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Softball Team Blog: 2008 Season
July 31st, 2008
Lindsay Hall
See-wa-dee-ka from Virginia! Just about a month ago I returned back home from serving God in Thailand. The coolest thing about this trip was that we shared the love of Christ through the sport of softball! You might be saying to yourself "that is really strange...what does softball have to do with sharing the gospel"? Softball was the tool that my team used to lay a foundation with the Thai people. Believe it or not, Thailand loves softball. They love it so much that many Thai people wake up at 5am every morning to go practice before school. The organization I traveled with is called Competitive Edge International. CEI is a branch off of Athletes in Action and they have been serving God overseas through the sport of softball for many years. The way the trip worked was that every day we ran two softball clinics for anybody who cared to show up. Let me just say that Thailand is very, very hot! We had over 100 kids nearly every day with only a limited amount of leaders and translators. A lot of times I just had to smile and give high fives because I had no idea what to say and the kids didn't understand me! I learned quickly that it's okay to make a fool out of yourself as long as they are laughing. If they are having a good time, then that is all that matters! After each clinic, one team member shared their testimony and then we had a gospel presentation. It was so amazing to see God working in the Thai people. Thailand is a 98% Buddhist country, so the gospel is not very well known at all. My team consisted of fourteen people. The majority was from the Bethel University softball team. I was what you would call the official outsider! I flew to CA and met up with my team. Not knowing a soul, I was pretty scared. To make a long story short, I grew very close with my teammates. Saying goodbye to them in the airport before I flew home was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was so blessed to get to know the Bethel girls and coach. They took me in like I was their own and it was awesome to see God working in both my life and theirs. Although this trip was solely based on sharing the gospel, we did get to experience some of the Thai culture. Just so you know, Thai food is a lot different in America than it is in Thailand. I'll just leave it at that! We got to ride elephants and bargain with locals at the crazy Chiang Mai night market. We got to experience downtown Kohn Kean (near Udon Thani) where there are no Americans in sight. It was an amazing trip! In fourteen days, I traveled on a ten different planes, sat in a Hong Kong airport for hours playing card games, ate weird food and spent over thirty hours in the air. I can honestly say that I would do it all again in a heart beat! I never really understood how big the world was until this trip. There are so many people who need to hear the good news of Christ and it was a privilege to just share with a few of them. God is at work in Thailand! I am so excited for the things He is doing, not only in my heart, but in the hearts of the Thai people! Please pray for Thailand and the many kids who were exposed to the Gospel! Lindsay Hall
Abby Bergakker
The day after graduation Nicole and I headed off to Spain for three weeks. It was a May term cross cultural trip through Messiah that we did for college credit, but mostly just to see another country instead of taking Spanish 3. It was an awesome trip and so much fun! We visited several different cities during the three weeks, but we spent most of our time in Sevilla. While there Nicole and I stayed together with a host family, and that was definitely a very interesting experience considering the fact that neither of us spoke Spanish all that well. Our host mom didn’t necessarily create the best living conditions for us, but she sure fed us well. Every meal she made for us she would make us eat all of it, and it was a lot food so afterwards we’d have to go back to our room and unbutton our pants we were so full. Also in Sevilla we spent time every day going to class. We had an hour and half Spanish class and then after that we had a two hour Spanish history class. I’ll be honest, I was not thrilled about being in class, but usually time went quickly and we’d spend the afternoons touring around the city. A couple of my favorite experiences from the trip came from Sevilla. Over the weekend we had a lot of free time and during that time some of us went to a bull fight one night and a soccer game the next. Both were great events because they gave us an opportunity to really experience the Spanish culture first hand. Abby Bergakker
Nicole Adams
Since the semesters been over I’ve had the chance to do some pretty sweet things, the first one of course was seeing my favorite baseball team (the Braves) play the Phillies, followed by a trip to Spain! Words cannot describe how phenomenal Spain turned out to be. I’ve been to some other cool places too but seeing Spanish culture and actually living in it was quite an experience. We spent about 10 days in Sevilla, which is where our school was based. We had two classes everyday for the entire stay in Sevilla, One language class in the morning and a Spanish History class right before lunch. Nicole Adams
Lana Trotter
