The Australian Emeralds presented by Boral are proud to announce the following 20 athletes that will represent Australia at the LG Presents WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2016 Gijang (Korea).
These 20 athletes were selected for the Australian Emeralds side after an intense three-day camp in conjunction with the Gold Coast City Council held at Surfers Paradise Baseball Club over the weekend.
Emeralds Head Coach Simone Wearne was impressed with the quality of the camp.
"The selection camp held over the weekend was a great success,” Wearne said.
“We had 32 of the best players from across the country come in and play five games, take part in various off-field activities, and all showed a great commitment to the Emeralds program."
There are a number of headliners in the squad, however after taking a ten-year hiatus from the national team, Chelsea Forkin returns to the Australian Emeralds. After debuting in 2004, Forkin will be the second player to represent Australia in both Baseball and Softball at World Cup level.
Coach Wearne had an unenviable task of selecting the team, but is pleased with the final 20.
"It was a very difficult task selecting just 20 players from a group of talented girls, but we feel like we have a great mix of veterans and rookies that will really work well together in Korea," Wearne said.
"The final team includes 10 rookies, plus two returning players who have not been on the National Team for around 10 years. It really is an exciting time for women's baseball in Australia".
The Australian Emeralds take on USA (#2), Chinese Taipei (#6) and Hong Kong (#9) in pool play during the tournament, which gets underway on September 3 in Gijang City, South Korea.