A historic announcement was made at Royal Athletic Park this afternoon when the Victoria HarbourCats of the West Coast League announced the signing of 19-year-old Claire Eccles.
The left-handed pitcher from White Rock becomes the first female player in league history and will make her debut with the team on June 6 in Victoria.
鈥淚鈥檓 extremely excited to be getting the opportunity to play at such a high level of ball and being the first female in Canada to do so,鈥� said Eccles.
鈥淭he HarbourCats seem like an amazing organization and I can鈥檛 wait to play for them. As much as this is an accomplishment for myself, I can鈥檛 help but realize that this is a step in the right direction for any girl with a dream of playing baseball.鈥�
Standing 5鈥�8, Eccles realizes she won鈥檛 be able to overpower batters. Instead she will rely on her pitching repertoire that includes off speed pitches with lots of movement and a knuckleball that she鈥檚 been tinkering with for years.
鈥淚n warmup we practiced throwing it just for fun, mine just seemed to work,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 played around with it for a while and as I got older, I realized I could actually throw this in a game.鈥�
The new LHP throws a bit for the crowd at Victoria
鈥� Victoria News (@VictoriaNews)
A graduate of Elgin Park Secondary in Surrey, B.C., Eccles played outfield for the University of British Columbia softball team this spring and represented Canada at the 2016 Women鈥檚 Baseball World Cup in South Korea last September. She is a two-way player for Team Canada (pitcher and outfielder) and made her debut with the national squad when she was 17.
鈥淲e are excited to add Claire to the HarbourCats and can鈥檛 wait to see her getting a chance to throw for us and compete for innings out of the bullpen,鈥� said Brad Norris-Jones, General Manager for the team.
鈥淐laire has competed at and been successful at many levels of the game, playing against both women and men. We think her poise on the mound and experience internationally will give her a chance to get the outs we need.鈥�
While Eccles is slated to begin her career in the pen, Norris-Jones didn鈥檛 rule out having her start games at some point this season.
As for any added pressure above and beyond being labeled the first female player in league history, Eccles shrugged off questions about her future success or failure reflecting on other females trying to play a male-dominated sport at a high level.
鈥淭here are probably a lot of girls better than me out there somewhere, but just don鈥檛 get the same opportunity as I have. So I think it opens more people to the idea that girls can play baseball,鈥� she said.
Instead Eccles is excited about getting on the mound and maybe getting into the head of opposing batters.