Having the day off to clear our minds on Thursday about our games was something that a lot of the girls on the team needed. However Tori, Abby, Petey and I wanted to work on some things to tone up our hitting. We were able to just relax take a few cuts and just be reminded of how much we love playing this game. On Friday we jumped back into practice worked intensely on the very fundamentals that got us all to college ball. However, first we took the time to let the sophomores lead a devotion on verses that were influential in there lives. It was a little ghetto though because we did it in the middle of the locker room with other teams scurrying past us. In the outfield we have been missing coach Sam because he has been super sick, but we would not let that phase us as we pushed each other to try to get to balls we did not think we could grab. The infield was doing... well i don't know what they were doing because in outfield we tend to stick to the grass and not notice what they are doing in the dirt, but I'm sure they were working hard because when we came together we fielded perfectly together. After being able to practice on such a beautiful day, the Juniors and the lone Senior, me, lead another devotion however ours was a little different. 212 degrees was the book that we took from and watched a little clip from the creator to show how pushing one extra bit can make a difference. We related that to our playing and how throwing your arm out for a ball, or diving by pushing that little bit you can do anything. Believing in yourself is where it starts and if you do not have believe in yourself you will not succeed. A quote,"Whether you think you can, or think you can't... you're right." from Henry Ford was something that we said if we think we can win Mac's then we can accomplish that. After being run off the field because of relay for life, i headed home to get a good nights rest before our big game the next day. As I woke up excited to play, which I think I may have scared Petey (my dog) I scurried around getting things together. As I gave Tori my secret sister, her gift of propel I hopped on the bus. We had a little mishap when Abby couldn't find her glove, which we all know that when your not playing with your glove it just is not comfortable. We arrived to Widener with intensity and were excited to play. Being in Rachel, Stacks, and my "hood" we felt as if we were home and were all smiles talking about how great Philly is. As the other team slowly trickled in I saw a bunch of girls I used to play with on their team. Game time was here and as the parents watched while being attacked by ticks our bats just could not come alive enough to string together the amount of hits we would need. We lost the first game 7-4 but fought hard until the end. We came out into the next game and again fell to them but this time being blanked 4-0. It was tough losing my last regular season games, however I know we are in playoffs and its a whole new ball game because everyone is starting with a clean slate. After the game everyone headed to my house and had lots of scrumptious food and were able to hang and play bean toss game. Rachel was so kind to get me a black and white milkshake from Charlie's that was soooooo good. It was fun to be able to have some of my friends back to my house as well so they could meet the people I spend basically 24/7 with at school. On the ride back we watched Sydney White at least Tori, Abby, Bowie and I while everyone else slept. As we exited the bus we were welcomed back to Grantham with a downpour. Coach gave us the day off on Monday, but don't worry fans we will be back on Tuesday to be working towards winning that 'Ship, because its time to bring it back to Messiah! Lana Trotter
Rebecca Stackhouse
Monday: We played two home games vs. Dickinson today. The field was nice and not nearly as dusty because of a rain the night before. The sun was also not out too much which is VERY good news for us outfielders! (-: We played very well defensively against Dickinson and had some nice plays. They had a decent pitcher so the first game we had to get adjusted to her and got just enough hits to pull out a win. We really chipped away with our hits and had a great group effort. We really got our bats going in the second game though. Bowie even had a super sweet home run! In general it was a very good day for us defensively and offensively and just fun games to play. We were def happy to get those two wins. Oh and poor Coach Sam was sick and could barely talk! We still were happy he was there. Tuesday: We had a light practice today to go over some fielding and batting and then ended with some running. Some girls went over to watch the baseball game after but I had to work on a killer Chem paper so my night was no fun. Wednesday: Today was a tough and upsetting day. We lost both to York. We just could not get our bats going or string hits together. On the other hand they had some good hits. I felt like I was playing so deep in outfield the whole game. Even so Jessie pitched awesome as usual, and Megan was able to come back and pitch some after being out with a back injury for a while. It was nice to her have back and playing. Bowie did have another homerun though in the 7th inning of the second game. We just could not come together to pull off a comeback unfortunately. We need to come out strong at practice Friday and play with all our hearts against Widener on Saturday. Lets go siah! Rebecca Stackhouse April 21st, 2008 
Megan Rice
