Two years ago, Terri Mosure watched her brother Leon get a player's-eye view of the World Baseball Challenge ball diamond when he played five games for the host Prince George Axemen.
In a couple of weeks, Terri will have the chance to be part of the tournament, watching from the same dugout at Citizen Field where her brother and the rest of the WBC players stood.
Mosure and her teammates from the Prince George Thunderbirds midget girls softball team have taken on the duty as bat girls for the 10-day international tournament, July 8-17.
Mosure, 18, attended all the games in 2009 and she knows with powerhouse teams Cuba, Japan, Chinese-Tapei, and the Beijing Tigers competing with the Bahamas, Team Canada, and possibly a team from the United States, the WBC tournament lineup promises to be even better than it was two years ago.
"We're all real excited, it's great to meet people from other cultures and we'll be right into the action, so you see the best ball," said Mosure. "Team U.S.A. (who won the BC in 2009) had a lot of players who got picked [in the Major League draft] and it was cool to see them playing right here in our hometown.
"Even though we play fastball, and it's not hardball, it's still somewhat the same game. Baseball is really a mental game and you get to see the plays that they do and how they play their positions. I think of that, to this day, when I'm playing."
The T-birds range in age from 15 to 18, but the majority of the players are 16 or younger. They have their own big event on the horizon, starting July 22 at the provincial championship in Nanaimo.
T-birds coach Michael Tobin and his wife Caren of Michael's Jewellers agreed to sponsor the WBC and are supplying silver championships rings for the winning team, as well as silver pendants and chain that will be awarded to the most valuable player in each game.
The rings feature large blue sapphires surrounded by an engraved setting with the words 'World Baseball Challenge.' The WBC logo and '2011 champions' are etched on the sides of each ring.
"We wanted to do something special and we're proud of how good they look -- this is a first-class tournament and [the rings] are a first-class reward for winning it," Michael Tobin said. "The MVP pendants are really cool too, because it will be something they can put on right away and know they have it, rather than put it in their ball bag.
"I love the game and love the sport and it's good to be part of it."
He has already made 38 rings and will have more finished to include all the coaches, staff and officials of the winning team.
"Thinking back to 2009, we didn't have much that we gave out to the winning team and this year, with the calibre of teams coming, we wanted to take it up a notch," said WBC co-chair Shawn Rice. "We approached Michael's Jewellers, which was a big sponsor in 2009, and asked if they were interested in doing some championships rings an it just took off from there. The rings are just beautiful."
The tournament committee will also award Rawlings Gold Glove awards to the top defensive player in each game.
As of Thursday, the WBC had yet to receive confirmation a team will represent the United States in the tournament. The Reno Astros, one of three regional teams that often carry the U.S. flag to international tournaments, are still not sure if they will have the necessary funding to travel to Prince George.
"We've had several deadlines we've put on them and by Tuesday next week we will have to say, you're either in or you're out," Rice said. "We have to plan the schedule, and plan the volunteers who have to take time off work.
"[Without a U.S. team] instead of being 24 games, it's going to be 22."
