By Nick Creely
Winning a bronze medal at such a young age is an experience remembered forever.
For Alisha Devine, all of her hard work is starting to pay dividends in her pursuit to one day play at the very highest level she can, and her recent medal is testament to that.
But the 13-year-old Pakenham Pumas player and St Francis Xavier College student did something so rare in the 2018 Australian Intermediate League Championships in Lismore from 20 May to 25 May for the Southern Mariners; she was the only female in the team, and one of only four in the entire tournament.
In fact, she was just the second ever female to be invited to represent the Southern Mariners.
As humble as they come, the youngster said it was a great experience to get some success in representative sport, and said despite being the only female, she fitted in extremely well.
“It was my first tournament away from Victoria, so it was really exciting, and it was really good fun,” she said.
“I’ve made some great friends along the way which is really good as well.”
Alisha plays her home baseball with the Under 14’s Pakenham Pumas, and is loving her time while learning a lot about the game at the same time.
“Baseball’s a lot of fun – I play pitcher, first base and third base, so you need to have a strong arm and coordination,” she said.
“It’s a lot of fun, the team’s good fun to play with – Gregg Clutterbuck is my coach and he’s really good. I’ve always been surrounded by really good people across the journey so far.
“I think my sister (Emily) has been one of my main mentors so far, she’s been fantastic.”
While still a developing talent, Alisha trains and plays up to four days a week, requiring a lot of commitment.
“I’d like to try out and hopefully play for the Women’s Victorian team, I just need to keep training and work hard to get there,” she said.
And she has a message for anyone interested in giving baseball a go.
“Baseball’s for everyone, it’s just a great social sport – it’s great to see the smiles on all the faces as they continue to improve,” she said.
