Love of the game keeps the only woman to play in every World Cup coming back

THUNDER BAY, Ontario -- In 2004, at the first WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup, 19-year-old Australian infielder Shae Lillywhite was there. Just a teenager at the time, Lillywhite went on to lead the tournament with a .556 average. She hasn't missed a World Cup with the Emeralds since, becoming the only woman to appear in all nine Women's Baseball World Cups.

Despite 21 years, eight more World Cups, and professional experience in Japan -- Lillywhite was the first Australian to sign in the Japanese league -- her first competition with Australia stands out.

"I actually remember it clearer than a lot [of things]," Lillywhite told MLB.com about her first experience with the national team in 2001. "I was only 16 and I had a team full of women that just loved to play the game. I just learned from them and I got cared about and loved and supported. I remember being a little bit nervous, but I just wanted to play."

A trailblazer in the sport, Lillywhite was called up to the national team just as Australia's women's baseball team was in its infancy. Without an interest in playing softball and living in a town without a women's baseball team -- a sad fact for many women playing today -- she played Pony League baseball in California in her early teens. It was there she realized she had the talent to compete on the global stage, getting to make her debut at the Women's Baseball World Series -- a precursor to the World Cup -- at the SkyDome in Toronto.

"I was with all the boys and I just thought, 'Yeah, I can play,'" Lillywhite said. "And then I came back [to Australia] in 2000, 2001, when we had the first Australian [women's team.] They came to Canada, actually. So, we played in that and it just flowed on from there. I think I got lucky with my age and when it all started."

After the 2020 tournament in Mexico was canceled due to the pandemic, Lillywhite had some concern that she wouldn't be at this tournament. It's been a five-year break since Australia's last international tournament -- a lifetime for an athlete. Add in Lillywhite's full-time job as a myotherapist and it complicates things further.

"It was a big effort for me to get back after 2018 to get back to here. And I'm just really excited to still be a part of the group and still being able to contribute. And, yeah, it's come a long way. It's certainly evolved and changed a little bit over time. I still keep coming back because I really love to participate in such a high level sport."

It wasn't just a question of physical ability, though. Five years without lining up for an international game exacts a mental toll on a player who must continue to train as if there are games to play. It's almost a relief to be back on the field despite all the pressure of a win-or-go-home competition.

"The mental side of it to try to get through the last five years has been a big thing," Lillywhite said. "It's just great to be back in the green and gold for us and trying to give it a go."

Though Lillywhite may not be the star of the team any longer, she embraces any role that has her near the field, playing the sport that she loves and helping the next generation of Australian ballplayers reach their height. With 14 new players to the roster from the last World Cup, her spot on the team is even more important.

"Those players can go to Shae and draw on her experiences as an international player and the career that she had," Australian manager Jason Pospishil said before Saturday's contest versus Canada. "She's been a great presence to have around the team and great in the clubhouse, so it's been a huge, huge advantage for us to have her here."

"Over time you just learn you play a role. All the time you just play a role and you be part of the team," Lillywhite said about her new place as the team's super-utility player. "I think once you're part of the team, you feel everything everyone feels, so it's the same scenario whether you're playing or not."

It's remarkable humility from a player so beloved by her teammates, coaches, and players around the sport. Lillywhite not only shares her expertise with the Emeralds, but is head coach of the Springvale Lions women's team, who have become the class of the Victoria Summer Baseball League. She's helped women's baseball grow not just around the globe, but back in her hometown, too, which she just happens to share with Australian two-way star Genevieve Beacom.

"I don't think there are huge baseball spots anywhere in Victoria or anything but it's growing," Beacom said. "But we have two pretty big names from Somerville in Shae and I, so it's pretty cool being able to say that I come from the same town as her."

At times Pospishil can even lean on her like she's another coach in the dugout.

"I mean, there's different things that we'll ask from time to time about what she thinks and stuff like that," Pospishil said. "But yeah, any veteran player that's been around the game a long time, younger players can utilize that experience."