Amanda Karlene Asay (May 16, 1988 – January 7, 2022) was a Canadian baseball and ice hockey player. She played on the Canada women's national baseball team from 2005 to 2021, and was its longest-serving member at the time of her death. She batted and threw right-handed,[3] and played at catcher, first base, and starting pitcher.
Asay joined the national team when she was 17 years old. She played in the World Cup one year later, where she was named to the all-tournament team as first baseman and won the national team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. She proceeded to compete in six more World Cup tournaments, earning two silver and two bronze medals in total. She was also part of the roster which secured a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. At the 2016 World Cup, she played as a pitcher, won both her starts by pitching complete games, and was again bestowed the team MVP award.
Asay was born in Prince George, British Columbia, on May 16, 1988.[2] Her father, George, worked as a high school science teacher; her mother, Loris, was a nurse.[4][5] Asay began playing baseball when she was five.[2][6] She attended College Heights Secondary School in her hometown,[4] where she graduated with honours.[5] She then studied at Brown University on an academic and hockey scholarship,[7] graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 2010.[2] Subsequently, she completed postgraduate studies at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Suzanne Simard, obtaining a Master of Science in 2013,[8] and a Doctor of Philosophy in forestry in 2020.[6] Her research concentrated on kin selection and recognition in interior Douglas fir, as well as the involvement of mycorrhizal network in that interaction.[9][10]
Asay competed in softball for Brown University from 2007 until her senior year in 2010,[11] playing as first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. In her first season, she had the most runs batted in (RBIs) on the team with 16, to go along with 20 hits and 8 runs scored in 42 games played. She was limited to eight games the following year due to an injury that prematurely ended her season, but maintained a .435 batting average with 10 hits and six RBIs in those games. Her 2009 season was also cut short to six games because of another season-ending injury. She nonetheless had 10 hits, two home runs, six RBIs, and six runs scored in 13 at bats.[12] She served as team captain during her senior year.[11]
Asay also played on the Brown Bears women's ice hockey team. She missed only one game during her first season in 2006–07, in order to travel back home to receive the Canadian women's baseball player of the year award.[1] During her second year, she played 19 games as defenceman and had nine shots.[1]
Asay joined the Canadian national team in 2005, when she was 17 years old. One year later, she made her World Cup debut at the tournament in Taiwan in which the Canadians secured bronze.[7][13] Asay was employed as a backup at her natural position of catcher, with the majority of her playing time coming as a first baseman and designated hitter.[5] She posted a batting average of .500 throughout the competition alongside nine RBIs, leading to her being named to the tournament all-star team as first baseman and winning the national team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.[13][14][15] Asay went on to compete in six more editions of the World Cup, helping the Canadian team earn silver in 2008 and 2016, and bronze in 2012 and 2018.[7] During the 2016 tournament, she played as starting pitcher and won her two starts by pitching complete games.[16] This included a 2–1 victory over Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.[7][13] She posted a 1.00 earned run average (ERA) and 16 strikeouts. Offensively, she had a .333 batting average with two doubles and three RBIs.[16] In recognition of her performance, she was honoured as the team MVP for the second time.[13][16]