Charlotte Crews, from Exeter, England, did not come home from her US WBC trip with souvenirs. She came home geared the f’ up.
A suitcase full of baseball stuff: a catcher’s mitt, resistance bands, a lot of team equipment, and the ever-so-important- Big League Chew. The kind of haul that makes perfect sense in Texas and becomes a minor logistical issue when you’re trying to lug it back home to England. Before that, she had brought chocolate to the west - about £400 worth, packed for family in America. The plan was simple enough: arrive with goodies, come home with a baseball store stuffed inside a suitcase. That’s how dedication, or maybe obsession, travels.
For Crews, catcher and first baseman for the Exeter Wyverns, baseball is no longer background noise. It is training motivation; she works out for baseball. It is a family connection; baseball brings the family closer. It’s watching Team Great Britain in Houston during the WBC. It’s women and girls showing up in a sport most British folks mistake for rounders*. Charlotte Crews found baseball in an unlikely place in Exeter and now plays the game like someone trying to help build it from the ground up.
*rounders noun: a British game similar to baseball, in which you try to hit a ball, and you score a point if you run around all four sides of a large square area (mainly a children’s game).
The Overweight Suitcase
When you play baseball in Southwest England, gear is not just gear. It’s access and patience, shipping costs, and online guessing. The old gamble of hoping something fits when buying online is a bit more critical in the UK. There is rarely a wall of gloves nearby where you can try several different models in a few minutes. Over in America, we have aisles and stores dedicated to the sport. For baseball to work in Exeter, you need to be on a mission.
When Charlotte walked into places like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy, and D-BAT in the US, this was not browsing; it was more of a pilgrimage. This was a Wyverns player standing in front of the kind of baseball abundance most Americans stop noticing by the age of 12. Gloves in different colors, apparel for every occasion, and bats you can actually hold. Specifically, catcher’s gear that does not require a prayer and a shipping confirmation. The ordinary American baseball store became, for her, part candy shop and part financial crime scene.
She bought her first wooden bat, one for her youngest child, gear for teammates, and the prize: a green and teal Wilson A2000 catcher’s mitt that fit her hand perfectly and immediately demanded a beating to break it in. She sounded almost apologetic and sad when she said, “I bought this gorgeous expensive thing, and now I’m just going to pound into it until it looks all kind of old and beaten.”
By the time she came home, one suitcase was five kilos overweight. No surprise, there. Late in our conversation, I asked what was more dangerous: going to a ballpark starving or walking into a baseball shop saying you’re just browsing? Charlotte did not hesitate, “Do you ever really just browse in a baseball shop?”
A Wyvern, Not a Dragon — But Close Enough
Be honest: when you read wyvern, did you know what that was?
Wyvern (noun) wī-vərn: a mythical animal usually represented as a 2-legged winged creature resembling a dragon. (Merriam-Webster)
The Exeter Wyverns’ name came from wanting a connection to the club’s other team, the Spitfires, without simply choosing another aircraft name. “We have the Exeter Spitfires, and that is because of the link with the Spitfire plane… we wanted something that was sort of linked. We debated different airplane names, but we sort of didn’t want to go straight into aviation.” They went into a slightly different direction - but within the same genre - “We have an army barracks in Exeter called Wyvern Barracks, and a wyvern is a type of dragon, they spit fire, so we kind of went with that.”
The Wyverns are made up of a little bit of everything: new pitchers, brand-new players, women, late teens, players in their 50s, and people who found baseball almost by accident. That mix is part of what Charlotte loves about it. Different ages, different backgrounds, same reason for showing up, they simply want to play ball. With a roster that seems to pull from every corner (very common in the UK) - different ages, backgrounds, experience levels, and reasons for finding the game - the Wyverns stand out. And in a place where baseball is still finding its way, standing out is exactly what you need.
Learning to Throw in Your Late 30s
Before the baseball, Charlotte had found her way into roller derby, which probably says something about her wiring. She was never exactly looking for the ordinary. Baseball had always been somewhere in the background, helped along by her American family and a curiosity that never vanished. Eventually, she hunted for a local team, and found Exeter, showed up to a training, and that was it. Hooked, instantly.
She started in her late 30s, learning to throw, catch, and the game itself. All the little details that make baseball both insane and addictive. The challenge is what kept her there, as well as the team. Now, even the gym has a different purpose. She is not just working out to be healthier; she’s working out to be better at baseball.
On the USA Side
America was already part of Charlotte’s family story. Baseball just gave her another reason to cross the pond. When Great Britain qualified for the World Baseball Classic and was going to play in Houston, she knew pretty quickly she had to be there. She had family in San Antonio, Team GB was playing in Texas, and the whole thing felt too perfect to ignore, so she went.
It was her first real MLB stadium experience. She had been to the London Series before, but that was in the UK. This was walking into an actual ballpark built for the game, looking around, and trying to take it all in without getting overwhelmed. She said, “The buildings are just so breathtaking in a way. There’s so much about them. They’re so detailed, there’s so much going on.” She was not there to analyze swings or keep score. She was there to be a fangirl - Cracker Jacks in hand, Team GB on the field, and USA fans all around her. Charlotte still cheered, held her banner high, and made noise. She enjoyed being outnumbered, as an underdog would. At one point, she caught herself looking around the stadium and said, “I’m here. This is real.” As a baseball fan, we all have that moment.
The trip gave her Harry Ford, too - her favorite Team GB player, and a catcher, of course. She got to meet him after the Brazil game, which only added to the whole ridiculously perfect baseball dream of it all. It wasn’t just a baseball trip; the whole thing gave her a feeling of being inside the version of the game she had mostly watched from afar.
“There was a lot of USA fans and not very many GB fans, but we did make as much noise as we could.” -Charlotte Crews
Baseball in a Place Without Baseball Stuff
The WBC trip showed Charlotte what baseball looks like when the game has everything around it, in abundance - ballparks, cages, training, and shops. Back home, it is different. The closest proper batting cage option is around three to three-and-a-half hours away in London. Gear often means ordering online, hoping a shop somewhere carries something worthy, paying shipping, and dealing with customs, after that… hoping the thing that arrives actually fits. That is the part your average baseball player and fan in America can miss. Sometimes, the American player complains about the reps. The British player has to find the reps first.
The Life Around the Game
Like other British baseballers, Charlotte wants the sport to be easier to find, easier to try, and easier for kids to grow up with. Proper fields and bleachers, cages, and better access to the game. She jokes, “I’m still waiting on my lottery win. So when I win the lottery, that’s it. I’ve got the field. We’ve got some batting cages. Yeah, we’ll be sorted.” The joke says something real. In places like Exeter and across other corners of the world where baseball is still growing, it’s not just about getting better players. It is about building the conditions that allow players to play in the first place.
Charlotte’s baseball story sits inside a full life - kids, a husband, an American family, food, travel, art, and a strong belief that women belong in the game. Her youngest is starting to play, and she talks about maybe catching him one day if he pitches. Her son’s pen-and-ink drawings add another layer to the family side of the story. Then there is the food, which feels like its own story: Texas, Scotland, ballpark snacks, pancakes, quesadillas. Let’s not forget that Charlotte is a catcher in a space where there still are not many female catchers. She shows up behind the plate, does the work, loves the game, and makes baseball feel a little more possible for whoever comes next.