Paytience Holman has accomplished many things during her softball career.

After the first-team all-state pitcher led Mexico to a state championship in 2018 and graduated with pitching school records of 258 strikeouts, a 1.08 ERA in a minimum 75 innings and 165⅓ innings in one season, Holman became a second-team all-conference pitcher in the Ohio Valley Conference for the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks. But she had never played internationally like she did early this month at the Canada Cup International Softball Championship.

“The experience is different than how the United States does things,” Holman said. “It’s a good experience to explore different cultures and see how other people do things. I had fun. It made me love softball even more.”

There was no United States in the 12-team women’s international field, split up in pool play before a single-elimination tournament. Holman played for team Israel as a guest player and served in a key role in the country finishing 3-2 in pool play before being eliminated two games deep into the tournament. Israel finished fifth out of 12 teams.

Prior to the games Holman played in from July 1-6, she said she had never traveled outside of the United States before but was accustomed to travel from going across the country as part of Southeast Missouri State. A big difference this time is Holman needed a passport to arrive at her destination of Softball City in Surrey, Canada, which is two hours north of Seattle in British Columbia. She also saw firsthand how tough border security can be.

“In softball at SEMO, we were on the go all the time, preparing for that next week or traveling that back-to-back-to-back was something I was used to doing,” Holman said. “The airport was a little scary. I was coming into a different country by myself so that was scary. I was being interrogated at the border about why I was coming to Canada and if I was being paid. It gave me a little bit of anxiety the first day.”

Holman said she found out about the opportunity two days before the first game because a pitcher dropped out so there was an open spot for Team Israel. Thanks to a former pitching coach at Southeast Missouri State, Holman said her abilities were conveyed to the coaching staff and was asked to join.

She happily accepted the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and then had to adjust to the talented competition scattered with Division I power-four competition. Holman has pitched against and defeated such competition like her seven shutout innings with three hits and one walk against No. 11 University of Missouri) and five innings with three walks, two hits and one earned run over Maryland. Any further anxiety came from the flag she was representing.

“We did have protesters at one of our games,” Holman said. “It was weird because we were from the United States — the whole team from Israel is from the United States. We were the only team to get security just because they heard about the protesting. They wanted us to feel safe and still able to play softball and perform at the highest level that we needed to be. We had security leaving the hotel, we had security entering the hotel, leaving the ballpark, going to warm up, to our field. They were all over.”

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be traced back centuries about disputes over land such as the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This international issue brings a lot more complexity and no signs of being resolved anytime soon. Holman said she knew a little about the conflict but felt the situation in Canada was under control.

“We were expecting to get booed because of everything that is happening down in Israel right now,” Holman said. “We had security for safety reasons. For the environment to be so welcoming and still talk to us, shake our hand and not boo us, it was a good experience.”

Holman said she has wanted to “spread love through softball” and has valued the connections she has made through the game. For a team Holman described as “thrown together,” she said they connected pretty well, leading to an opening 8-0 victory over Hong Kong.  

“As I got down there, they were telling me their culture like they’re Jewish and some of them speak Hebrew,” Holman said. “That was a little different for me because I’m Christian, but they were very welcoming. They care about bonds you build with people outside of softball and throughout the game more than they do about performance.”

The Canada Cup entered its 15th year of existence this year and is operated by the registered nonprofit Canada Amateur Sport Society, which has a mission of “advocating and encouraging the development of the sport of softball by staging a first-class, family-oriented elite international fastpitch event.” Having so many countries represented in one place creates the togetherness the organization and Holman wants in the game.

Holman said it was cool to meet fans from all over the world and have little kids walk up to her for autographs. The context of playing an international softball competition in of itself was also unforgettable especially with the Olympics coming up in Paris and softball being announced as a sport returning to the games at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. 

After Israel opened with a victory over Hong Kong, it finished pool play with a 9-3 loss to Mexico, 4-3 win over Philippines, 10-3 loss to Canada and an 8-5 win over New Zealand. In single elimination, Israel defeated Team Saskatchewan 4-1 before losing 10-0 to Mexico.

“I didn’t feel any pressure whatsoever this whole tournament,” Holman said. “For college softball, I’m representing a university that is trying to get their name out there and I’m also representing Mexico and representing my family. Going across the border and not knowing anybody and not knowing the team, I felt no pressure. I was able to relax and have fun and actually enjoy the moment instead of worrying about disappointing people or living up to that standard people place me at.”

Holman had good reason to be confident in her abilities coming off her best college season in her fifth year at Southeast Missouri State. The Redhawks finished 28-26 and were the Ohio Valley Conference champions after a 4-2 clinching victory over No. 1 seed Eastern Illinois behind two earned runs allowed in 6⅓ innings by Holman. She led the team with a 16-10 record, 2.41 ERA, 81 strikeouts, .241 batting average against, 151⅓ innings, 33 appearances, nine starts, nine complete games and four shutouts.

In the circle, Holman was able to call her pitches for the first time in five years and recorded innings against Philippines, Canada, Team Saskatchewan and twice against Mexico. Holman’s 2022 season in college didn’t go as well with a 5.78 ERA, but she was able to improve to a 3.91 ERA in 2023 and a 2.41 ERA in her final season.

“Before, I felt like I was worried about the things that I have no control over,” Holman said. “It was mentally draining. My teammates didn’t want to be around me. They were like, ‘This is a player who gets to play, and she just complains.’ I had to have a moment of realization with myself to be like, ‘Take some accountability, go work, go get better and prove to everybody that you were built for this.’ My fifth year, I told myself there was going to be no negativity, and I was going to be annoyingly positive to everybody and to myself.”

Holman said she basically switched her mindset from being more about her to being more about her team. Eventually, she shared memorable moments with the Redhawks and with Team Israel.

In Israel’s victory over Philippines, Holman said the game was tied at 3 in the bottom of the seventh inning and was in danger of going to an international tiebreaker. Before that happened, Holman took her first at-bat in five years after the woman ahead of her was intentionally walked and she responded with a walk-off RBI. She did take more swings in the victory against New Zealand, driving in two runs.

“The opportunity came, and it was right where I left off,” Holman said. “It was seeing the ball well — see ball, hit ball — and keeping it simple. I was able to make contact and score the run. I don’t think anybody could tell that I hadn’t hit in so long.”

Holman traveling back across the border meant her softball career had come to an end, but she is happy. She knows aspects of the game will endure through the rest of her life.

“I feel pretty accomplished,” Holman said. “I feel like I’ve been able to touch others. I feel like I’ve been able to lead people to experiences of a lifetime. I feel like I’ve been able to make great friends and connections. I’m pretty happy with my career. This is something exciting that I get to tell my kids about, trying to build that legacy for them.”