Sooke resident Jessica Audette, 18, had no idea what to do after graduating from high school, until she was scouted at the Western Canadian championships on Aug. 9 to 12.
The Edward Milne community school graduate pitched for the midget B Cordova Bay Cyclones at the Westerns in Winnipeg, where they earned second place.
Audette said the silver win was some what unexpected, as the Cyclones were up against A-division opponents. They ended up losing the gold medal match to Manitoba’s Smitty’s Terminators, 5-0.
“We went there not expecting to do as good as we did,” she said.
But the surprise factor was upped when she came home to two offers to play college baseball from schools in North Dakota and Minnesota.
“At Westerns, two scouts noticed me and they want me to go to their schools in January,” Audette said. “I didn’t think it was going to happen because I didn’t get any scouts before until Westerns.”
Before the opportunity to play college baseball came knocking, Audette had plans to take a year off.
“I was going to take a year off… I didn’t know what I was going to do,” she said.
Now, Audette is contemplating studying in fields related to the social services.
“I want to help people, I’ve always liked to help people,” she said. “All my friends always come to me when they need to talk, and I just like being there for people.”
Although plans to head south for school have yet to be sealed, pending further research and formal entrance, Audette said she is, “a little bit nervous, but excited.”
Playing since she was four years old, baseball has been a constant in Audette’s life, leading her to take the sport “seriously.”
“I’ve done it for so long that I wouldn’t want to give it up. I love it. I don’t know what I’d do without baseball,” she said.
“I’ll keep playing for as long as I can.”
Despite her successes, Audette approaches each win humbly.
This year’s silver win at the Westerns, will be shelved alongside a gold win at last year’s tourney, where Audette played with the peewee triple-A Nanaimo Pirates.
It was the first time the team held a winning streak for gold in over two decades.
“Last year, at the Westerns, we didn’t think we were going to win at all. We were the first team in Nanaimo to go undefeated in 23 years.”