Gaynor has been on seven Australian teams, having children in between, and is an All World Player, playing on both the medal-winning Emeralds teams.  

She last played for the Emeralds in 2014, winning a bronze medal in Japan.

Prior to the birth of her twins, Gaynor was the fittest she had ever been and during her pregnancy, she contemplated whether she would return to elite baseball after her twins were born.

“I thought about it the whole time and there were times where I would flip flop whether I would return or not but towards the end of my pregnancy it hit me that no way was I ready to finish," she said.

"I still craved that team environment and comradery.”

In her words, she is coming back for “one more shot” and has the support of her family behind her.

From a well-known baseball family, and with his own elite baseball pedigree, husband John Gaynor has been a driving force behind Katie’s baseball career.

He has coached her at club, state and national level, is her #1 coach, critic, supporter, game analyser and confidante.

John has taken on the role of full-time carer to give Katie the time to prepare and train to be in the best condition she can be for the Bendigo Challenge.

She has also got plenty of support around her with Emeralds veteran catcher Tahnee Lovering helping out during gym sessions, alternating holding the twins between sets.

Returning to the gym after the twins were born, Katie would feed them between her own sets, and she has even been known to use the twins as weights.

Katie’s motto is “if you love it, you will always find time to do it”.

Her advice to others thinking about returning to sport after having children is “don’t be hard on yourself."

"Be realistic and set little goals for yourself.”

 

All photos provided by Baseball Australia.