European Champions, Self-Funded, and Heading to Taiwan: Meet the GB Women’s Baseball Team -

On Sunday, Great Britain’s women’s team is playing in the baseball World Cup group stage in Taiwan. You are forgiven if you didn’t realise that (1) women played baseball, (2) GB even had a women’s team, and (3) they are so damn good that they won the 2025 European Championships to secure qualification to Taiwan.

If you want to read more about this Hollywood-script-worthy tale of how GB women rose from the almost preposterous dream of a Cornish schoolgirl to playing in the World Cup, let me point you in this direction—but not until you’ve finished reading this.

Anyone who followed Bat Flips & Nerds’ coverage of Great Britain (men) in the European Championship and the World Baseball Classic, may recall my utter dismay at the difficulty of getting information about the players.

As one of the UK and Europe’s leading baseball podcasts, websites, and fan hubs, our ambition at Bat Flips & Nerds is to get more baseball lovers as enthusiastic about the national teams as we are. And we’re convinced that the key is simple: if fans know the players, they’ll be far more invested in supporting the team.

Anyway, there was a blood stone analogy when dealing with the men’s set-up, and it was no different with the women’s. One day, the backroom boys behind the national teams will send us player information with which to enthuse our reader/listenership, but until that happens, we will be scrolling through Insta, local papers, and random baseball sites in the early hours, trying to piece together player profiles.

We apologise in advance for any errors or inaccuracies, and we will be devastated if we have used an incorrect photo… you simply can’t get the staff these days.

BASEBALL WORLD CUP PRIMER

The Women’s Baseball World Cup or the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2026-27 – presented by RAXUS, as I am obliged to call it, is split into two qualifying groups. The Rockford group at the start of August saw the USA qualify undefeated, with Canada and Australia joining them in the 2027 World Cup finals.

Three teams from the Taiwan group – GB’s group – will join the trio.

I know it’s sport and anything can happen, but it’s pretty safe to say that Japan – winners of the last SEVEN World Cups, and the current top-ranked nation – will secure one of those spots.

Which leaves five teams battling it out for two spaces. I don’t think – and please holler if you know differently – that GB have ever played a team ranked in the world’s Top 10. In the Taiwan tournament, they face Venezuela (ranked 5th), Taiwan (6th), Cuba (7th), and the Philippines (21st). This will be a huge step up in level for Great Britain.

Not only must GB battle some of the most elite women’s baseball teams in the world to punch their ticket to the USA World Cup finals, but they will also face torrential rain, electric storms, and suffocating humidity.

Tainan, the host city, looks cool – in a non-temperature way. It’s the oldest city in Taiwan and served as the capital for more than 200 years until the late 1800s. It’s also well known for its diversity, cuisine, night markets, and baseball, with the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions being the most successful team in the CPBL, boasting 10 titles.

MEET THE TEAM

As with all Great Britain women’s baseball, this is entirely self-funded, and the squad aren’t paid a penny. The players have already had to cover training camps, travel, accommodation, and equipment out of their own pockets. And now, travelling 10,000km across the world – with no direct flights and certainly no cheap indirect ones – they’ve had to get creative to fund the trip.

If you’re reading this and fancy giving the team a few quid towards the exorbitant travel expenses, their Crowd Funder page is still open for business.

Amy Trask

Social media guru for the team in Taiwan, Amy played on GB’s youth teams prior to the women’s national program.

A veteran of the 2022 GB team, Amy hit .444 with a 1.139 OPS while playing first base at the 2022 European Championship

Artie Herbert

Started all four games behind the plate in Great Britain’s historic Gold Medal-winning campaign in the 2025 European Championship. Member of the Bournemouth Bears, Artie works part-time as a Physics teacher and lab technician while studying for an MSc in Sustainability Science at Bournemouth University.

She produced the wonderfully intriguing slash line of .455/.455/.455 at the last European Championship.

Bethany Casson

Another returning member from the 2025 Euro Championship squad. Despite only a solitary plate appearance, Bethany made her presence known by getting plunked by the pitch, swiping second, and then sprinting home to score.

Outfielder for the Liverpool baseball team, Bethany combines her training and studies with her work as a paramedic in Barrow-in-Furness.

Lhiez Dela Paz

Assistant Captain for the trip to Taiwan and veteran of 2022 and 2025 national rosters, Lhiez works full-time for the NHS while also being a wife and mum of three.

Part of the Birmingham Baseball Club, Lhiez initially played fast pitch softball in the Philippines. You can imagine it will be a special moment for Lhiez when GB play the Philippines on Wednesday 26 August.

Not only a pitcher, Lhiez contributed at the plate during the 2025 Euros by getting plunked twice and stealing three bases

Caitlin Frank

A member of Essex Baseball Club and an Oxford graduate, Caitlin is a veteran of both GB European Championship rosters.

During the Gold Medal-winning tournament, Caitlin scored two crucial runs and came on to throw two-thirds of an inning in relief. Baseball Reference lists her as a left-handed catcher. Hmmm.

Claury Scatliffe

Superstar from the British Virgin Islands, Claury was the 2025 European Championship Best Pitcher, striking out 10 batters over 5⅓ one-hit innings. She also tied for the championship lead with seven stolen bases and was the tournament’s top slugger with an .857 SLG.

Dani Briggs

Injury forced Dani out of the 2025 Euros but she attended as an integral part of the coaching staff. The Bournemouth Bears player was named captain for the World Cup roster by head coach Pietro Sollecito.

