Kimbrell, Team USA strike gold in Canada

Winning gold is winning gold, and although it may not be from the Olympics, former Nation Ford High grad Anna Kimbrell can now call herself a gold medalist.

Kimbrell and Team USA won gold in the Pan Am games in Toronto recently, taking a big step toward potentially getting baseball, and specifically women’s baseball, installed in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“I would love to go to the Olympics,” she said. “Even through this event, we got a lot more publicity. We just have to wait and see now.”

Kimbrell herself was impressive in the Pan Am games, hitting .400 (4 for 10) with seven RBI in five games. She also scored three times and walked three times, playing in all of Team USA’s games.

In the gold medal game against host country Canada, Kimbrell went 2-3 with three RBI in an 11-4 win. Kimbrell was also part of history as she caught the first complete game no-hitter for the USA women’s baseball team as they beat Puerto Rico 9-0 in one of the preliminary games.

Kimbrell caught all seven innings from pitcher Stacy Piagno and also went 1-2 in the game with two RBI, scored twice and walked once.

“It kind of flew under the radar for a while,” Kimbrell said of Piagno’s no-no. “It wasn’t until the fifth inning we realized what was happening. It was awesome. We couldn’t have asked for a better performance from her.”

Although Team USA had a roster full of talent, Kimbrell said the team made sure not to overlook anyone, especially Team Canada, who they had to beat twice, including in the gold medal game.

“They have a great team and a lot of good athletes,” Kimbrell said.

Kimbrell is now trying to morph back into her everyday life as an assistant groundskeeper for Hoover Met Stadium in Birmingham, Ala., but admits things haven’t really sunk in regarding the success she was part of in Toronto.

“It was awesome,” she said.

“It is just now starting to sink in. Everything was a blur. It’s a pretty cool deal and we accomplished something that not a lot of people in the world can say that they did.”

A pitcher as well as a catcher, Kimbrell has been affiliated with Team USA women’s baseball since 2006. Growing up she played baseball throughout Little League and at Nation Ford High was the first girl in South Carolina known to play varsity high school baseball. She went on to be the first girl in the state to play American Legion baseball.

From there she went on to Samford University where she played college softball and hit .220 as a freshman, before transferring to the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). She graduated UAB in 2013.

Kimbrell was part of the 2008 Women’s Baseball World Cup team that won a silver medal and was part of the 2010, 2012 and 2014 teams as well.

Up next for Kimbrell when it comes to baseball is looking to earn a spot on the World Cup team for 2016. The Women’s World Cup tournament for 2016 is set for Busan, South Korea, the country’s second largest city behind Seoul.

This story was originally published July 31, 2015 at 9:31 PM with the headline "Kimbrell, Team USA strike gold in Canada."