Kirsten Bezzina is a credit to Australian women’s baseball. 69573 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Vanessa Chircop
SHE may be a girl, but don’t let her gender fool you.
Kirsten Bezzina can strike out a boy with a single pitch – in fact she takes pleasure in it.
The Mount St Joseph’s Girls’ College student just got back from representing Australia in baseball in the United States.
The Year 7 student was one of only two girls selected to join the mixed team in San Francisco and often played against teams where there wasn’t a single girl – but that didn’t bother her.
“Some boys don’t like being struck out by girls,” she said.
“But it’s fun beating boys.”
Kirsten has been playing baseball since she was a child – starting with T-ball from the age of five and progressing to baseball after that.
And it’s not the first time she’s represented Australia either. Last year she jetted off to Japan to compete in the girl’s friendly series.
The talented young athlete said she would love to continue the sport into the major leagues but unfortunately women can’t compete at that level.
Instead, she said she’d settle for continuing to represent Australia and to one day represent them in a senior series.
Kirsten’s mum Jane said she was extremely proud of her daughter.
“I’m proud of all three of my children,” she said.
Kirsten’s brother and sister also both play baseball and have all had their turn representing Australia.
With baseball having a stronger following in the US – Jane hopes her daughter will one day get scouted by an American college, if that’s what she’d like to do.
But for now, Kirsten is busy juggling her junior years at high school with her hectic baseball training schedule.
