Soggy but successful start for Canada, defeats Mexico 9-1 at Women's Baseball World Cup qualifiers

If the members of Canada's national women's baseball team had any jitters heading into its first game of the 2023 Women's Baseball World Cup Qualifiers on Tuesday night, they sure didn't show it.

The squad overcame both its on-field opposition and a lengthy rain delay to beat Mexico 9-1 at Baseball Central in Thunder Bay, Ont.

"We stayed loose, I think that was the important thing," said head coach Anthony Pluta . "You try and keep it loose, so they can stay loose and not worry too much, and then come out and be aggressive. It was good."

The rain delay added an extra challenge for the Canadians first game. 

"It's difficult," Pluta said. "You've gotta sit for 90 minutes, and try and come out and play."

Canada starting pitcher Raine Padgham kept a brisk, three-up-three-down pace for the first three innings. In fact, she didn't allow Mexico a hit or a baserunner until the fourth inning. In the meantime, Canada had got on the board early, picking up runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead.

"It was mainly just work quick," Padgham said of her thought process on the mound during those early innings.

"First game of this tournament is always nerve wracking for everyone, especially on the mound," she said. "So I was thinking about just working, and making sure that I don't give myself enough time to overthink or think about anything that I did wrong."

Mexico did capitalize on that fourth-inning hit, converting it into a run and making the score 2-1 in favour of Team Canada.

But whatever momentum Padgham had built up was brought to a thunderous halt as a storm system moved in, with heavy rain forcing a lengthy delay.

When play resumed under a light drizzle shortly after 10 p.m. ET Canada's offence took off, scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth, and one more in the bottom of the sixth, making the final 9-1.

A big contributor to the night's success was Madison Willan, who ended the game with four RBIs.

"Mexico has really good pitching," she said. "You're gonna see a lot of different speeds, and you just go up there and you just try to hit the ball hard."

"Luckily, that turned into hits."

The first-game win is a big one as Canada turns its focus to the rest of the tournament, Willan said.

"Winning the first game is huge, and now that we have that under our belts, we're just going to keep building off that," she said. "All the first game jitters are out, and then you're ready to roll and keep it going."

Canada plays its second game of the tournament against Hong Kong at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Before that USA will face Korea at 11:30 a.m. ET, and Mexico will take on Australia at 3:30 p.m. ET

All of Wednesday's games are set for Baseball Central.

In other qualifier action on Tuesday, Hong Kong beat South Korea 9-8, while USA topped Australia 3-2. Next year's Women's Baseball World Cup will also be played in Thunder Bay.