The RAMS family wish Lel Anglin all the best playing for the Australian Emeralds in Korea at the World Cup.

Go Lel
Go Aussies
Go RAMS

_____________________

Original story by LACHIE YOUNG in the Geelong Advertiser
(click here for article):

THREE knock backs from the Australian squad might have been a deterrent to a lot of baseballers but for Leslie Anglin it has only served to motivate her further.

Now the hard work and perseverance is set to pay off.

The 31-year-old has been named in the Australian Emeralds team to fly to Korea for the 2016 World Cup, with their campaign starting with a game against Chinese Taipei on September 3.

Anglin said she had gone through a range of emotions since receiving a letter from Baseball Australia confirming she would be on the plane after years of missing out.

“There was (a mixture) of excitement and relief, it just waivers from day to day. So it’s mixed emotions but overall it is exciting,” Anglin said.

“I just got some training tops and things like that and a hat and shoes and it has just made it very real.

“You can kind of remove yourself from the reality of it because I still go to work and do everything as normal but then you get that stuff and you go ‘this is real, this is actually happening’.

“I’ve made every Aussie squad since 2008 basically, so most of the emotions come from the fact that I’ve been cut from three teams previously because I was setting myself up to say that I hadn’t made it.

“Then I got the letter and I went from one extreme to the other.”

The specialist outfielder, who also pinch hits as a catcher if required, began playing softball when she was younger and took up baseball at the age of 11.

Like a lot of elite female baseballers in Australia, she plays against the men in summer, and plays locally for the East Belmont Saints in winter.

Anglin said while previous setbacks had hurt, she understood the reasons for the selectors’ decisions, and said having an extra string to her bow could come in handy during the World Cup.

“You can’t begrudge who they select because at the end of the day it’s not necessarily that I’m a bad player, it’s just that they’re getting the right fit for the team,” she said.

“Outfielder and catcher is what I’m going away as and I won’t necessarily catch. I’ll more likely do outfield, but catching is an option. The objective is to have a many skills so you can just mould to the team as you need to.”