Diary Ten (May 1, 2006) - So here we are in the last week of school. It’s kind of crazy around here between practice and everyone trying to study for exams, but we make it work. We played our last 4 games this week and we ended up losing all 4 unfortunately. That now puts us in 4th place for our conference.
I didn’t have any exams today or none tomorrow so that gives me some free time to pack some things up and study for exams, its very different having all of the free time on my hands. Today we had practice, which went pretty well. We started off in the locker room discussing about what this teams needs from each other and as individuals. Then it was down to the field to take off the tarp. Practice was pretty basic just going over fundamentals, hitting and the pitchers did their workouts.
We leave on Thursday for Indianapolis for our HCAC Tourney in which we play Friday morning at 9 am. As the time draws closer and closer we are starting to realize that this is when it really counts to see what we are made of. All of the times we woke up at 4 AM, sprints, workouts, staying extra to work on things individually, our blood, sweat and tears we have poured into this season all comes down to this weekend. We need to come out strong, intense and prove everyone wrong who has ever doubted us this season.
It’s hard to believe that my sophomore year is almost over and I’m going to be a junior! As another year comes and goes you meet new people, start new friendships and learn so many things. This year by far I have learned the most not only about my teammates but about myself as well. About how much I’m willing to give to this team so we can be successful. I hope next year I learn just as much and even more as I did this year. Its off to Indy on Thursday…Lets Go Beavers!
Diary Nine (April 24, 2006) - Greetings from the Beavers! What a great weekend we had….Saturday was our home game vs Franklin and we came out to play Beaver Ball, and we did…we ended up winning the first game 6-2 and the second game in a thrilling, heart-stopping game 5-4. These two wins puts us on a six game winning streak and 7-3 in our conference. Tomorrow we take on our rival Defiance and then Saturday our last home game vs Anderson, then it’s all what we have been working so hard for and that’s the conference tournament in Indiana.
I have come to realize that there are only four games left until the season is over, minus conference. This year has gone by so fast and I’m very anxious and eager to learn a few more things within in the next few days of practice. It seems like just yesterday I was waking up at 5am for practice. And even though all of us would moan, groan and complain about anything and everything sometimes, we have all made it through and here within the next few weeks is our home stretch of what this team is really made up of.
This is one of my favorite quotes: “You carry on no matter what are the obstacles. You simply refuse to give up - and, when the going gets tough, you get tougher. And, you win”-Vince Lombardi. I feel this is a quote our team relates to very much! We have had obstacles during the season but we never gave up on each other or ourselves. Those tough times are what has made us a strong team, and now that we have a stronger team, we are winning and doing so with excellence! I hope we continue to grow stronger each day and hopefully in the end all of our strength will pay off. Go Beavers, Beat Defiance!
Dairy Eight (April 20, 2006) - Hi All! So we traveled to Hanover on Thursday and beat them the first game 12-0 and they had to forfeit the second game 7-0 because they only have 10 players. Getting those two wins felt great. We came out strong and stayed on top. After Hanover, we got back to school, packed up and everyone headed home for Easter break. Break was very good, but I think it went by way to fast. We didn’t have classes on Monday but we had to come back for practice starting at 4:00.
Practice on Tuesday went very well…we concentrated on bunting and realized that we have to execute the bunt and get them down when we need too. Yesterday was our home game vs. Manchester and we were all hungry for another win so we came out strong and won the first game 3-1. We had to keep this feeling of winning, playing well and never giving up because it’s never enough. We did because we won the second game 3-1 as well. After winning 4 games in a row, it feels really good. We are all playing very well right now and need to continue our hard work. Going into yesterday’s game, I was kind of unsure how we would play, it seems sometimes we play well and other days we can’t get it together. Our next game is home on Saturday vs Franklin, I hope we continue to bring our game and play Beaver ball like we know how!
It’s near the end of the season and knowing that classes and softball are almost over for some of us, we need to make sure we have fun! We play a lot better when we have fun and just do what we do. For me…I want to have lots of fun, this is my sophomore year in which I feel that it’s a time for me to take my skills that I have learned and applied them, but I also have room to grow as well. Whatever you try to learn, you might as well make it as fun as possible. Our team has learned a lot about each other and as individuals, and we still have plenty more to learn in the last few weeks of playing the sport we all love to play. Franklin is coming here Saturday…hope to see you all at our game…Go Beavers!