A fitness coach and personal trainer, Dani started out playing T-Ball in Australia before making it to the Fastpitch Softball Nationals. Eventually, she found her way into UK baseball – and we’re bloody delighted she did.

Darier Malone

The 2025 European Championship MVP, who slashed .462/.611/.692 to power GB to the gold medal. Shortstop Darier shocked the holders France in the opening game of the 2025 Euros by crossing the plate three times to make a statement that Great Britain women meant business.

One of the two superstars from the British Virgin Islands, Darier – who also hit .429 with a 1.072 OPS in the 2022 Euros – is the catalyst for GB’s offensive production.

Ella Henson

Played in all four games of Great Britain’s gold medal campaign in 2025, scoring twice, driving in two, and swiping a bag in seven at-bats. Ella plays third base for the world-famous London Mets.

Gabriella Sassoli

With a father who coached in Italy after a successful playing career in which he still holds fielding excellence records, baseball is firmly in Gabriella’s genes.

Veteran of the last two European championships, Gabriella featured in two games in 2025, scoring three runs and swiping two bags.

Jess Hastings

Women’s Head Coach at Birmingham Baseball Club, Jess has eye-watering career stats from the now-seemingly-defunct Women’s Baseball League, hitting .558 with a 1.609 OPS.

Jess is joined on the GB roster for Taiwan by her club teammates Meg Rollins and Lhiez Dela Paz.

Jess Vernon

A veteran of GB’s last two European Championships, Jess – an integral member of Guildford Baseball Club – is part of Great Britain baseball royalty, with her uncle Paul having coached GB teams at all levels, and could list Gavin Marshall, Liam Carroll, and Jonathon Cramman as players with whom he has worked.

In the gold medal-winning championship, Jess got on the field just once, but made that count with one hit, one run, two RBI, and a stolen base.

Outside of baseball, Jess works as a Support Worker for the UK-based charity Younger People With Dementia (YPWD).

Kath Armstrong

A reserve player for the gold-winning 2025 Euros squad, Kath returns after giving birth to her first son in January – an absolute inspiration for women in sport.

In nine games for Herts Baseball Club this season, Kath has gone 3-for-13 with four runs and four stolen bases.

Laura Bailes

A two-way player, Laura was a threat on the mound and at the plate as part of GB’s Championship winning team at the 2025 Euros in Czechia.

Laura played college softball in the US, and moved to the UK 20 years ago, where she has become an important part of women’s baseball in the UK and an integral figure for Manchester Baseball Club.

Laura Hirai

A living, breathing sporting superstar. Laura won two baseball golds last year as part of the Women’s team and as a coach for the men’s U23. And she also added a softball bronze. Oh, and she was selected by Boston in the inaugural draft of the Women’s Pro Baseball League.

The only double-digit run scorer in the 2025 Euros, Laura is a threat every time she comes to the plate. She led the championship with four HBP (ouch) and tied for the lead with seven stolen bases. As her LinkedIn profile puts it: ‘Cyber security specialist during the day. Aspiring Olympian in the early morning, evening and night.’ Maybe it should read ‘inspiring Olympians’…

Meg Rollins

Just 17 years old, Meg is one of the rising stars of British baseball. Pitcher and first base, she represents a genuine dual-threat for opponents.

This World Cup group stage will represent the GB senior debut for the player who was just named the development game MVP by Birmingham Baseball Club.

Oona Ylinen

A self-confessed accidental baseball player, who stumbled into the sport while at university… but it was love at first sight.

Oona represented Great Britain at both of the last two European championships, including three appearances in 2025 where she racked up five strikeouts over eight innings of work.

Former national badminton player (and current BBF treasurer), outside of GB and Essex Arrows baseball, Oona is a Learning and Teaching Librarian at the University of Suffolk

Sam Rahman

Burnley-born with a cricketing background, Samiya makes the sport look easy, scoring nine runs with six RBI during seven games with the Manchester Bees

She featured in all four games of GB’s gold medal-winning European Championship campaign. Sam is studying part-time for an MSc Digital Marketing Communication, and gave a lovely “thank you” shoutout to one of Bat Flips & Nerds favourite occasional contributors, Ian Blease.

Saskia Davies

The Welsh representative on the national squad has video-game numbers for the 2026 Cardiff Merlins… .441 AVG with a 1.135 OPS . Saskia led GB’s gold medal-winning team with six RBI while batting .412, and finished fifth in the tournament stolen base leaderboard. Her teammates occupied all four spots above her – Pietro Sollecito’s GB team is built for speed.

Stella Veski

Catcher for Essex Archers – hitting .333 with an impressive .899 OPS this season. Took two crucial walks in her only appearance in the 2025 Euros, and then converted getting on-base into two even-more crucial runs.

Former MVP catcher for Richmond, outside of baseball, Stella is a software developer – it’s probably far more detailed than that, but even “software developer” sounds a bit too complicated for me.

So that is the roster that has departed from these shores. We wish the team the best of luck, and hope they can not only make themselves proud, but also take time to enjoy the occasion – this is a GB Women’s team playing in the World Cup. It’s a pinch yourself moment.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TOURNAMENT

Taiwan is 7 hours ahead of the UK, so the 10:30am starts are 3:30am (UK).

You can stream the action live – and no, we don’t get a penny for promoting GameTime.sport – like the GB Women’s team, Bat Flips & Nerds is completely self-funded.