THUNDER BAY – Port Arthur Stadium is quickly becoming one of the favourite ballparks for the Mexico national women’s baseball team.
A year ago, the program clinched a spot in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Women’s Baseball World Cup for the first time by finishing in third place in the Group A group stage event in Thunder Bay.
Then on Tuesday, Mexico earned their first-ever win at the tournament by defeating Chinese Taipei by a score of 9-3.
“Honestly, I love Canada and I love Thunder Bay,” Mexico captain Dani Leal said.
“This place holds a pretty special in my heart because of what it represents for us since last year. We were excited to come back here and to be able to compete here.”
Mexico dropped a pair of games to open the tournament. They fell 7-2 to Canada on Sunday night and came out on the wrong end of an 11-1 six-inning affair with the United States on Monday afternoon.
Those losses gave the squad extra motivation when they took the field against Chinese Taipei.
“We don’t want to be the underdog here, even though a lot of people see us that way,” Leal said. “We’ve been working for the last six years to be able to be here and to be able to compete against these teams.”
Down 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, Mexico came roaring to life with a four-run frame to take a 5-2 lead.
They posted four more runs in the sixth inning, with the highlight coming when Marlen Lagunes hit a two-run home run to left field for the first round-tripper of the entire tournament.
“We’ve been ready to play ever since we got here and it’s really satisfying to get that first win,” Leal said.
What makes this tournament experience a special one for Mexico is the fact that they were supposed to make their first appearance at the event in 2020.
They were scheduled to serve as the hosts of the competition in Monterrey, but that event was rescheduled to be held in Tijuana in March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 event was eventually cancelled that October.
“When everything happened, we were all pretty bummed out to not be hosting and get the chance to play,” Leal said.
“Then when we got back on the field, we were so excited to play again and earn our spot in the field.”
Mexico (1-2) returns to action at 11 a.m. Wednesday against the six-time defending tournament champion Japan (3-0), with their last round-robin game coming against Venezuela (1-2) at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
While the team is hoping to play for a medal on Saturday, Leal said that the long-term goal for the squad is to make an impact back home.
“This has been a dream of mine since I was seven years old and to be able to fulfill that when I’m 35 means a lot,” Leal said.
“I hope to give girls around the world, but especially in Mexico, a dream of their own to chase. If they can dream about it, they can make it happen.”
A full schedule for the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup can be found on the event’s website.
Tickets for the tournament can be purchased at Port Arthur Stadium or online.