Practices seem to be going well. For me, I always look forward to practice knowing that this is another opportunity for me to improve my skills either on defense, offense or learning lessons about life from my teammates and coaches. At practice on Monday, Coach asked us what we need to do to make the rest of this season fun. We all had our share of thoughts about that and I need to remember what my teammates said to make the rest of the season fun and to go all out.
I personally feel that I have improved greatly this season on and off the field. I’m a well-rounded player and my hitting has improved greatly. I just have to keep working hard to be the best I can be for teammates, coaches and myself.
Knowing that this season is almost over, there is no reason not to have fun while not holding anything back, what do I have to lose? Conference tournament is coming up fast and I’m hoping through all of our hard and intense practices throughout this season, tournaments will be our opportunity to be at the top of our game and prove to everyone what type of team we are and how to play Beaver Ball. We need to keep improving and fighting to be all we can be, like I said earlier…what do we have to lose? It’s off to Hanover tomorrow….GO BEAVERS!
After traveling from Kentucky and spending the night in the hotel in Cincinnati, we were finally ready for our game versus Mount St Joe on Sunday. It was raining in Cincinnati on Saturday so the field was very wet and muddy, but we still managed to play both games. Our first game we came out strong having 4 players cross home plate, but for some reason we feel that if we score 4 runs we are going to win and that’s not the case. We lost our 3rd game of the weekend to Mount St. Joe 7-4.
All week, Coach has been wanting us to dig deep and find that desire that makes us light up to play Beaver ball, have confidence in ourselves and within each other. All of our losses made us decide to learn from them and move on to play our last game of the weekend. No matter what it would take, we were going to go home with a win. The second game we came out stronger than ever, we all had the fire inside of us that we found. Our defense was phenomenal and our offense was amazing as we won the second game versus Mount Saint Joseph 13-0! Now that we know we can play “Beaver Ball” we want to keep it that way. We now know what we are capable of and what is expected of us…we just need to keep the fire burning. Our next game is tomorrow at Denison which doesn’t start until 5 and it’s a 3 hour trip, it’s going to be late until we get back, but it’s all going to be worth it. Watch out Denison, there is a big ball of fire coming your way….until next time!
Since the last time I have updated we have played many games in various types of weather. Everything from sun to playing in 26 degree and snow in Cleveland at Case Western, I felt like I was playing in one huge snow globe. The thing I find it hard to believe is that we are 7-8! We have a lot of talented players on this team, yet it seems like on game days we just can’t pull it all together.
Practices have been going very well. Coach has been focusing more on our mental game than physical. She knows we can all run, hit, bunt, catch and throw, but our mentality of the game needs to increase. Errors don’t win ball games, especially mental ones! Even though we have rough practices on some days, I find myself growing more confident in myself and in my teammates, and I hope it keeps on rising!
This weekend is our weekend trip to play Mount St. Joe and Transylvania. We are so pumped and ready to play considering these are our first conferences games we play. We were supposed to leave this morning at 10:30 to play Mount St. Joe which is in Cincinnati then head to Kentucky tomorrow to play Transylvania but…coach just e-mailed us and said that it is raining in Cincinnati so they cancelled the game today, which means we leave tonight at 6:00 and spend the night in Lexington, KY, to play Transylvania tomorrow then head back to Cincinnati to play Mount on Sunday.
This should be a lot of traveling for us but we also have to make sure all of our school work is done since we will not be back until Sunday and all of us have classes on Monday. With lots of traveling we will be tired but this is just another great opportunity for us to hang out with teammates while riding in the vans and of course playing softball. Mount and Transy, ready or not…here come the Beavers!
Overall, Florida was amazing, everything from spending time with the girls to playing softball! If I had to say anything about Florida for myself I believe that it was a learning experience. I learned not only a lot about the team but about myself as well. How much do I really have to sacrifice and give to make this team successful? I guess whatever it takes! Our team is starting to realize what are our strengths and weaknesses are, what works and what doesn’t, and what our roles are. In Florida, obviously everything didn’t go perfectly, but I think that is what is going to make our team stronger. To look at our mistakes, analyze them, learn from them and move on and focus on the next game ahead of us.