After finishing two strong games on Thursday, we came out to practice Friday on another gorgeous day! Today practice was lighter because the team played extremely well together the previous day. Our usual infield/outfield drills were done followed by ground balls and pop-fly's. We ended practice with a few hitting stations and were told to come well rested for our double header the next day against Albright. All of us met down at the field the next morning at 9:30 am with the exception of Lana, because we had to decorate the field for her senior day. After hanging up posters, blowing and popping balloons, we all headed to Lottie for breakfast. Today was finally another gorgeous day, a great day to play softball. We were all ready to come out hard and beat Albright in both games. Before the game, we took time to honor Lana for her senior day. The first game was played very well but unfortunately we had no breaks while batting. Albright made three outstanding plays which would have allowed a few runs to score but we could not catch a break. After a 3-0 loss, we were ready to come out even harder in the next game. We scored 5 runs in the first inning and slowly chipped away each inning after that. We won the second game 9-1 in 6 innings giving us what we needed to make it into playoffs! After the games we had a nice cookout with lots of food, families, and friends. It was a great end to such a beautiful day. This week we are ready to play and practice hard to prepare for our final conference game against Widener! Megan Rice
April 18th, 2008 
Shawna Ott
Monday: Today, after two tough losses at LVC, instead of going out and practicing like normal, we met in the seminar room and reviewed tape of ourselves hitting. Coach said that sometimes it's necessary to take time out of actually practicing hitting to sit down and analyze your swing. So, we watched the types of pitches we were swinging at, and hopefully it will help us when we see them again!! We also wrote our goals for the week, then headed out to the field and practiced a bit of fielding and focused mainly on hitting. Tuesday: Today, we hosted Juniata at our field. The Boiling Springs High School softball team showed up to cheer us on! With a tough loss in the first game, we stepped it up and came out with a win the second game. We seemed to struggle a bit finding the "team" aspect of things, and we knew that we had to come and play together, because when we do, we have so much fun and are very successful! Wednesday: What to say about Wednesday...We didn't practice... softball that is. We practiced what it means to be a team; we lost focus somewhere along the way and coach needed a way to get through to us; So, we ran. A LOT! We did a lap up around the practice soccer fields and back down and focused on the first word which was personal discipline. After that, we split up into three groups and talked about what it meant to have personal discipline. We then gathered as a team and discussed our thoughts. We repeated this four other times as we were asked to think about these other words: Respect, Commitment, Team, and what our personal responsibility is to the team. I personally believe that even though the running part was almost unbearable (especially for me), those words and thoughts really pulled us together and made it clear what each of us needed to do to pull the team together! This obviously got through to us because.... Thursday: Today we won both games! At Muhlenberg. The first game, we won 4-0, but in the second game, they scored 5 runs on us in the first inning, but that didn't phase us because we chipped away and chipped away each inning. After an 8 inning game, we came out on top with a score of 9-7. I am so proud that we didn't give up after having so many runs scored on us, but we dug deep within, worked together, believed in each other, and really showed what a TEAM is! We ended the evening with a delicious meal at Red Robin courtesy of the Trotters. Thank you! Shawna Ott
April 14th, 2008 
Tori Hatt
After our wins over Lycoming on Saturday the team had a little picnic at the fields with our families, alumni, and some recruits for next year. This was a really fun time to talk and hang out with everyone! When the picnic ended a bunch of us went over to the baseball field to support them in their win over Lebanon Valley. I was so excited because Jess DeBoer showed up! Everyone had missed her a lot so it was great to see her and catch up! On Monday everyone returned to practice hard in hopes of continuing our winning streak. It was a longer practice this day but we all worked really hard and had fun. After the game Lana, Abby, Nicole, Shawna, Jessie, and I went to my sister, Taylor's, game at Manheim Central. We all cheered for her as her team went into extra innings and pulled out the win! We then went back to my house to eat cheese steaks and watch The Hills, and the national championship basketball game. Lana was very excited that her Jayhawks won in overtime! At practice on Tuesday we prepared for McDaniel. We decided that we would all go out for wings that night! Yay! I love wings! So at 9:00 the girls piled into Lana's Trailblazer and we departed for Underdogs, they have this great special on Tuesday night where you can get 15 wings for just $5!!! The wings were so good and it was a great time to bond with the girls! Wednesday we left school around 12:45 and made our way down to McDaniel. This field brought back wonderful memories for Funk and Abby, as they had both been injured here at our fall tournament. Despite these fond memories we went on to win both games! We stretched our streak to five games! On the way home we stopped at Subway for dinner. Riding in Coach's van was so much fun on the way home! We laughed the entire way home about the most random things...let's just say we were laughing so hard that I was practically bawling and I definitely laughed off my meal! Thursday Coach was so nice and gave