Claire Eccles (born October 25, 1997) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. She is a left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who throws three pitches, including a

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch (baseball), pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from Laminar flow, lamin ...

. She has been a member of the women's national baseball team of Canada, and has competed in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2016 Women's Baseball World Cups as well as the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

. In 2017, she joined the Victoria HarbourCats of the

West Coast League The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...

and became the first woman to play in that league. She was also a member of the

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

team at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Baseball

Canadian National Team

Eccles made her international debut at 16 in the 2014 Women's Baseball World Cup. She appeared in one game and pitched four scoreless innings as the Canadian team finished in fourth place. In 2015, she competed in the women's baseball tournament in the 2015 Pan American Games. It was the debut appearance of women's baseball in the Pan American games, and the Canadian team won the silver medal. The team would again take silver at the 2016 Women's Baseball World Cup, with Eccles going 1–0 with a 0.00

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

over 8 2/3 innings and recording five

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

West Coast League

On May 16, 2017, the Victoria HarbourCats of the West Coast League, a collegiate summer baseball league, announced the signing of Eccles. Following the announcement, R. A. Dickey, a knuckleballer pitching in the major leagues, posted a message of congratulations on Twitter. On June 8, Eccles made her HarbourCats debut against the

Wenatchee AppleSox The Wenatchee AppleSox is a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the West Coast League's North Division. The team is based in Wenatchee, Washington and was established in 2000 by owner Jim Corcoran. It has played its home games at Paul Tho ...

, becoming the first woman to play in the WCL. She entered in

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

and pitched two innings, giving up one hit, one walk, and two runs. On June 18, Eccles made her first

start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

and earned her first

win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

for Victoria, as the HarbourCats won 11–2 in a non-league game against the

Kitsap BlueJackets The Kitsap BlueJackets were an amateur baseball team located in Bremerton, Washington. They played in the West Coast League, a collegiate summer baseball league, from 2004 to 2016. Kitsap called the Gene Lobe Field at Kitsap County Fairgrounds ...

, a former WCL team. She appeared in eight games for the HarbourCats in 2017. The team announced on its website that she would have returned for its 2018 season but was ultimately not on the roster.

Pitching style

Eccles throws three pitches, a

two-seam fastball A two-seam fastball is a pitch in baseball and softball. It is a variant of the straight fastball. The pitch has the speed of a fastball and can also include late-breaking action caused by varying the pressure of the index and middle fingers on t ...

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

and knuckleball. Although she throws a knuckleball, she uses her pitches evenly and does not consider herself a " knuckleball pitcher".

Softball

Eccles was a member of the softball team at the University of British Columbia. Unlike baseball, she did not pitch, but played the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

. In her sophomore season, she hit .293. In her junior season, she hit .358 and was named a second-team all star and gold glove award winner for the Cascade Collegiate Conference. In her senior and last season, her hitting average was .362.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, Claire 1997 births Canadian women baseball players Baseball pitchers Living people Baseball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada in baseball Victoria HarbourCats players UBC Thunderbirds athletes Canadian softball players Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games 21st-century Canadian sportswomen