Have glove, bat and dream, will travel.
The Langford Lightning Under-16A girls’ softball team has qualified for the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Fastpitch Alliance Nationals in Westfield and Kokomo, Indiana, which begin Monday with a game against the Carolina Elites, with university and college scouts expected from more than 200 NCAA teams.
The breakout Lightning player is pitching sensation Ruby Anderson, who made her Canadian senior national team debut this summer to play alongside the likes of veterans such as Tokyo Olympics bronze-medallist Emma Entzminger of Victoria on the Tokyo Celebration Tour, which included the sa国际传媒 Cup at Softball City in Surrey. Anderson, from Saanichton, is an emerging name to watch next year for the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if women’s softball returns after being left off the agenda for Paris 2024.
The Lightning qualified for the USSSA Alliance Nationals by placing second in the qualifying tournament in Kent, Washington. That was after playing in elite tournaments this season in Oregon, Tennessee and Colorado as the Langford side has played 90 games so far with a 65-22-3 record with the USSSA Alliance Nationals this week and Canadian championships in Montreal next month to come. Langford placed second at the sa国际传媒 championships to qualify for nationals along with the champion Fraser Valley Fusion 06.
“With so much travel this year, we have become a true team,” said Lightning head coach Chad Bryden.
“This group has really come together and is strong one through nine. We are well balanced with pitching, hitting and base running and our biggest asset is that we play as a team. It’s just a great group of kids.”
And talented, with a handful likely to draw NCAA Div. 1 interest, with Anderson pretty much automatic. The leading batters on the team are Kalea Gillis and Peyton Bryden. Providing solid support behind Anderson in the pitching circle are Brynn Fortier and Kaliyah St Amand. Marin Jorgenson, Emma Pepin, Makena Aune, Jenna Lehman and Courtney Haslam are other key players.
“Four or five of these players will play in the U.S.,” predicted Bryden.
