After Pandemic Halts History, Lisa Turbitt Takes WBC Field

Baseball Canada umpire Lisa Turbitt was originally slated to make history as the first woman to officiate a World Baseball Classic Qualifier game in March 2020, but before the tournament could get going, it was postponed. Two years later, Turbitt joins an international roster of officials to work the WBC qualifier round in Fall 2022.

Turbitt's history-making game occurred September 30, 2022 at Estadio Nacional Rod Carew in Panama City in front of a crowd of 466 people. Turbitt and umpires Frantisek Pribyl, Dane Poncsak, and Michael Ulloa worked a rainy game—complete with a weather delay—in which Argentina defeated Pakistan, 7-4.

The Latin America leg of the WBC qualifying round follows the European qualifier that took place at Armin-Wolf Baseball Arena in Regensburg, Germany in September, with Great Britain and Czech Republic qualifying for the 2023 WBC.

The main World Baseball Classic tournament is scheduled to begin March 11, 2023, in the United States.