Lady Dragons go 4 - 1 in the Blue Bridge Battle
It was a pretty big weekend for my niece as they headed into their second group of games for her sophomore year of university. It's gotta be hard when you are a college athlete whose sport doesn't get played until the Spring. Sure, you might get some Fall games here and there, and you are constantly practicing and training, but having to wait all year just to play must be rough.
Then late Winter/early Spring rolls around and you finally get to let er rip!
As you can see from the title, it ended up being a very good weekend for the ladies. My niece has left her regular position as a pitcher and tried out for an outfield position this year. She wanted to focus her hitting and while her passion for softball is still intact, that same passion for pitching wasn't quite there.
She was able to earn a position in left field, but she is still struggling a bit with her hitting. I have a feeling she just needs to settle in and get out of her own head. She can crush the ball, we all know that. She just needs to get back to basics.
If anyone tells you that playing at the university level is the same as playing at the travel level they are lying. It's a whole different world for sure. Plus on top of that you have the fact that many of these kids are out on their own for the first time and trying to get their feet under them and learn who they are outside of their parents house.
But I digress...
My whole point being, my niece has gotten more play time this season, but not that many at bats.
The Dragons started off on Friday with a big 9 to 0 win over Missouri S&T, then followed it up with a 9 - 1 win over Quincy. Due to the sweep on Friday, the ladies were treated to ice cream by their coach. It's a bit of a tradition for them. I saw a picture someone took of them in front of Cold Stone Creamery and it was quite cute.
Saturday they started off with another win (4 to 1) against the Drury team they faced last weekend. Then they suffered their only loss of the weekend against Notre Dame College (not the one you think) 0 - 3. The pitcher from Notre Dame College must have been throwing some heat for them to be shut out like that.
Finally, yesterday morning, the Tiffin Dragons went toe to toe with the Ferris State Bulldogs from Big Rapids Michigan. My brother in law actually went to Ferris State, so we have ties to that school. All the same, we were cheering for Tiffin.
They had a close game but ultimately won 10 to 7. It was close at the end, Ferris started putting up some runs late in the game and we weren't sure Tiffin would be able to hold on for the win.
I'm glad they did. I really feel like this is is already a better start than they had last year and I think it speaks to the fact that the coach is finally starting to make this team her own. In just one or two more years she should be free of the commitments the past coach made and able to fully build her dream team.
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While not really a fan of the sport if I had a relative in it that would change rapidly. My sister played professional basketball and while I find women's basketball to be exceptionally boring it all changes when you have family in the game.
I get that. I don't think I ever would have seen myself watching softball, but my nieces make it all worth it. I actually watch the college teams now too.