Maple Ridge softball star named to 2023 Women’s National Team

Softball Canada has released its 2023 Women’s National Team lineup, which once again includes Maple Ridge athlete Larissa Franklin.

This will make it a full decade now that Franklin has been competing on the national team, with the nearly 30-year-old athlete having earned two World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Championship medals, two Pan American Games medals, and a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

READ MORE: Maple Ridge softball star says bronze medal win ‘surreal’

Most recently, Franklin helped Team Canada put up a dominating performance at the WBSC Americas Pan American Championship, earning them a silver medal and a spot in the WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Group Stage in July.

READ MORE: Maple Ridge softball athlete helps Canada’s national team advance to world cup group stage

In total, 22 athletes were named to the Women’s National Team athlete pool for the upcoming season, with exactly half of them coming from B.C.

• Ruby Anderson (Victoria, B.C.)

• Lauren Benson (Surrey, B.C.)

• Emma Dorval (Surrey, B.C.)

• Emma Entzminger (Victoria, B.C.)

• Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, B.C.)

• Sara Groenewegen (Langley, B.C.)

• Kelsey Harshman (Delta, B.C.)

• Kianna Jones (Surrey, B.C.)

• Madelyn McKinnon (Surrey, B.C.)

• Grace Messmer (Surrey, B.C.)

• Callum Pilgrim (Abbotsford, B.C.)

One of the team’s assistant coaches also hails from B.C., with Port Coquitlam’s Jenn Salling being named to the coaching staff for the 2023 season, working alongside head coach Kaleigh Rafter.

All of these athletes will be eligible to compete at any games and events in the new season, which will include the Canada Cup, WBSC World Cup Group Stage, and the 2023 Pan American Games.