The 30-year-old star helped her country win four World Cups and spoke to the local press after officiating a ceremonial first pitch during NPB's Samurai Japan Day at Koshien Stadium.

The US Women's National Open will involve 57 players split into four teams; 40 will participate in the National Team's open camp. Manager Veronica Alvarez will reveal the final 20-player roster on 13 July.

The IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Group A is scheduled from 8 to 13 August in Thunder Bay, Canada. The registration deadline is Friday, 4 August. Miyoshi City, Japan, will host Group B from 13 to 18 September. The registration deadline is Sunday, 10 September.

The Women’s Baseball World Cup will be played under the Two-Stage Format for the first time. This will result in 30 games played during the Group Stage, featuring two single round-robin groups.

Tokyo 2020 Gold Medallist and Premier12 2019 champion Ryosuke Kikuchi joined the event.

Japan and Chinese Taipei will compete in Group B, while Korea and Hong Kong-China will join Group A at the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup later this year. The tournament can be watched on the WBSC's OTT Channel GameTime, with WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup viewing options now released.

France won the first two editions of the Women's Baseball European Championship in 2019 and 2022.

The World Nos. 2, 10, and 11 women's baseball international programmes will compete with world No. 1 Japan in the Women's Baseball Asia Cup Super Round. The tournament outcome will determine Asia 2 (Group B), 3 and 4 (Group A) in the World Cup's first stage. Japan will compete as Asia 1 in Group B.

The former USA catcher's staff will include pitching coach Reynol Mendoza and assistant coaches Alex Oglesby and Malaika Underwood. Alvarez will evaluate her players at the Women’s National Open in July.

The participants shared their women's baseball development status and discussed future projects with the WBSC Women's Baseball Commission.