us an easy practice that lasted only 30 minutes, as she went to scout out Lebanon Valley. Friday's practice was fun and intense as we prepared for LVC. Coach set up this point system for the team that scored the most in our scrimmages throughout the week. After Friday's scrimmage the points were tied between two teams so Coach gave both teams the prize of a gift card to BRUSTERS!!!!!!!!!!!! We haven't gone yet but, do not worry, we will be using them very soon! Saturday morning we made our way to the locker room past all the secret service, police, CNN, and random trucks. Let's just say Messiah was crazy this week in preparation for the Presidential Candidates coming to speak. Anyway, we left for LVC and Rachel and I entertained the van with our lovely singing skills! Upon arrival we all went to the bathroom and walked down to the field. The first game started out a little rough, and it did not get much better. Jenna pitched well and we played solid defense but we just couldn't get enough hits together to pull out the win. We ended up losing this game 3-0. Being optimistic, we prepared for the second game. We came out a lot stronger in this game going up on them 1-0. We played tough defense behind Jessie, and she pitched great! After allowing them to come back into the game with a solo homerun, we responded with 2 more runs, going up 3-1. In the last inning LVC came back to outscore us by 1. It was very disappointing! After the game the team was invited back to Jenna's house for dinner. We had a great time eating and hanging out with everyone! I look forward to working hard this week in practice so that we can pick up 6 more wins! Tori Hatt April 7th, 2008
Lindsay Hall
This past week was a pretty good one! We picked up three more wins which is always a good thing! You might be asking yourself why we only played three games since we usually play double headers...I'm glad you asked! We were scheduled to play a double header at Gettysburg on Tuesday but had to reduce the game amount to one as the field was a gigantic mud pile. We arrived as usual very early in our two awesome 15 passenger vans only to be greeted by an empty field and a few grounds crew workers who looked very overwhelmed. The field was an absolute MESS! Gettysburg got a whole heck of a lot more rain that Messiah did even though we are only half an hour away! We warmed up like usual but were told to stop right before we were about to throw because the umpires had decided to delay the game. So we waited. And waited. And waited...two and a half hours later we played! Unfortunately we could only get in one game but we came out strong pulling through with a good win. Although it might seem like the fun was all over, it only continued as Coach Alex 's van got stuck in the mud parking lot. I decided to help push the van out of the mud and got a direct shot of mud all over my face and body due to the back spin of the tires...I was not a happy camper! We got back to Messiah and had Pizza Town feast. Okay, we only got two pieces each but we were so hungry that the sight of any edible object looked like a feast to us! As the week went on we practiced hard and prepared both mentally and physically for the big games against Lycoming scheduled for Saturday. We put the infamous tarp on after Thursdays practice only to be told Friday evening that we would have to take it off at 8:30 Saturday morning...woo! That was a blast and a half. Then it was game day! We played and crushed Lycoming forcing two "slaughter rule" games. We played only ten innings and scored 18 runs! Lana had a huge day with two homeruns but was followed up by a single homeruns from both Nicole and Jessie. Jessie had a great day pitching and had her first collegiate homerun and most likely her first on American soil! Jenna also had an awesome day pitching in the first game only giving up two hits! She kept the team from scoring recording a very impressive five inning shutout. Bekkah Funk had an awesome day fielding making some killer plays at short. All in all, we had a great week! I am really excited to play McDaniel and LVC this week. We are really coming together as a team and it is starting to show that on the field more and more as we keep adding up our number of W's. Lindsay Hall
Bekkah Funk
March 31, 2008 Florida was amazing! The weather was absolutely beautiful so it was a little shocking to come back to PA and play, but we were excited because we're getting into the middle of the season. This is the time of year every team lives for...when we can really start to prove ourselves to the teams in our division. We were pumped to play F&M on Tuesday and it resulted in 2 great wins. In the first game, we had great intensity and our bats were on fire. We scored early and often with 1 in the first, 7 in the second, and 2 in the third which allowed us to put the game away in only 5 innings. The pitching was slower than what we saw in Florida, but we did a great job staying back and triggering later. Jenna earned the win with a solid performance on the mound giving up just 2 runs. Lindsay went 3 for 3 missing the cycle by only a homerun. We weren't homerless on the day though...Lana smashed one in the third giving her 3 on the year. As most of you know there was a big hullabaloo in the bottom half of the second inning. I thought I had my first collegiate homerun...and first grand slam ever...but that went up in smoke in a matter of 7 seconds. I was rounding first and I looked up and saw Lana in front of me and she put her arm out and yelled "STOP!" and I did. I got fairly close to Lana but was never even with