Team Canada aims to win its way into 2024 Women's Baseball World Cup as qualifier gets underway

The Canadian national women's baseball team may have already qualified for next year's World Cup championship, but that doesn't mean they'll be taking it easy on the field in Thunder Bay, Ont., this week.

Team Canada is one of six international squads playing in the 2024 World Cup Group A Qualifiers, with games getting underway Tuesday, while the Group B qualifiers will be played in Japan next month. 

But even though Canada has already earned its berth in next year's World Cup — which will also take place in Thunder Bay — head coach Anthony Pluta said the team, which is ranked third in the world, still has something to prove.

"Yes, we don't have to win to be able to go in next year," Pluta said. "We don't want to drop too much in the rankings and have us go into a World Cup almost feeling like we didn't deserve to be there. We're coming in trying to win our way in."

Canada will play its first game of the tournament Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET when they face Mexico at Baseball Central.

"I think what you're going to see out of us is the never-give-up, grind-style baseball," Pluta said. "We've got some hard-throwing pitchers on the mound. We've got a little bit of power at the plate.

"We're going to be a gelled group that is able to come out and grind our way through as many wins as as we're supposed to have."

Given the players on the team are from all across Canada, Pluta said leadership is important if the squad is going to form a cohesive unit on the field.

"Some of the older players, and more experienced players that have been here are able to make make the welcome nice with the younger talent, then doing some things off-field, doing some team bonding, some experiences."

That includes taking in the Thunder Bay Border Cats