There are no dog days of summer for Burnaby’s Vanessa McKinley.
The hard-throwing righthander spent last week with the Burnaby 15-and-under Braves at the provincial championships, and heads out this week for the 14u girls’ western championships with Team B.C.
Then there’s the week after, where she and the provincial 16u team heads to the nationals in Halifax.
That’s what you call a barnstorming tour.
“For me, I really like to strike out batters. It gives you that really successful moment where you know you’ve done well and you’re really helping out your team. When you get an RBI it’s great, but pitching, there’s something different about it,” said McKinley, 14.
Whether it’s playing with boys – as she does with the Braves – or with the girls, McKinley is all about baseball. Identified as an up-and-coming talent in a game that is seeing greater and greater opportunities for females, she is enjoying the challenges and opportunities before her.
Considering she took up the sport only three years ago, baseball has become a game for all seasons.
“Two years ago I played for Team B.C. and went to Manitoba to play in Westerns. We got whacked. The team wasn’t very good that year. … It was the first time I travelled far for baseball. It was exciting but it was really nerve-racking,” she recalled.
Last year she fell short of making the B.C.’s 14u Western championship team. In the following 12 months, with hard work and determination, she put that bitter disappointment into the win column.
“I really like the competitiveness. You have to fight for everything, because everything is either for you or against you. You see the other team and they want the same thing as you. There are teams that are better than others, but the one thing that separates the goods from the greats is how bad you want it,” McKinley said.
Because there’s a lot of travel involved in being with both Team B.C.s, McKinley launched a gofundme page to raise funds to cover some of her expenses. She has raised $1,820 heading into the home stretch.
To read more of her story or to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/send-vanessa-to-baseball-nationals.
