Canion Earns Spot On Team USA
6/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 17, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Whitney Canion was one of 18 players named to the 2011 USA Softball Women's National Team the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced on Friday. Canion becomes the first player in program history to play for Team USA.
"This is a dream come true for me," Canion said. "To represent my country and school in a game I truly love is the pinnacle and I know I am blessed to be given this opportunity."
Canion is one of four pitchers on the team, three of which come from the Big 12 Conference, as Keilani Ricketts of Oklahoma and Chelsea Thomas of Missouri join her on the staff.
The junior-to-be is coming off a season that saw her guide the Lady Bears to the national semifinals and a final ranking of No. 4 in the country. Canion was named second-team All-American and unanimous first-team All-Big 12, as she already possesses Baylor's all-time strikeout mark with 833.
The 18-person roster, plus one alternate, will hit the road in less than a week for their first competition, a two-game exhibition series in Plant City, Fla., on Saturday, June 25. After the matchup in Florida, the team will travel to Salem, Va., for another exhibition series on June 29. The final tune-up before International play will be in Bowie, Md., on July 1. All exhibition games will be a doubleheader format against the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team, whose roster can be found here. Tickets for these three exhibition series can still be purchased by logging onto www.usasoftball.com
From July 9-17, 12 of the 18 players will play in their first International tournament at the Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship in Surrey, B.C., before returning home for the World Cup of Softball VI, July 21-25 in Oklahoma City. Tickets are still available for the World Cup at www.softballoutlet.com.
The USA Softball Women's National Team will seek its 9th Pan American Games title, Oct. 17-23, in Guadalajara, Mexico for the final competition of 2011. With six consecutive titles, USA Softball will again be a top contender during the XVI Pan American Games.
