Surrey/Abbotsford – Canada has finalized its 2023 national team roster that will compete in the upcoming Canada Cup International Softball Championship July 7th-16th at Softball City in Surrey and central to the team’s success will be 8 players from the Surrey and Fraser Valley Region.
Canada Cup tickets are now on sale: https://canadacup.com/tickets-2023/
For more information about the tournament visit: www.CanadaCup.com
Pitcher Sara Groenewegen from White Rock was a key member of the team that won bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, throwing three shutout innings. She also won gold in 2015 at the Pan American Games. She has been part of the Canada women’s national softball team for a decade. Groenewegen plays professional softball with the Canadian Wild in Illinois and with Athletes Unlimited. She attended Elgin Park Secondary and then the University of Minnesota, where she was a three-time All-American.
Larissa Franklin of Maple Ridge won bronze with Team Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and a silver medal at the WBSC Americas Pan American Championship. The outfielder’s resume also includes a silver with the WBSC Americas Qualifier in 2013 and bronze at the WBSC Women’s Softball World Championships in 2016 and 2018. In addition, Franklin helped the team win gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and silver at the 2019 Pan Am Games.
Kelsey Harshman, from Delta, won bronze for Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The infielder also won bronze at the 2018 WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship in Japan. Harshman has a degree in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Wisconsin where she started every game while playing for the Badgers from 2015-2018. She also set school records for on base percentage (.527), runs (180), and walks (181).
Callum Pilgrim from Abbotsford is head coach of the Lindsey Wilson College Blue Raiders softball team in Kentucky, which is also her alma mater. Pilgrim was an alternate for Canada at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She played for Canada on the 2022 Celebration Tour and the Canada Cup International Softball Championships. Pilgrim is a graduate of W.J. Mouat Secondary.
Langley’s Morgan Reimer is a rising star in the softball world, making her Canadian National team debut at Softball City this summer. The powerhouse right-hander turned heads at last year’s Canada Cup, dominating in the pitcher’s circle helping Team B.C. capture the Under-19 Futures Gold Division despite being the youngest member of the team at just 15-years old.
Infielder Grace Messmer from Cloverdale has been named to the roster for another year. Messmer started 42 games this past season for the Beavers at Oregon State University, hitting .290 with five runs batted in and four double. Messmer, a graduate of Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary, won silver with the 2022 Pan-Am Games Team.
Kianna Jones from Surrey plays outfield for UNC-Chapel Hill. In 2022, Jones was a bench coach for the Macron Bacon, the first ever female coach with the Coastal Plain League, a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league. Jones attended Burnsview Senior Secondary. She is a three-time provincial state champion and two- time national champion with Surrey Storm 2001A.
Madelyn McKinnon from Surrey plays catcher/ infielder with McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. She played for the White Rock Renegades ’04 and is a graduate of Semiahmoo Secondary School.
After a very successful career as a player, Jenn Salling from Port Coquitlam returns as assistant coach. Among Salling’s many accomplishments—a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics where she led Team Canada with a .571 batting average and hit one homerun.
