A trio of young Surrey/White Rock softball stars are headed to Burnaby Mountain.
On Thursday, Simon Fraser University’s women’s softball team - which plays at the U.S.-based NCAA Div. 2 level – announced a handful of new recruits, including Avery Barker and Abby McGlynn from the Surrey Storm and Jasmine Polajzar, whose club teams are listed as both Delta Fastpitch and the White Rock Renegades.
In the news release announcing the new players, SFU notes that Barker, an infielder, is “an all-round athlete with a competitive spirit” who “plays with grit, and a true love of the game.” She helped the Storm to a bronze medal at 2018 Canadian championships, where he was named a tournament all-star after batting .500 in 27 plate appearances.
She currently attends the softball academy at Yale Secondary in Abbotsford.
“SFU gives me the opportunity to play softball at an elite level, close to home, while receiving an amazing education,” said Barker, who plans to study kinesiology.
McGlynn, meanwhile, is a left-handed hitting outfielder who can also pitch. Her pitching prowess was on full display a few years ago, when he did not allow a single earned run in 17 innings to lead her Storm ‘03 team at the 2017 national championships.
She also won bronze at the 2018 BC Summer Games at at the 2018 U16 provincial championships.
Polajzar, who like Barker is also part of Yale’s softball academy, is described as a “power-hitting shortstop.” During the 2019 season, she slugged 13 home runs and in 2020, hit .472 with a .693 slugging percentage, the news release notes.
As good as she was at the plate, she was just as good in the field last season, finishing with a .938 fielding percentage.
She won a silver medal with the Renegades at the 2019 U16 provincial championships.
“Staying in Canada was a huge perk for me, and being able to represent our country in the NCAA is a huge honour,” Polajzar said, detailing why she chose to sign with SFU.
The three players were the only B.C. players announced by SFU, who at the same time announced the commitments of players from four other provinces, as well as one transfer student from Australia.
“As Canada’s only NCAA softball program my vision is to bring together the top players from across the country to represent SFU and to represent Canada every year,” said SFU head coach Tina Andreana.
“For us, every time we put on the jersey to compete in the NCAA we are representing our school and our country. It is a unique experience.”
sports@peacearchnews.com
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