The WA Women's Team has plenty of reasons to celebrate after a bronze medal finish at the 2022 Australian Women's Baseball Championship in Adelaide.

WA went 5-2 overall with back-to-back walk-off victories and 71 total runs scored. The side just missed out on a return to the gold medal game with Wednesday's loss to NSW, the eventual national champions.

Head coach Kurt Russell says WA has a lot to be proud of in this tournament.

"The bronze is a bittersweet one for us, it's certainly rightfully deserved but we felt as though we were in a position to really shake things up this tournament," Russell said. "We really feel as though we had a successful tournament. Bringing home a medal when you take into account that we have a squad with an average age of 21 and only had a 6-week preparation with just two full squad sessions due to COVID restrictions solidified that."

Just getting back to the national stage was a fantastic feeling for the WA Women's Team after three years and a global pandemic.

"I feel as though this tournament was able to create a ton of exposure for women's baseball in Australia. Our 4 hour extra innings walk-off win against SA had a bit of everything and the responses on social media shows that we are starting to reach a bigger audience."

"From our perspective, the biggest takeaway was this squad's ability to deal with adversity. We had a few line in the sand moments this tournament and the playing group's ability to dig deep and respond shows that we are in the process of building something special. The big highlights for us are obviously the back to back walk-off wins, walking away with a medal, and watching the younger girls coming out of their shells and proving they belong at this level."

The team made the most of their individual strengths and came together to form a tight-knit group that was ready for anything.

"One of the main keys to our success this tournament was a clear understanding of player roles and having everyone pulling together to achieve the common goal," Russell explained. "We changed the structure this year to allow the athletes a relaxed environment with more freedoms off the field and that positively transitioned onto the field and was evident by just how close the playing group is and just how much they enjoyed themselves this tournament."

After an action-packed week in Adelaide, the future of women's baseball in WA is bright.

"We have just taken bronze with one of the youngest squads at the tournament and we have a core group of players that have the potential to play together for the next 5-10 years," Russell added. "You couple that with the exciting young junior players that are coming through the program at the moment, and it's clear there is the DNA to build a championship winning culture for years to come. We discussed this as a playing group and there is a hunger/determination amongst this group to make that a reality."

Also, several WA players have been selected for the upcoming Australian Women's Baseball Showcase in Geelong from 5-8 May.

"Kaila Borgomastro and Caitlin Eynon have already been announced on the lead into nationals and we are awaiting the exciting news to come around a number of other WA players and their involvement in the upcoming showcase," Russell said. "It's an exciting time for women's baseball in WA with a number of athletes getting the rightly deserved recognition and opportunities that are coming their way. Hopefully this paves the way for the young girls currently playing in our junior club programs."

Team Australia has finalised its roster for this weekend’s WBSC Oceania U-23 World Cup Qualifier against New Zealand in Canberra.

A 22-player roster has been named for a three-game series at MIT Ballpark starting on Friday at 6pm, with three West Australians making the team.

Congratulations to Bailey-Jay Cooke, Jaxon Limpus, and Maddux Stivey!
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Team Australia will be managed by David Nilsson, and the winner of the three-game series will advance to the October 14-23 World Cup in Taiwan.

Click HERE to view the full roster and see the latest updates from the U-23 Qualifier HERE.

Western Australia bounced back from Wednesday's loss to secure bronze at the 2022 Australian Women’s Baseball Championship on Thursday night.
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Yuki Ishikawa tossed a gem and WA’s offence made the most of its chances to complete a 3-0 win over Queensland Maroon on diamond one.

GAME CENTRE: Box score and play-by-play
#AWBC2022 HUB: Results, schedule, standings & latest news

Ishikawa scattered five hits across seven shutout innings without a walk. The right-hander hit two batters with pitches but avoided scoreboard damage.

Kelsey Brennan drove in runs in the first and second to give WA an early 2-0 lead.

Brennan twice capitalised on Kaila Borgomastro's lead-off singles, driving in the first run with a ground ball and making it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.

A Ishikawa ground ball put WA up 3-0 in the fifth as the team made the most of their chances while keeping QLD Maroon off the board despite six hits.

Amanda Torrington collected two hits. She allowed three hits in a six-inning start with four strikeouts.

Congratulations to  the WA Women's Team on a fantastic tournament and giving every game their best shot. Well done WA!

Western Australia will play for bronze to close out the 2022 Australian Women’s Baseball Championship after a 12-2 loss to NSW on day six.

GAME CENTRE: Box score and play-by-play
#AWBC2022 HUB: Results, schedule, standings & latest news

Both sides were 4-1 going into the matchup to decide who would advance to Thursday's gold medal game v Victoria.

NSW took an early 2-0 lead but WA tied it up in the fourth. The level score didn't last long as NSW managed four runs in the fifth and another six in the last frame.

WA starter Caitlin Eynon recorded two key strikeouts to get out of a jam in the fourth before Meahgan Haggert scored on an error and Yuki Ishikawa singled to even the score.

NSW went on to score the next 10 runs, racking up 14 hits total while WA had six.

Tomorrow's bronze medal game between WA and Queensland Maroon will be broadcast on Facebook and baseball.com.au starting at 2:30pm AWST.
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Live scoring links for all games, along with results, standings and latest news, can be accessed at the #AWBC2022 event hub.

Western Australia took care of Queensland Development on Tuesday to stay on course for a second-straight gold medal game appearance in the Australian Women’s Baseball Championship.

After back-to-back walk-off wins, WA avoided another tense finish, recording a 23-7 win on diamond two. They jumped out to a 7-0 first-inning lead and added eight second-inning runs.

GAME CENTRE: Box score and play-by-play
#AWBC2022 HUB: Results, schedule, standings & latest news

WA did not let up, continuing to add runs throughout to secure a fourth-straight win after falling to Victoria in their opening game of the tournament.

Meahgan Haggert, Joneen Houghton, and Faith Neretlis each drove in three runs for Western Australia.

Houghton went 4-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored.
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Kaila Borgomastro collected three hits and a pair of RBIs at the top of the order.

WA closes out its opening round slate against New South Wales, with the winner moving on to the gold medal game.

The game will be broadcast at baseball.com.au from 2:30pm AWST.

Live scoring links for all games, along with results, standings and latest news, can be accessed at the #AWBC2022 event hub.