April 20, 2010

PENN ST
Before we played Penn State, I was on Facebook, checking up on former Georgia teammates to see how they're doing in their conference (ACC, SEC, Big East) play. I was particularly inspired by my friend Claudia Cooper's (a catcher for NC State) status:

"Somewhere behind the athlete you have become, behind the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you and the teammates who believed in you, is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back...play for her." If you'll permit me to go a little philosophical on y'all, I think that applies to so much more than sports. You can substitute "the game" for just about anything. But I really don't have the time, energy or computer battery left to open up that can of worms.

So I decided to adopt that "inner child" mentality for the Penn State series. Sometimes (ok, team, I'll speak for myself) I'm so preoccupied with acting hard core (maybe it's testosterone-induced from lifting weights or a feeling that I have to don a tough, robotic exterior every game in the hopes of intimidating ruthless, scrappy Big Ten opponents) but in the process of treating our road-to-the-championship as business, I occasionally forget how much fun the actual game can be. Ok, I'm off my soapbox. Back to the games!

PENN ST #1

There had been rumors of a double-header on Saturday, as Sunday called for scattered snow and rain across Pennsylvania- textbook Big Ten weather. However, the weather was pretty decent while we were in the cages, so warm in fact, several of us debated taking our long sleeves off. Then the wind came...then the rain came....then the snow came. I feel conflicted even calling it snow, because snow suggests a type of gentle flake. The way these things were ricocheting off our jerseys and stinging our eyes, we said it was "salting."

With these harsh conditions, all we thought about was winning and finding the nearest fireside. Lucky for us, Bionica (Monica Perry) showed up. While the other team merely had to throw it in our area code to strike us out, Moni coped with her skewed strike zone, and was on point!

This was the only variety our defense saw yesterday.

Swing, watch strike, swing.

Watch strike, swing, swing.

Watch strike, watch strike, swing.

She only allowed one hit the whole game. There are no words for the way she pitched. She was working not only with strong presence, but quickly, which when you're playing in subzero weather, is most appreciated by your defense who are eager to get back to their windbreakers and hot hands.

OFFENSE-- I think everybody remembers Z going 8-for-8 last season against Penn State. Of course, no one said anything to her this weekend, because who wants to be reminded, "Hey, you can only go down from here!"? But there's just something about Z and Penn State- she went 3 for 4, and while it may not be statistically as good as 1.000, she ignites our team, tempting our lineup to play "try to catch up to Z," and getting a couple hits ourselves.

I came up to the plate the third time with Z on second, after she hit a double. Going 0 for 2, I knew I had seen enough pitches to have a pretty good idea of the strike zone. I thought wrong. I got rung up by a ball -no lie, see the tape- in the right handed batter's box.

But that's what I LOVE about our offense; if you're not having your best day at the plate, your team is right there to pick you up. So although Tam the Man (what I call my bat) was in exile, our offense put up enough runs to draw first blood and secure the victory. Both Audrey and Vaji hit shots into the left center gap to put us ahead for the rest of the game.

PENN STATE #2

Same weather, different day. Wish I had a nickel for every time I could see my breath while singing the national anthem. Last night Coach Sullivan tried to strike a deal with us for the 2nd game.

The terms:
If: We win by 10 runs, with errorless defense and solid pitching,

Then: No study tables the whole bus ride home.

It's clearly the dawn of a new age. The Coach Sullivan I knew my freshman, sophomore and junior year would have NEVER, EVER made deals with players for wins; if we tried to strike a deal with her three years ago, she would have considered it a potential mutiny, responding with "How about you all go run three miles, and I'll pretend you didn't have simultaneous lobotomies and consider playing you next game?" But see, that was Illinois Softball B.C. (before child). Now we're on cruise control, anything goes and we're having a BLAST. While we're still winning anyway.

We started Moni again and she was as crisp as ever. But we made some errors and put a little pressure on ourselves. However, our defense never startled. For that matter, neither did our offense. Kel Del and I both hit homers, extending the lead and grabbing back those runs we gave away.

Needless to say with our errors and lack of double-digit runs, we lost the bet. And here we are....during study tables. - I know, I should be studying, but hey, I'm looking at this as a career investment. Anyone need a professional blogger? I'm too attractive to do stand-up comedy.