After making it to the grand final of the inaugural Women’s Elite Series, Braves Baseball Club and WA Women’s State Team representative Leah Cornish has headed to Quebec to compete in the Canada East League.
It’s an exciting opportunity for Leah, who joins fellow West Australian Peyton Newman as the two take on baseball overseas.
The Canada East League all-women’s competition started with two months of specialised training in March, leading into a 10-week, 30-game tournament with four teams from across Canada and overseas.
Leah was seven when she started playing tee-ball, going on to softball before beginning baseball at ten years old. Since then, she’s had some impressive achievements and looks forward to adding this latest experience to the list.
“It made me proud to represent WA at the state level and win gold in 2023,” said Leah, who also won Golden Bat at nationals. “I also played for Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Women’s Baseball Showcase in 2022 and 2024, and coached in the world-first All-Girls Little League tournament, winning bronze.”
Leah, who made her debut for the Australian Emeralds at 17, has visited Canada before, playing in the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Thunder Bay.
Now, the opportunity awaits to play for the Rockies at the highest level of Canadian women’s baseball. Christopher St-Pierre, the import and Big League coach at Perth Baseball Club, saw Leah play in Big League.
“He asked if I would be interested in playing in the Canadian Women’s Baseball League where he coached some of the best players in the world,” Leah said of Chris, who is one of the coaches for the Rockies who won bronze last season. “I’m excited to meet new people and play against top talent. I think different coaching perspectives in a different country at a high level will help me grow as a player.”
While adapting to the primary French language in Quebec, Leah will be hard at work, with hopes of eventually making a team in the upcoming 2025 Women’s Professional League in America.
She says the WA Women’s Elite Series helped prepare her for the opportunity, and the weekly streaming helped her get noticed more internationally.
“I hope women’s baseball in Australia becomes a full-time, well-paid profession in the future,” Leah said. As for young female players looking to follow in her footsteps on the women’s pathway, she has some key advice: “train hard, work hard, play hard”.
Congrats and all the best to Leah and Peyton!