Canada claim bronze at WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Finals against Mexico

World No. 7 Canada repeated their 2018 success as they secured the bronze medal on Saturday at the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Finals 2024 presented by CARNEXT with a 4-2 victory over No. 5 Mexico at Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay, Canada.

Andréanne Léblanc played a key role in the victory with two doubles and two RBIs.

"It feels great, but I think it's not just me," she said to the WBSC after the game. "We worked as a team for the whole week and got where we wanted to be."

Canada were the youngest team in the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Finals 2024.

"I think we do have a young team, but we also have an experienced team," Léblanc noted. "Some of them haven't had opportunities to play in a World Cup, but a lot of them have been with this team for multiple years, hoping that we could get to this point. Now that we have this under our belt, it gives us a wonderful opportunity to go into the next three-year cycle."

Despite committing 15 errors during the Opening Round and adding two more in the bronze medal game, Canada displayed brilliant defensive plays.

""It was just the players getting into the groove," commented Pluta. "We had the chance to play for a medal and bring some hardware home, keeping it here in Canada. There was no adjustment. We just made a move in left field, switching out Emily Baxter with Tess Sawkins, and Tess made a great play in the sixth. The girls did exactly what they were supposed to. Even though we made a couple of mistakes, they battled through and stuck to who we are."

Léblanc added, "It was just stress. We have a lot of players appearing for the first time in a World Cup. I think we found our way and followed the path we wanted."

Reflecting on the future of women's sports, Léblanc concluded: "A lot of opportunities are coming for women in sports, not just baseball. I think someday we are going to have our big scene."

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The Live Blog has it happened

Canada selected Raine Padgham to start the game on the mound, while Mexico entrusted Marcela Aguilera with pitching duties.

Mexico took the lead in the top of the second inning when Denise Perez homered to deep left field on the first pitch she saw.

Sena Catterall prevented further trouble for Canada with an extraordinary diving catch to capture Diana Ibarra's fly ball.

Andréanne Leblanc hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the second inning but was caught off second base on a grounder by Zoe Hicks, resulting in the first out.

Emily Baxter reached first base by beating Dani Leal to the bag to start the bottom of the third. Sena Catterall advanced her to second with a line-drive single to centre field. Aguilera then hit Madison Willan, loading the bases. Mexico recorded the first out with a force play at the plate on Mia Valcke's grounder to shortstop.

Canada tied the game when Leblanc grounded out to second base. Aguilera walked Hicks, loading the bases with two outs, and hit Ela Day-Bédard, allowing Canada to take the lead. She escaped the inning by striking out Alizée Gélinas.

Kaitlyn Ross led off the bottom of the fourth with a double and advanced to third on a grounder. Aguilera retired Willan with a fly ball to left field to end the inning.

Alexane Fournier replaced Padgham in the top of the fifth. With assistance from Baxter, she secured the first out on Gabriela Sandoval's fly ball.

Canada committed an error, allowing Samaria Benitez to reach second, but Fournier ended the inning with a ground out and a strikeout.

Canada extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Valcke reached on a scoring error and scored when Leblanc drove the second pitch she saw off the centre-field wall for her second double of the day.

Gélinas increased the lead to 4-1 with a two-out single, sending Aguilera to the showers.

Mexico brought Narda Andrade to the mound to close out the inning.

With runners at the corners and two outs, Willan prevented a Mexican run with a diving stop on Marlen Lagunes's sharp grounder, securing the third out at second.

Canada entrusted Sophy Gagne with the top of the seventh.

Mexico put runners on with back-to-back singles by Benitez and DeDe Leija in the top of the seventh. Canada got the force out at second on Dani Leal's grounder but failed to complete the double play. Benitez advanced to third on the play and scored on Liliana Arredondo's infield single.

Gagne walked Denise Perez, loading the bases and putting the potential go-ahead run at first. After a visit from the coach, Gagne induced Diana Ibarra to ground into a force out at third, securing the victory.

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