her and certainly never passed her. I slowed down and continued to round second and I looked over at the umpire running across the field and he pointed to me and signaled out. Right before i stepped on the plate he did it again and I said "I didn't pass her!" and the exact words out of his mouth were "You were close enough". I was a little upset, (Coach Weaver was very upset) but not really because 3 runs scored. The second game was a little different. We didn't come out with the same intensity and it showed...we were in a deadlock at 0-0 for the first two and a half innings. We finally broke through in the bottom of the third when Lindsay brought in Bowie on a single. Lindsay had another RBI in the bottom of the 5th as Rachel scored. In the sixth inning, we had our second (real) homerun of the day...Bowie smashed one and brought in 2 runs. Jess pitched a great game striking out 8 and giving up only 4 hits for her second win of the season. Roo came in for the save in the top of the seventh and did a great job to finish off a good day of softball. After practice on Wednesday, we were excited to play our neighbor Dickinson, but the game was cancled due to inclement weather. This proved to be a good thing because we have tons of injuries and sicknesses going around the team. Friday's practice brought a great tradition...stickers!!! We all gets stickers to put on our helmets when we get a certain number of hits, stolen bases, RBI, homeruns, etc. It's an exciting time that really helps with self-confidence. Friday also brought recruits. We had a great time at Sports Emporium Friday night. We split up into groups; some played arcade games while others (including myself) braved to cold of the night and played mini golf. We only got to golf 12 holes becuase our balls got lost in the little house on the 12th hole. I guess that was a good thing becuase we had to get back in time to get a good night sleep for our first division games on Saturday. Oh E-Town...our rival. It's always exciting to play your rival expecially when they're in your division. Unfortunately, we weren't excited. Plain and simple, we came out flat. Our bats and voices were fairly quiet for the first couple innings and we found ourselves trailing for the first 4.5 innings. E-Town was pumped and came ready to play. They were loud and excited and scored first...with help from our ridiculous amount of errors. Going into our half of the fifth, we sensed the urgency in the air and our bats woke up, big time. Lana got everything started with a simple walk. Everyone in the lineup from Lana thru Tori finally found the holes and we were able to pound out 5 hits which gave us 5 runs and a 7-5 lead which proved to be enough to come out on top. Especially worthy of note at the plate, Nicole was 3 for 4, Stacks was 2 for 3, and Lindsay smashed a triple. In the circle, Jenna had a rough time because the umpire wasn't caling her spin pitches, which she has completely mastered throughout the years. This forced her to have to throw over the plate to even have a chance of getting strikes called and, like any good team, they put the ball in play. Jess came in for Jenna and was phenomenal, mowing down the Blue Jays one after one to earn her third win of the season. We were lucky to pull this one out. We weren't so lucky in the second game. We did have 11 hits in the game, but they were completely scattered which resulted in only 1 run being scored. We quickly learned that 1 run wasn't enough as the Blue Jays scored 1 in the first and 2 in the second. We had plenty of chances to score runs, but we ended up leaving them all on base. There was a bit of hope when Abby smashed a triple to right center field and Megan singled her in, but it didn't last long as the inning ended 2 batters later. We were much better defensively (1 error as opposed to 6 in the first game), but that didn't matter much because we couldn't score. It was a shame because Jess came into the game and pitched lights out giving up only 1 hit and 0 earned runs in her spectacular 4 inning appearance. She was also 2 for 3 at the plate as was Bowie. We're excited to get back on the field Tuesday at Gettysburg. Bekkah Funk
Corinn Eby
March 20-24, 2008 After our fun filled family day it was back to the grindstone for us. We came back at the end of the week more focused and determined than in the beginning of the week. Early on Friday we loaded up our vans and started for the fields. On the way we pumped our selves up by singing and dancing along with the radio. Although I did not enjoy this completely because I was highly out numbered in song choice with my favorite, country, coming in last. Finally we made it to the ball fields and found Carleton College already warming up. We headed for the dug out and started our warm-up with more pep than usual. We were definitely ready to go for this one!! The team came out playing hard from the start and scored first and last in game one. We played a great game offensively and defensively. The bench was extremely enthusiastic and I taught Rach some new cheers that our outfield in particular loves to hear:) Jenna started a new tradition for our team with a cool version of pump it up which includes us clapping and turning in circles, ha what fun. Then the second game came around and we let up for a little but finished strong. We came out with two wins for the day and we felt great. Not only was Coach happy with our turn around from the beginning of the week but the players felt awesome. After our games we were starved and got cleaned up and headed to Carrabas for a nice dinner. The place