Lisa Nakashio is a name to remember in the coming years, as she continues to excel across local, national and international levels of baseball!
Nakashio has had a terrific 2025, having earned major individual awards as a baseballer and contributed to big wins across several competitions.
She’s proven herself to be one of the best female athletes currently in New South Wales. One of the key players on the NSW squad that won gold at the 2025 Australian Women’s Championship, Nakashio brings immense talent across the diamond.
Her national success followed the 2025 Women’s League Grand Final which saw her local club Ryde compete, after an upset win over the Eastern Suburbs Dolphins in the WL 1st Grade semifinals.
To continue the success of her year, she also recently participated in the Down Under Diamonds Tour with female players from across the country! From this tour, she was named MVP selected by coaches on the tour. She also received the Players’ Player Award on the same tour.
This Japan tour was one of the highlights of Nakashio’s year. With the Diamonds, she participated in local competition against three teams, which included World #1 Team Japan.
During the tour, the Diamonds played seven games against all teams, sometimes even playing a few of them twice. Besides games, the team also participated in training sessions and half-games.
Nakashio was aware of the calibre of talent she would be up against in Japan, having had the opportunity to participate in the Baseball NSW tour to Fukuoka, Japan.
Through that partnership our players train with the Kyushu Honeys and learn from coaches such as Risa Nakashima – Japan Women’s National Coach.
When asked about her participation in the Japan tour, Nakashio said she was glad to be able to play there. As an athlete, she took advantage of the opportunity to play as hard as she could and to further develop her skills and learn even more.
She also valued the opportunity for both teams to learn from each other, which removed the pressure of playing in another country.
As scouted by staff including coach Risa Nakashima, who has had heavy involvement with Australian baseball and helped develop many players from NSW, Nakashio also said that they “chose such a great squad of good people.”
“I don’t think I stopped smiling on the field over there,” she added.
Moreover, Nakashio acknowledged her cultural affinity with the Japanese.
“My background is Japanese, but I was born and raised in Australia,” she said. “I’ve never had that experience to play and train in Japan aside from the [Kyushu] Honeys partnership [or] be in that environment. The way they do everything over there is so quality.”
She also appreciated building new connections with other players in Japan, having the chance to speak Japanese and helping her teammates navigate a new country.
Recently stepping into the world of coaching, Lisa is passionate about passing on her knowledge to the next generation.
As a coach for the NSW Composite team that bagged the championship at the 2025 Little League Girls Nationals, she is forging great relationships with young girls getting started in the game.
Over the past two years she has been involved in the Barclay Cup coaching one of two NSW squads at the 2024 and 2025 Barclay Cup tournaments. In 2024, her squad won Bronze. While her team fell short of bronze in 2025 in an all-NSW showdown.
As a coach, Nakashio focuses on passing down her expertise onto the next generation of NSW baseballers. This is her way of paying back her coaches for helping mold her into the athlete she is today.
BNSW congratulates Lisa Nakashio for an outstanding year, and we hope to see her continue to excel as a player and coach!
