outfielder Kelsey Lalor of Red Deer, Alta., are part of a new generation of baseball players benefiting from the growth of the women's game.
Both could have prominent roles for Canada at next month's Pan American Games as women's baseball makes its debut in a multi-sport event.
"It's really exciting seeing women's baseball make it to the Games," said Eccles, who throws a two-seam fastball, a curveball and occasionally a knuckleball if her finger nails are long enough. "I'm really excited about the progress the sport has had.
"I never would've thought women's baseball would be in the Pan Am Games but here we are."
Teens familiar with international pressure
While barely out of high school — Eccles finished the last of her Grade 12 exams on Wednesday — competing at the international level is nothing new to her.
Both Eccles and Lalor were part of the women's World Cup team that finished fourth in Japan last September. Lalor also suited up for Canada in a friendly against Japan a year earlier, when she was just 15.
"It's been incredible so far," Lalor said of her exposure to the national team. "Everything I've been able to be a part of, it's been so much fun. These are life-changing experiences and I wouldn't trade them in for anything."
Eccles, who will play softball at UBC next year as she begins an arts degree, admitted to being intimidated initially by some of the older women on the national team.
Players like 32-year-old Ashley Stephenson of Mississauga, Ont., and 29-year-old Kate Psota of Burlington, Ont., have been with the program since its inception in 2004.
But it didn't take long for Eccles to feel included in the older group. After a poor debut outing in Japan, she received some words of encouragement from fellow pitcher Melissa Armstrong of Saskatoon.
"I went back to the dugout and was super upset and Melissa came up to me right away," Eccles said. "It was nice because she told me she had gone through something similar and she really made me feel better.
"All the women have been great. They share their experiences of being on the team, playing baseball in general, they give me tips. It's been very helpful."
Veterans help youth develop
Lalor says playing with and against older women has helped her own development.
"I can see how they deal with different types of situations and that's what I've found to be the best part," the Grade 11 student said. "They have a different mentality just being around the international game as long as they have. They understand a lot of situations better than younger kids and they know how to handle everything.
"You get to watch the different leaders on the team and you learn a lot from them."
When they're not training with the national squad, Eccles and Lalor play in boys' leagues in their respective cities.
Lalor, the only girl in her league, described it as "a totally different world," but a positive one, too.
"I've grown up playing with these kids, so they've accepted me as one of their teammates," she said.
With school winding down, both girls are eager to get to Ajax, Ont., where the Pan Am baseball tournament will be held from July 20 to 26.
Canada, ranked fourth in the world by the International Baseball Federation, will compete against No. 2 United States, No. 5 Venezuela, No. 8 Cuba and No. 10 Puerto Rico.
"I'm definitely looking forward to putting on the Canada jersey again and representing my country," Lalor said. "That's the most incredible feeling ever."