was packed and it was tough to get a table for 48 people. But it was a great dinner and after words we were all over stuffed and headed back to the condos for Florida Idol. Florida Idol was hilarious and we got to see some people who we didn’t know had some dancing skills cut the rug. It was the juniors (all two of them) that came out with the victory. Then in second much to everyone’s dismay, just kidding, was the sophomores. The freshmen did great and even secretly got word that one of the coaches thought they should have gotten second. Basically we were happy because we didn’t forget the steps or bust up laughing. The seniors, again just two of them, did a good job of keeping us laughing the whole time and even had a guest appearance with Bekkah Funk! After Florida Idol was over we headed back to our condo’s and hit the sack. When the games were over on Saturday we got to have family time or whatever we pleased to do. Some of us headed off to the hot tub, some went with families and one headed out to her favorite band’s concert. While those of us who went to the hot tub were there, people from Lana’s condo pranked our condo. They stapled about 300 dixie cups together and filed them with water and put a sign on them in our kitchen that said “stay hydrated ladies it’s hot out there!” Okay our condo admits that it was a pretty good prank but all we wanted to do was get them back. We went over to their condo and went with a classic and TP’ed there van. What we didn’t plan on was that it started raining and it made it very difficult to get off. All in all everyone thought the mini prank war was hilarious but in creativeness Lana’s condo takes the win. They even stole one of our keys to break into our house. When the prank war was over and after we had gone to dinner or were with families Coach told Jenna’s condo that we had to move out that night because of a mix up. When we went outside that night to pack the car around 10:30pm we were greeted by a raccoon that has been stealing from everyone’s garbage cans. Meg ran back in and told us that the raccoon was out there so Nicole and I tried to scare it away. We opened the blind in the kitchen and banged on the window and yelled at it. But it looked at us and “creeperly” climbed onto the garbage can. Nic and I stared screaming because it scared us even though we were inside. Then we went outside with water bottles handy to throw at him if he was still there but we couldn’t find him. Jenna didn’t care that we couldn’t find him but told us that she wouldn’t go outside until the morning. So we got up at 6:15am and had to pack the car and be ready for church by 7:20. We got everything moved and met coach Alex for the Easter church service that he found for us to go to. The service was very good and I really enjoyed the message. When church was over we had free time to do what ever we wanted until we had to meet for the plane the next day. I went to Clearwater with my parents and Shawna and Nicole. We had a blast and got to see the gulf which we hadn’t before. After we came back from the gulf we went to Down Town Disney and met up with the Bowies. This was a lot of fun because I have never been there before and it was great to see all the fun stores. Unfortunately after all the fun we had on Sunday we had to head back to chilly PA. The airport and the plane ride went a lot more smoothly than on the way here. There was much less turbulence and the trip was uneventful, thank God. When the plane landed we had a two hour drive back to school where practice was waiting for us. We had a hitting practice for about 40 minutes and it felt good because everyone was keeping in mind what Dr. Dot had told us. All in all I think a lot of the girls on the team wish we could go back to Florida but we know that we’ve got a bunch of games coming up that we need to do our best at. Everyone is getting pumped for F&M tomorrow. Corinn Eby
Jessie Climenhaga
March 17-20, 2008 After the ruckus of the condo mix up and a bumpy flight we settled into playing ball. Monday morning we arrived on the fields pumped to play our first two games in sunny Florida. We started with a bang on the bats in the first game against Felician College with 14 hits and scoring 11 runs. Nicole was sick nasty (as in crazy good) today against Felician going 4/4 at bat and committing 0 errors...but sadly we weren't alone in the huge hitting as Felician also had some timely hits and we ended up with a heartbreaking loss by 2 runs. Tori played hard in this game and also fell hard in the outfield spraining her knee and having to go to the emergency room, after of course Dr. Dot gave her a special on-field (or rather in the dugout) examination. It was a little rattling losing Tori but we didn't let it get to us and we most definitely were not fazed at all by the loss, because we were in FLORIDA and let me tell you we were pretty happy campers to be in the warm sunshine and playing without five million underarmour layers! Our second game against Concordia University we came out strong both offensively and defensively, with 12 hits and only allowing Concordia to score 2. Rachel got her first start in left field, taking over for Tori and played it like a pro! Jenna was amazing in the circle for the second game at keeping everyone calm and happy even after a couple errors. She was also pretty stellar with the whole pitching thing too, allowing only 3 hits in 7 whole innings! Overall we were pretty happy with the day and we returned to our condos for some team bonding over pizza and salad after a quick trip to the hospital to check up on