Members of the Illinois softball team are writing a blog, which will be published throughout the 2017-18 school year. Follow all the action of Head coach Tyra Perry's squad right here on FIGHTINGILLINI.com.

Hello Illini fans!

My name is Maddison Demers, and I am a freshman infielder from League City, Texas. My major is undeclared, but I am looking into studying business management.

This past week we came into practice with a strong mindset to really focus on the little things and not take anything for granted. We had really great practices and worked on all aspects of the game to help us prepare for the past weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Our coaches really prepare us to play by watching film, looking at scouting reports and just by pushing us to be the best we can be.

This past weekend in Chapel Hill we had a better result than Florida. We went 2-2, but we definitely know we are capable of so much more. We show small glimpses of how good we are, but we are just not there yet. We are striving to be great, and when we show anything less than that it is unacceptable.

When arriving on campus to start my freshman year I noticed that everyone is very caring and close. We are a family off the field. But when we step on the field somehow it just does not always feel the same. Sometimes, we act as individuals not focusing on the bigger picture: our goal to be the best we can be. We have selfish tendencies to do what is best for ourselves instead of thinking about how it might affect the team. When we play as team that is when we show the glimpses of what we are capable of as mentioned above. We just have to 100 percent trust the process that the coaches have given us and learn from these situations to help the overall growth of the team. We know we can reach the goals we have set for ourselves and that we are capable of so much more, and it starts by being selfless. Season just started and we do nothing but work hard, so we are only going to go up from here!

This upcoming week we have an off week, and then the week after that we will play in our third tournament in Carbondale, Illinois, against some in-state rivals. Hopefully we see you there. Thank you for all the support you give us and as always GO ILLINI!

Maddison