As of right now we are back into our normal schedules, as in going to classes, meetings and practice. Our first game is on Wednesday at Ohio Northern and our first home game is Saturday at 1:00 vs. Alma. We are going to practice really hard and focus on the things we feel we need to work on more as a team and individually. Hopefully through all of the hard work we will put into practice this week we will come away with two wins vs. ONU and Alma. Come out and support your Beavers on Saturday, be there or be square!!
We knew after our rough day on Tuesday that on Wednesday we needed to come out strong and on top in which we did. Wednesday we played Baldwin-Wallace at 8:50 and came out with a 5-4 win. This game we played Beaver Ball, the softball that we know how to play. We wanted to keep the momentum going strong and never let up. Our second game we played Thiel at 12:30, in which that game we played our best ball ever coming out on top with a 9-1 win in 5 innings. This win gave us a major confidence boost. Since our games were done around 2:00 we had the whole afternoon and evening to spend some quality team bonding time. Around 7:00 went all went to the mall and did some more shopping like always but the fun came after the mall.
Driving to our games we always see these two large towers in the air and always wondered what they were, well…we found out! These two towers belong to the ride that’s called The Sling Shot. This ride holds 2 people, you get in they lower you down and you get shot up 375 ft up in the air at 120 m.p.h and go 6 g’s. Of course most of the team did it and let me tell you what an adrenaline rush! If you like rides that give you a thrill, you have to ride The Sling Shot!!!
Our games we played today went well as we came away with our first win of the day vs Waynesburg 4-2 and getting a second thrilling victory vs Maryville 2-1 in 8 innings of a hard fought game. We hope to take these last four wins over the last two days and have it give us confidence to keep playing well and working hard. We play our last two games tomorrow in the sun, dirt and green grass and hoping for two more wins! Lets Go Beavers!!
Sunday we chilled here at the house until it was time to get ready for our games. We all got ready and left here around 2:00 so we were at the field on time for our game vs. Averett at 4:10 and Misericordia at 6:00.
Its finally game time, we were all so excited to be playing out in the sun and in the grass instead of in the gyms. It was a warm one though, now I understand why coach made us wear sweatshirts some days while running. Our first game vs Averett we came out a little shaky and nervous but we pulled it together and came away with a 5-4 win. Our second game we settled down and got our offense going strong with some big hits as well as some great defensive plays and came out with our second win of the day 1-0. After playing our first two games in Florida we realized some of our strengths as a team as well as our weaknesses. Our strengths we would like to continue what we are doing and our weaknesses with some more hard work, dedication, and team work we will accomplish what we are trying to achieve.
Today (Sunday) was our only day off. The girls whose parents came went out with the parents while the 8 of us “orphans” for this trip went out with the coaches for the day. We went to Cocoa Beach went swimming, played some football, tired to build a sand castle and of course buried someone, and that someone was me. After the beach we went out to lunch, then to the outlet malls for some shopping.
After a fun filled and relaxing day we are here back at the houses getting ready for a team meeting. Then it’s up bright and early tomorrow morning to take on Wartburg at 8:50 a.m. and Wittenberg at 10:40. I hope you are all enjoying the snowy weather at home, I know we sure are enjoying it here. GO BEAVERS!!!
This year is a new team with different talents, personalities, strengths and weaknesses. But through all of that, we have come together and started working hard and with excellence as a team. Communication is a big part of playing a sport especially since everyone has different responsibilities with their positions that they play. If there is one thing that we have had to overcome it is practicing in the gyms. It makes it more difficult due to limited room, not being in an open atmosphere and it can get really old, you just want to go outside and play in the dirt and sun. Hopefully once we get down to Florida where we can play in the dirt and sun we can see that our hard work is paying off and what things we may still need to work on individually and as a team.
In Florida we will be staying in two houses and not in hotels. Our houses are very nice and they are only about a block away from each other, so we can always run back and forth for meetings, dinners or just to do some team bonding. Since we will be in Florida with each other for 10 days it doesn’t really give you that much alone time. But it also gives our team the opportunity to get to know each other better. We have all been getting along great so far, so this should be a fun and exciting experience.
Through all of our hard work and dedication to prepare us for Florida, we are starting to realize that the time is now only three days and we will see what our team is made up of. That is why our last three practices in the morning and afternoon are critical. We will have to stay focused and make sure that we push each other to reach our highest potential. We have all been waiting for this time and ready or not Florida….here comes the Bluffton University softball team!
