The world's top women's baseball teams are taking the field in Thunder Bay this week

Six of the world's top women's baseball teams are competing this week in the WBSC Women's Baseball World Finals 2024 in Thunder Bay, Ont.

The tournament is moving through the opening stages, with Canada, Japan and the United States earning early victories during the team's first games of the tournament. 

This is the first women's world baseball cup to be held since before the COVID-19 shutdowns began in 2020. 

Mexico captain Dani Leal said she has dreamed of playing international baseball since she was seven years old and wants girls to know there's 'a future in the sport.'

"The success Mexico had in the World Baseball Classic impacted baseball in general in our country. Mexico is giving girls more opportunities to play. Being here is a dream come true for me," said Leal.

However, this dream has not come easy for Leal. 

She said that in 2019, Mexico was ready to select a team for the 2020 World Cup, but COVID-19 prevented them from playing in the WBSC until last year's group stage.

"It has been a long time. They [the team] are very excited about the fact that they're getting here, getting back into playing again in a World Cup tournament and hoping that we can raise awareness of women's baseball," said Leal.

Leal added that she hopes the Mexico team represents more than just their country at the tournament.

"I think that we are supporting a lot of the girls and a lot of the dreams that for us have come true," said Leal. "So hopefully we can inspire them and hopefully they can keep dreaming."

Chinese Taipei promotes women's baseball

The Chinese Taipei captain Shi Mei Shu, a former international softball player, said her team also greatly appreciates the chance to play in Canada for the Women's Baseball World Cup this year.

"We made many preparations... So [we're] really appreciative and looking forward to the games," said Shu, via an interpreter.

Like many of the competing teams, Team Chinese Taipei explained that they have made significant progress with their women's league in Taiwan. 

"We have an amateur women's baseball league in Taiwan featuring 13 teams. What we are trying to do is have younger girls play. We have girls playing baseball in junior high school and elementary school and playing with other girls," said Shu.

She added that they are trying to push more young girls in Taiwan to enjoy the sport.

"We want to send a message to the girls in Taiwan. If you like baseball, just play baseball and you can play here or play abroad in different countries," said Shu.

The baseball tournament will run until its final game on Saturday, Aug. 3.