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Taking on the world: LSU softball's Patyn Monticelli to join Team Great Britain at World Cup
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BATON ROUGE - LSU softball and Tiger Park are back in the big dance as Beth Torina's Tigers host the Baton Rouge regional to start their NCAA tournament run.
The Tigers are on the national stage, and in a couple of months, LSU pitcher Paytn Monticelli will be on the world stage. The hard-throwing right-hander is on Team Great Britain's roster for the softball World Cup.
"My head Coach at Wisconsin was like, 'we know you're British, why don't you play for the British team?'" said LSU softball's Paytn Monticelli.
Tiger fans know Monticelli from her time so far in the Purple and Gold, and they should, but you look at where else she's been. Wisconsin, Oklahoma, the Madison Night Mares in the Northwoods League, and then LSU. All of these have been pieces of the puzzle that have made Monticelli into a pitcher for Team Great Britain at the World Cup.
"The only reason why I got in contact with the Great Britain coaches is because of my first collegiate head coach Yvette Healy. She got me in contact with head coach Tera Henry at Great Britain, and she works with Softball America," said Monticelli. "It's just that everything happens for a reason, and I truly wouldn't be where I am today and had the experiences that I've had without being where I was."
The British roots run deep here. Monticelli was born on a Royal Air Force base in England, and one of her great-grandmothers is from Wales. When Monticelli got the chance to represent her heritage on the world stage, that reignited her love for the game of softball.
"It completely flipped my world around, and it brought back that child-like joy back into my life. And I felt like I was playing like 10-year-old Paytn again," said Monticelli.
Monticelli will finish her senior season with LSU, then join Team Great Britain for the group stage of the World Cup in July in Peru. If the lionesses do well enough to earn a berth to the Olympics in 2028, Monticelli plans to be on that team. Even after that, she still doesn't think she'll be satisfied.
"They're gonna have to pretty much take me off the field. I'm going to do it until someone tells me I can't anymore. If I can do it until I'm 40, then I'll do it until I'm 40, but I'm not going to be the one hanging up my cleats," said Monticelli.
While Monticelli was with Team Great Britain at the European Championships in 2025, she held opposing hitters to a .073 Batting average, the best on the team.
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