The club are excited to announce our women’s import player for 2017/18. Yuuki Ishikawa, a member of Tokyo based women’s club team ‘Samurai’, will arrive mid-September to join the Big Cats for the season.
The club have a long history with Team Samurai, having hosted them several times over the past 10 years, and making life long friends, including past Big Cats import players Risa Nakashima, Kei Matsumoto, and Rieko Abe.
Women’s Club Coach Shae Lillywhite said she thought Yuuki would be a great addition to not only the women’s program, but the club. “Yuuki is a great all-round player. She is young, and still learning about the game, but she loves baseball and she is looking forward to learning more about the way we do things here in Australia. It will be really good for our players, especially our younger girls, to learn from Yuuki, but more importantly, she will be a great character off the field”.
You may recognise Yuuki from earlier this year when she was at the club attending the Greater Women’s Friendship Tournament held over Australia Day. She was in fact named joint MVP of the tournament with fellow Big Cat Sinead Flanigan.
Please make an effort to welcome Yuuki when you see her around the club over the coming months. For some more info. on our new import, see below:
Age – 21
How long have you played baseball – 14 years
Favourite Position – Pitcher
Favourite Hobbies – Shopping & going out with friends
Favourite MLB Team – New York Yankees
Favourite MLB Player – Tanaka Masahiro
Favourite Drink – Green Tea
Favourite Food – Omelette Rice
Why do you love baseball? Because it’s fun!
Why do you want to play in Australia? When I felt the charm of baseball at Big Cats in Australia, I thought I wanted to play baseball with everyone!
On behalf of the club, welcome Yuuki!