Thunder Bay prepares for 2024 Women's Baseball World Cup Finals

World-class baseball is returning to Thunder Bay this summer, as preparations for the 2024 Women's Baseball World Cup Finals continue.

The tournament will see six national teams — Canada, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan and Chinese Taipei — take the field at Port Arthur Stadium in late July, competing for the title of world champion.

"This is the third world championship the Thunder Bay is hosted in 15 years," said Nick Melchiorre, president of the Thunder Bay International Baseball Association. "I don't believe there's a city in the world that's had three world baseball championships in that amount of time, so we're definitely an international baseball hotbed."

Tickets for the tournament went on sale Tuesday, and can be purchased online or at the Port Arthur Stadium box office.

Single-game tickets are $15 for adults or $10 for children aged 12 and under, and a tournament pass offering admission to all 17 games is also available for $85.

There will be three games a day at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m; Canada will play the 7 p.m. game each day, Melchiorre said.

The bronze and gold medal games will take place on Aug. 3.

All games will take place at Port Arthur Stadium, while Baseball Central will be used for practice, he said.

"These games will be streamed worldwide," Melchiorre said. "There'll be a lot of fans watching all over the globes, so I'm hoping we get a great turn out, especially for the Canada games." 

Thunder Bay also hosted the Group A qualifiers last summer.

"It was kind of a dry run," Melchiorre said. "We dusted off the recipe and it worked out well, and we're hoping this year, with the higher calibre baseball, that will have a even a better result."