Yu-Ying Hsieh was the youngest player on the team when she first represented Chinese Taipei in the IV Women's Baseball World Cup in 2010. After five World Cups and two Asian Championships, Hsieh has become one of the team's most senior members; what has not changed is her outstanding defensive skills, her fighting spirit, and her dedication to the sport.
“I was only 18 when I played in my first Women’s Baseball World Cup. I still remember how nervous I was that I was not able to execute the plan my manager asked,” said Hsieh as she remembered the situation of that game vividly. “It was Venezuela. They were trying to score on the squeeze bunt, and I came into the game as the reliever. My manager gave me one task: “No matter what, throw the bunted ball home.”
The bunt was there, “and my mind was blank.”
The lost game 13 years ago was just part of the lessons learned on the field and many other experiences gathered off the field. After being a baseball player for close to 20 years, Hsieh made a choice that was seen as a pioneer in women’s baseball in Taiwan as she became one of the first three Taiwanese women (Chi Tseng and Chia-Wen Shen) to play professional baseball in Japan in 2018.
Hsieh wore 24 with the Kyoto Flora, one of the founding franchises in Japan’s Women’s Baseball League. “I’ve learned a lot about how the culture of baseball is respected and valued through the years playing in Japan.” Hsieh came back to Taiwan in 2019 but again joined Hyogo Blue Sandars in 2020 amid COVID-19.
“It has been and still is my dream to play in Japan because I love baseball,” said Hsieh in 2020. In addition to Hsieh, her current Chinese Taipei teammates Yu-Hsuan Chen, Yu-Pei Chen and Chiao-Yun Huang joined Blue Sandars with Hsieh.
“With professional teams in Japan, I learned how to make yourself a better player, day in and day out, without any corners cut.”
But it’s a different story when it comes to the national team. Hsieh was named the national team captain for the first time in her career, coming to the IX Women’s Baseball World Cup-Group B, presented by CARNEXT. “It’s an honour, and of course, I need to set an example to everyone, so it’s a huge responsibility too.”
“As a captain, you must watch out for everyone on the team. We are no longer student players, so the senior-junior thing would not apply. There are a few players older than me, but everyone is very clear about what we should do.”
Hsieh set examples for other younger players and set the bar high for everyone on the team. In five games, she batted .412 with 5 RBI and led all players with four triples and 16 total bases. She also has the most assists (16) and never committed errors in 24 chances.
What amazes people is her incredible, nice plays on the field one after another during the tournament. “I didn’t expect to have that many nice plays; all I wanted to do is do my best, and I know that if I do my best, we are doing something good to help grow the game.”
After Chinese Taipei finished the tournament with a 4-1 record and punched their ticket to the Finals in 2024, Hsieh stated, "I hope our accomplishment will convince every girl in Taiwan to try baseball. My message to all the women is to forget the message that men play baseball and women play softball. This World Cup showed how good women's baseball can be."
“If you love it, go ahead and do it.”