Tori. After dinner, the two condos split and we had some alone time with our roommates. Lana led my condo in some good old fashioned fun and made sure we all stayed hydrated after a full day of games in the hot weather. Curfew was 11 o'clock but I was so exhausted I collapsed into bed and was snoring loudly long before then (much to my roomies' dismay). Tuesday morning came much too early with us having to be at the breakfast table at 7 am. We arrived on the fields ready to face nationally ranked Montclair State University from New Jersey for the first game of the day. We were a little disappointed with our performance at bat especially after Monday's slugfest but we stayed strong defensively for most of the game. Montclair State kept pushing though and some defensive errors resulted in a 5-0 loss. The game wasn't a complete failure by any means though with Funky hitting a beautiful single over first base in the sixth inning and Meg working hard on the mound giving up only 1 earned run! After a much needed snack break and regroup session we started the second game of the day against Farleigh Dickinson-Florham also from New Jersey (coincidence???). This game also ended in an upsetting defeat with a final score of 7-2. But this game was also filled with moments of greatness with both Bowie and Lana going 2 for 3 at the sticks and some amazing plays defensively with the infield diving left, right, and centre. Nicole especially played her heart out at first base, diving hard on one play and joining Tori in the injured ranks with a knee swollen to double its normal size! Tuesday night found the whole team and all the present families at the Hatt residence for a barbeque and some bonding time and picture-taking. The food was great and I ate entirely too much and had way too much fun with everyone's families. We got some money shots of the whole team too! We didn't stay out too late though because we had practice in the morning as well as a meeting with Dr. Dot to teach us how to hit even better! As soon as Mils (our fearless manager) said it was time to go we packed up and hit the road. Wednesday we woke up bright and early for an intense practice in the sunny weather. Thanks goodness Mils got us to bed when she did otherwise it would have been extremely difficult to wake up and pay attention to Dr. Dot. Our meeting with Dr. Dot went way over time but it was definitely time well spent, she hit apples with us, laughed, taught us the three steps of hitting (including sound effects), and critiqued our swings. Most of the team was videoed in a game and so we watched a video of their swings and Dr. Dot commented while we watched. A couple of us were so lucky that we had to swing in person because we hadn't batted during the games that were taped. It was a little nerve-wracking swinging in person because Dr. Dot is an amazing/legendary player but we got through it and headed out to practice and a workout. The rest of the day was pretty slack, filled with lounging by the pool and hanging out with family. Thursday was Family Day where we had the entire day off to spend with our families, or adopted families exploring Florida. We all went different directions, hitting Sea World, Universal Studios, Daytona Beach, and many shopping centres. I had a lot of fun because it was the first time I got to see my family since Christmas because Messiah's so far from home for me. It was a very full day for everyone, full of laughter and fun, but by the end of our second day with no games I could tell everyone was itching to put our blue uniforms on and head back out to the diamond... Jessie Climenhaga
Amy Bowie
March 14-17, 2008 What a relief that Spring Break is finally here! I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say that we have been counting down the days until this much-needed week off from the stress and pressure of college courses. Everyone is very excited to leave for Florida, especially since we will be there for longer than usual this year. Not only will we be able to play softball without our arctic-weather gear, but we will have some time to just relax by the pool and gather our strength for the upcoming conference games. Thursday’s practice focused on preparing us for the tough competition we knew we would face down in sunny Florida. That evening, although most of Messiah’s campus had already departed, we all had quite the entertaining night preparing for our “Florida Idol” routines and doing some last-minute packing. After a vigorous practice and conditioning workout on Friday morning, it was finally time to head south! We all packed into a couple of cars and drove down to my house for the night so we didn’t have quite as long of a drive the next day to make our early morning flight. After settling into beautiful Frederick, MD, we feasted on a delicious meal provided by my mom (including her home-made spaghetti sauce!). Friday evening also included a heart-felt bonding session where we were able to work out some team dynamics issues, re-focus ourselves, and grow closer together. Saturday morning came too early. After leaving my house at a little after 5am, we had a tired yet uneventful journey down to Dulles airport and eventually on the plane that took us to Orlando. Once we had picked up our rental vans, we traveled directly to the National Training Center where we were able to check out the new facilities as well as do a little bit of conditioning. Unexpectedly, the woman to give us our tour was none other than Dr. Dot Richardson, Olympic gold-medalist in softball (as well as orthopedic surgeon). It was quite an honor to meet