5 Lafayette girls among softball team set to compete in Taiwan
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) — Sixteen Indiana softball players will travel to Taiwan to compete in an international softball tournament.
They’ll fly Sunday to compete against teams from around the world. Owner of Accelerated Fastpitch, Audra May, and Softball One coach, Cara Johnson, are excited to go back to Taiwan.
“It’s a very humbling experience that we get to take our athletes with us over there,” said Audra.
Softball One and Accelerated Fastpitch partnered to recruit athletes they have trained before. Johnson says they’ve been preparing for months.
“I believed we received it in October, and here we go we are leaving next Sunday,” Johnson said.
The connection to Taiwan comes from one of the coaches: Laview Wen. Wen is a former Taiwan Olympic softball player helping young athletes achieve their dreams.
This is their third invitation to the country over the last decade. This year, five players from Lafayette schools are on the team.
First baseman Lindsey Long, from Klondike Middle School, said she is ready to go: “I’m really excited about being in another country, being able to play international teams and just meeting new people.”
Emiliee Cox, Jenna Breedlove, Kenzie Rusk and Catherine Ingle will also be joining the team next week.
The team will play 10 games in total but will continue to practice until next Sunday.