USA Baseball’s Women’s National Team (WNT) is on a quest to retake the title as world champion, an honor they have not held since winning the IBAF Women’s World Cup in 2006 after beating Japan 13-11 in the championship to claim the crown.

More recently, Team USA won gold in the Pan-American Baseball Confederation (COPABE) Women’s Pan-American Championships in 2019. Women’s National Team Manager Veronica Alvarez, pitching coach Reynol Mendoza, and assistant coach Alex Oglesby were all part of that title-winning staff while current assistant coach Malaika Underwood contributed as a player.

Although a pandemic, moments of inactivity, and a qualifying stage have plagued the five years in between, Alvarez has kept a steady gaze on the goal of winning a gold medal and will have an opportunity to do so at the 2024 World Baseball Softball Classic (WBSC) Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals at the end of July.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first Women’s National Team which debuted in 2004. As in years past, the team has a healthy mix of amateur and professional experience and even features a former player of that inaugural squad in assistant coach Oglesby.

“Since the inception of USA Baseball’s Women’s National Team, we’ve always carried a player as young as sixteen,” said Women’s National Team Training Camp coach Tamara Holmes. “So, you can imagine how phenomenal that sixteen year old must be to play with a majority of twenty-something year olds and older women.”

This year’s rendition of the team features a roster of players whose ages range from seventeen-year-olds Sophia Broderick and Naomi Ryan to thirty-six-year-old Meggie Meidlinger. On a team whose average age rounds out to twenty-four, Ryan already has two years of WNT experience under her belt. Make it be known, however, the variety of age is one of many things that makes this team unique and the future bright.

“The talent is incredible, we’ve seen it grow through the years and we have some heavy hitters on this team,” Alvarez recently said on MLB Network. When asked about Ryan’s youth, Alvarez responded, “Last year I got asked about her, ‘Why would you have a sixteen-year-old in the three-hole?’ Just wait, you’ll see what I’m thinking there.”

Despite being one of the youngest players on the roster at seventeen, being different is not uncharted territory for the standout prospect in Ryan. Girls and women playing baseball are often met with inquisitive looks and confusion, something Ryan is used to. The frequent misnomer that baseball is a gendered entity only serves as a tool to further the game, Alvarez believes.

“Women’s softball is what everyone thinks girls play,” Alvarez said. “We’re here to educate and it might be new to the masses, but we’ve been doing this for a long time.”

USA Baseball recently caught up with one of those rising stars in Ryan. The switch-hitter discusses her path to playing for the Women’s National Team, experiences with USA Baseball, and the current and future state of women in baseball. Ryan, being an emblem for the future of girls and women in baseball, sheds any doubt of her future playing baseball and reveals her resiliency in this Q&A.

Q: How did you end up playing baseball and what kickstarted your love for the game?

A: “It started by watching both my dad and brother play. I watched my brother play baseball all the way from little league to when he played in college. I would play catch with my dad during those games, too, I was either watching or playing. I even watched my dad when he played in a men’s league, so it was really great and made me fall in love with the sport seeing people that I was close to love the game.”

Q: What was your reaction to hearing the news that you made the 2024 Women’s National Team?

A: “I was obviously very excited hearing that I made the team and had the chance to be able to compete for a gold medal with this group of girls and young women. This is a great opportunity not only for myself but for our team as a whole.”

Q: Is there someone you model your game after?

A: “Maybe Clayton Kershaw, especially on the pitching side with his curveball. Even though he doesn’t throw as hard anymore, he’s still able to hit his spots and command the game. That’s what I admire about him, he’s able to use all of his tools to be as effective as possible.”

Q: How did you end up switch-hitting?

A: “I started off batting righty even though I throw lefty because I saw my brother doing it and thought that must be the right way. But my dad thought that because I naturally threw lefty, I should have no problem being able to bat on the left side. So, I started practicing my lefty swing by mostly just hitting off the tee at the beginning, then progressing to front toss overhand, and then eventually hitting in a game with it.”

Q: What do you want to achieve as a baseball player? What are your goals?

A: “Right now, my number one goal is being able to play in college, if it takes me further to a professional league or something like that it would be a dream come true. But really, I’m focusing on what’s in front of me right now and making it to the next level. ”

Q: You’re no stranger to USA Baseball and Major League Baseball events, showcases, and development programs. How do these events play a role in your development?

A: “I think it's great being able to make connections both on the coaching side and also with teammates and friends. Meeting other girls that also play baseball is really cool because that's not a very common thing you come around or experience. Many of the players on this team have previously been my teammates along with the coaches who are often at USA Baseball and MLB development events, so it’s great building relationships with them.”

Q: What’s the feeling like of having ‘USA’ across your chest and representing your country on an international stage?

A: “It’s an honor representing my country and being able to represent it the right way: coming out hard and aggressive every time. Really, it’s just making sure I play baseball the right way and live up to the USA Baseball standard.”

Q: How has your experience been with this star-studded coaching staff?

A: “I’ve been around them for a lot of my playing career, starting around ten or eleven with the Trailblazer Events and then moving up through that. Being able to learn from people who have been a part of those programs and who have also gone through the same struggles and adversities as I have is really beneficial to learn from. It’s cool hearing from my coaches that even they had struggles of making the team sometimes.”

Q: What’s a lesson you’ve taken away from this coaching staff so far?

A: “You’re going to have a lot of people that disagree with what you’re doing, but what really matters is listening to the people in your corner supporting you. Those are the people who really matter and who you should listen to, but I love trying to prove people wrong, it’s definitely a motivator for me.”

Q: What is something you want to tell young girls that are coming up and starting to play baseball?

A: “Just have fun with it, there’s a reason that you started playing this sport so just remember that. As you grow up you are going to face adversities with outsiders, coaches, and teammates, but you have to keep going no matter what. Focus and listen to the people that are close with you and want the best for you.”