this softball icon, and I was impressed by both the fact that she took the time to meet our team when we arrived as well as her constant energy and excitement about the game. After running and lifting weights, we proceeded to check into our resort, where we found out that we would all be staying in one condo for the first night. Since everyone was exhausted from getting up so early, we all claimed spaces throughout the condo and made it an early night. Sunday morning was our first official day of practice at the National Training Center. Once again, Dot was there to meet us and show us where we would be practicing. After a slow start, we ended up having a very productive (and very windy!) practice, and another workout session where some of us were even able to use the Training Center’s pool. We had a relaxing afternoon that was spent mostly at the pool and moving into our other condo, and we continued to unwind that evening (even spending some much-needed time in one of the resort’s many hot tubs). Even though we were all very excited to be in warm weather, we made sure we got a good night’s rest to prepare for our first games of Spring Break 2008 the next morning. Amy Bowie
Abby Bergakker
March 13, 2008 This past weekend the team enjoyed a few days off of practice and games, and many team members took advantage by going home to relax for the weekend and get caught up on school. Coming into the week it was a busy week for many of us with lots of homework to be done before spring break. Despite the busyness of the week we headed down to Virginia on Tuesday to play Eastern Mennonite University. It was a four hour van ride down there and many of us spent talking, doing homework, or my personal favorite—sleeping. The games didn’t go well, however as we went home with two losses, 2-7 and 1-4, the enthusiasm and intensity I know our team has inside didn’t show that day. We went home knowing we had some work to do. In practice on Wednesday we spent a lot of time talking through team issues and even spent one on one time with another player getting to know them better. Then we worked hard in practice, but also made sure we had fun as this is something the infield is learning we need to do a better job of. I’m very excited for spring break, and can’t wait to have the opportunity to play lots of softball and spend quality time with my teammates. Please pray for safety for the team as we will be driving down to Bowie’s house on Friday and then flying to Florida on Saturday. Abby Bergakker
Jenna Batchelor
March 10, 2008 After the packed Virginia Beach tournament weekend it was nice to get a little break from games to get back to practicing. All week we practiced hard including a thirty minute run outside that was surprisingly easy making me feel like all the workouts I’ve done recently have been paying off. Finally Friday came. I was really pumped because it was my last first home game. My parents were planning on coming and I was really just excited to get going. Coach emailed us the day before and let us know that we were moving up the time of the game because we wanted to beat the rain. Unfortunately that meant that my parents couldn’t make it but it was okay because at least we would get the chance to play again. The day started off sunny but slowly started to get more and more overcast. I went to my one class of the morning and then headed down to the locker room to grab a bite to eat and get dressed. We had to explain the warm-up and walking down to the field procedures to the freshmen on the team since it was their first home game. On the way down we all were silent from the bricks down to the bridge and once we got on the bridge we started our dance craze. Lana and I did the crypt walk and the worm and the girls followed with funny other moves. From there we did our ritual scream down to the field which really got us all pumped up and ready to go. After doing our entire warm-up to our great CD with our classic Boon Dock Saints song we were ready to start the game. Megan started off really strong striking out all three of the first batters. We dominated on the bats with Abby’s homerun that hit the scoreboard and Nicole’s homerun too and finished the game in five innings. We were really pumped about that game and excited to start game two. I was ready after warming up to start the game. I said to Bowie right as we were warming up, watch it start raining as soon as we have to start. Sure enough, drops started about five minutes before the game. The first couple innings it wasn’t too difficult to hold onto the ball in the circle especially with my cool towel tucked into my pants looking like some kind of tail. However, it was getting pretty slippery out and I started to struggle with my spin pitches and had to go to the good old fashioned fast ball. I got to hit this game and came up when it was 1-1 with two outs. I hit the smallest hit ever but since it was so muddy and hard to throw I was safe at first scoring the runner on third. Nicole had a great grand slam which was really exciting to see because I have never actually seen one before. Unfortunately we did not get to finish the game and make it count so it didn’t get put into the statistics for her but we all know what happened and how great it was. Now I’m beat and wet from head to foot so I’m going to go grab some dinner with my roomie, Lana and her parents and then get a nice hot shower and collapse in bed for a nice weekend off! Jenna Batchelor
Rachael Ashworth
March 3, 2008 Thursday… Friday… Saturday… Rachael Ashworth
Nicole Adams
February 25, 2008 The night before.. |
