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Top of the world

Prince George's Amanda Asay has been recognized as one of the best female baseball players on the planet. In an online story published Wednesday, Baseball America listed Asay at No. 7 in its top-10 world rankings.
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Amanda Asay takes some swings in the batting cage at Citizen Field in June 2015, before she headed for Toronto and duty with Team Canada at the Pan Am Games. The 29-year-old local product continues to play baseball at the highest of levels.

Prince George's Amanda Asay has been recognized as one of the best female baseball players on the planet.

In an online story published Wednesday, Baseball America listed Asay at No. 7 in its top-10 world rankings. She's the only Canadian in the top 10.

Asay, a member of the national team since 2005, was made aware of the list by teammate Nicole Luchanski.

"We have a lot of very talented female Canadian baseball players so it's a little bit shocking," the 29-year-old Asay said Thursday from Vancouver, where she's working on a Ph.D in forest ecology at the University of British Columbia. "I was surprised and honoured, really."

Asay brings a variety of skills to the diamond for Team Canada. Depending on the needs of the club, she pitches, catches, plays first base and fills the role of designated hitter when necessary. At the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, she was an integral part of a squad that came away with a silver medal after a loss to the U.S. in the final.

Wednesday's rankings were done by Baseball America's J.J. Cooper. In his assessment of Asay, he wrote: "A hockey and softball player at Brown, Asay is the heart of Team Canada, which finished second at the 2016 World Cup. Asay pitched Canada into the championship game by allowing only one run in seven innings against Taiwan. As a pitcher, Asay pitches primarily off of her low-70s fastball, mixing in a 62-64 mph curveball at times. But Asay stands out more as a position player. She was named to the 2006 World Cup all-tournament team after hitting .500 and has been a key part of Canada's lineup for more than a decade."

Japanese players dominate the list, topped by pitcher Ayami Sato. In total, six of the 10 spots are taken by players from Japan, which, in terms of development, has the advantage of the four-team Japan Women's Baseball League.

The entire list is as follows: 1. Ayami Sato, RHP, Japan (27); 2. Sarah Hudek, LHP, U.S. (20); 3. Ayako Rokakku, 3B, Japan (26); 4. Yuki Kawabata, 2B, Japan (28); 5. Miya Shimizu, RHP, Japan (19); 6. Malaika Underwood, 1B, U.S. (36); 7. Amanda Asay, C/1B/RHP, Canada (29); 8. Stacy Piagno, RHP, U.S. (26); 9. Nana Sasazuma, LHP, Japan (21); 10. Mira Araki, LHP, Japan (21).

In the 2016 World Cup final, Canada fell 10-0 to Japan, which had Sato on the mound and claimed the title for the fifth time in a row.

Asay adds the Baseball America honour to other significant ones - she was named Baseball Canada's female player of the year in 2006 and, the same year, was nominated for the Tip O'Neill Award as Canada's outstanding overall baseball player. She didn't win, but there was no shame in that because the O'Neill award went to Major League Baseball's Justin Morneau, that year's American League MVP.

Asay was just 18 at the time and a fresh graduate of College Heights secondary school. After graduation, she moved on to Brown University in Providence, R.I., where she played hockey on scholarship, and also fastball.

Asay later returned to her home province and continued her studies at UBC, where she also played hockey for the Thunderbirds women's team in 2012.

In early August, Asay was part of Team B.C. for the senior women's baseball nationals, held in Windsor, Ont. B.C. - the defending champion - finished out of the medals after a loss to Quebec in the bronze game. Right after that, Asay headed to Washington, D.C., where Canadian and U.S. teams battled in a six-game series that they split right down the middle.

Currently, Asay is playing for the Howe Sound Hounds of the Lower Mainland Baseball Association.

"Except for me, it's a male team in a predominantly male league but they've been very welcoming and it's been great," she said. "I've had a good season with them. We actually just started playoffs last week and our second game is on Sunday so I'm looking forward to that."

Looking further ahead, Asay hopes to be back on Team Canada in 2018, which will be another World Cup year. In the tournament, Canada is still seeking its first gold medal. To date, it has silver medals from 2016 and 2008 and bronze medals from 2004, 2006 and 2012. Asay herself owns two silvers and two bronze (2006, 2012) and would like very much to add a gold to her collection.

"We've unfortunately not been able to come away with a gold medal, yet," she said, with emphasis on the last word. "Japan is tough to get ahead of but we're working on it. There's just much more focus on baseball and women's baseball there so it's a challenge but we're working towards it."