BLACKTOWN in Sydney's west may be a long way from Banora Point, but it's an even further trek from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for college softballer Laura Coulter.

About to enter into her second year at Pittsburgh's Robert Morris University, the former Banora Point High student is used to crossing the Pacific and recently played in the under-23 Australian nationals.

A pitcher, armed with an array of crunching deliveries, Coulter started her journey to the US college system as a tee-baller in Sydney, before the family moved to Banora Point in 2008.

"I used to play short-stop, but a coach found me and said 'you're not a short-stop, you're a pitcher', so he turned me into a pitcher,” Coulter said.

"I ventured up to Brisbane and made some representative sides up there and that's when I started making Queensland state teams.

"I started off in under-16s, then onto 17's, 19s and now under-23s.”

Pitching at the 2016 U23 Women's National Championships in Blacktown, Coulter helped her side record five wins from seven games, on their way to claiming the national title.

The side convincingly defeated NSW 7-2 in the final, and after a runners-up for the under-23 side in 2015, Coulter said the future was in good hands.

"Our Queensland side is a young team, so we're going to have younger players continuing for the next few years which is good,” she said.

Coulter, 20, is preparing to return to America on Friday to begin fall training and during the season (February to May), her side will play up to six games a week.

While her schedule is tough, Coulter is loving the opportunity of playing in the US and following her dream of playing at Olympic level (softball may return to Olympic competition in 2020), but it could have been a lot different after she initially turned down the college opportunity in grade 12.

"I had a recruiter approach me and I declined. It frightened me a bit as it was such a big decision,” Coulter said.

"But when I turned 19, I felt like I was a bit more ready for the experience and knew that's what I wanted to do.”

Coulter lived with nine teammates when first arriving in Pittsburgh and has made life long friends.

While she is unsure of where her baseball will lead in the long term, she is soaking up the experience.

"I love it over there and I love the friends that I've made,” Coulter said.

"I love what I'm doing and you always want to do what you love.”