Baseball Canada names 2024 Women’s National Team coaching staff
Baseball Canada has named their 2024 Women’s National Team coaching staff. Photo: Baseball Canada
November 22, 2023
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA, Ont. - Baseball Canada is pleased to announce the coaching staff that will lead the Women’s National Team program in 2024 led by manager Anthony Pluta (Victoria, B.C.) along with coaches Patricia Landry (St-Étienne-des-Grés, Que.), Aaron Myette (New Westminster, B.C.), Kate Psota (Burlington, Ont.) and Ashley Stephenson (Mississauga, Ont.).
The national team will be competing on home soil from July 28 to August 3, 2024, at the IX WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals in Thunder Bay, Ont., where Team Canada will take on Chinese Taipei, Japan, Mexico, USA and Venezuela to determine a world champion.
Pluta returns as manager after leading the Women’s National Team to a 4-1 record and second place at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage last summer in Thunder Bay.
“I’m honoured and excited to be given the opportunity to manage the Women’s National Team once again in 2024 and have a chance to win a world championship,” said Pluta. “We had an excellent showing last summer in front of the Canadian fans in Thunder Bay so having the opportunity to go back and compete against the best teams in the world is something that we’re really looking forward to.”
Born in California before being drafted by the Houston Astros out of a Las Vegas High School in 2001, Pluta spent 11 seasons in professional baseball before settling in Victoria, B.C. where he’s had an enormous impact on the Baseball BC coaching and high-performance programs. Pluta was a guest coach with the Women’s National Team program in the summer of 2021 at a showcase event in Trois-Riviéres, Qué., and was pitching coach with the program in 2022 for a five-game Friendship Series against the United States at Baseball Central in Thunder Bay.
Patricia Landry returns to the Women’s National Team coaching staff where she’s been involved since 2011. A former athlete with the Women’s National Team from 2005 to 2010, Landry competed in two WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cups (2006 and 2010) and has been a member of the coach staff at world cups in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and the group stage earlier this year. She was also on the coaching staff in 2022 at the Friendship Series and currently oversees Baseball Québec’s Girl’s academy program.
Aaron Myette was a first-round draft choice of the Chicago White Sox in 1997 and spent parts of six seasons pitching for them along with Texas, Cleveland and Cincinnati. In 2004, he represented Canada at the Summer Olympics in Athens and again in 2006 at the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Myette returns to the Women’s National Team program as pitching coach after starting in the role in 2016 where he helped Team Canada capture a silver medal and later a bronze in 2018 at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup. He managed Team Canada in 2019 at the WBSC Americas Women’s Baseball World Cup Qualifier in Aguascalientes, Mexico, leading the squad to a bronze medal and led the staff at the 2021 showcase event in Trois-Riviéres.
Ashley Stephenson, an original member of the Women’s National Team from 2004, wrapped up a 15-year playing career with a bronze medal at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup in 2018. The bronze medal capped a remarkable playing career that included six WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup medals (two silver, four bronze) and a silver medal at the 2015 Pan Am Games. Upon announcing her retirement as a player, she immediately jumped into a role on the coaching staff. She was part of the staff that led Canada to a bronze medal at the COPABE Women's Pan-American Championships in 2019 and in 2021 was a lead instructor at the Women’s National Team Showcase in Trois-Rivières, Qué. In 2022, she became the first woman to manage a Baseball Canada national team when she led the women’s program during a five-game Friendship Series against Team USA in Thunder Bay. Stephenson continued her trailblazing path in 2023 as she spent the season as a coach with the Vancouver Canadians, the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Kate Psota is one of the most decorated athletes in Baseball Canada history having participated with the Women’s National Team program from 2004 to 2018. Her resume includes six WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup medals (two silver, four bronze) and a silver medal at the 2015 Pan Am Games. Upon retirement, Psota joined the national team coaching staff at the showcase event in 2021 before coaching at the Friendship Series in 2022. She was part of the coaching staff earlier this year at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup group stage event in Thunder Bay.