Welcome back! Today is our last game against Enloe. I'm still trying not to let my confidence get the best of me because I don't want to lose to Enloe unexpectedly. Plus cocky doesn't look good on anyone. We know what to expect since we just played them but we have to be wary of any changes. 

                     Yesterday we had a team discussion (more like a lecture from the coach) about somethings we need to work on. Even though major of the practice was focused on that, we were able to actually practice some of what we talked about. One of those things was being more aggressive on the bases and taking bigger leads (longer steps off the base). The thing is you can't step of the base until the pitcher releases the ball so you have to time it just right. While base running, we went over the different signs we had for things like bunt, steal a base, and take the pitch. The indicator for the signs was the bill of the coach's hat, if he touched the bill, pay attention to what he did next.

                     If he touched the bill then pulls his ear, then the batter needs to bunt. If he touched his bill then ran his right hand down left arm, then the runner on base needs to steal (run to the next base when the pitcher pitches). "Take the pitch", or "don't swing at the next pitch", is the only sign that doesn't need an indicator. When he does a double fist tap, then the batter doesn't swing. 

                    Hopefully this will help us this afternoon when we take the field.

                                                                                                                                     -Nia

 





                         Hey friends. Well today at practice, not only did we get to have a little chit-chat with the coach about being at practice, but we also got a boat-load of criticism about the game yesterday. He pretty much pointed out all the mistakes we made and failed to acknowledge some of the good things we did. Then we went around the group and talked about things that happened during the game that we need to improve, and to be honest, no matter what you say during these little discussions we have, it just goes through everyone's ear and out the other. Another thing is that we spend waaay too much talking about than actually incorporating it into our practice. I would rather go and practice and work on things I need to improve instead of having someone sit me down and tell me over and over again that I need to do it.

                         We've missed a few players too, more specifically, 2 of our outfielders and one of our second basemen. Alecia, a right fielder, was on a trip with a club she's in. Yami, a left fielder, got a concussion from the game yesterday because our first baseman accidentaly pitched a ball into the dugout when she was warming up for pitching and it hit Yami on the head. Sara, a second baseman, was working on a calculus project, something having to do with a music video.

                         Hopefully whatever we discussed will be used in the game we have against Enloe on Friday. Everyone is pretty much confident that we'll win, but one thing my mom told me was to never get too confident and cocky. Even though I knew what to expect from Enloe, I made sure to not rule out the possibility that they could have a different, better pitcher this time around.

                                                                                                                              -Nia

                   

            Hey guys! Turns out that I was right; Panther Creek did give us a run for our money. We already knew from the time they arrived to the time that they finished warming up, that we were going to get our butts kicked. Their throws were amazing and accurate. Their pitcher was good and their catcher wasn't too far from amazing. We knew we were in for a good one.

                 In the first couple of innings, we weren't doing so well. Not only because the other team started the game off with a few singles and a home run, but because our pitcher wasn't feeling too great.  Her stomach was hurting to much to continue pitching, so our first baseman pitch. After that, we seemed to pull through a bit. We were able to get 6 runs by the end of the game, but the other team had 18.

                  I guess you could say that one of the reasons we lost was because we were already discouraged before the game even started. Maybe if we would've had a better attitude about the game, we could've done a bit better. Hopefully we'll do better the next time we play them.

                                                                                                                         -Nia
             

                                 Hello friends! Since we've last chatted, the JV team has had 2 practices dedicated to skills we needed to work on (base running, signs given from the coaches to runners and batters, hitting, etc.). Unfortunately, on Wednesday, the Varsity suffered a lose when they played Heritage, 9-0. Now, anyone who knows the Varsity coaches, especially Coach Bunting, knows that they HATE losing. Especially when the other team had such a huge lead on them and so many mistakes were made. According our pitcher on the JV team, the coaches were going to make the girls run until the threw up! I talked to one of their outfielders, Brittany, yesterday and she told me that since they made 13 errors in the game, they had to run 2 poles for every mistake. A pole is running from one foul pole line to the other and back (the black sticks in the picture). The worse part about poles is that they're done  in the outfield along the back fence, so the distance is further between the poles.

                                The players who didn't play Wednesday could've chose not to do any poles, there was 5 of them. Brittany was one of them. When I asked her if she decided to do it, she exclaimed, "Of course I ran with them! They're my teammates, I had to run with them!" I wasn't surprised because Brittany would do something like this, even I would've ran with them if I was on Varsity. Being on a team for us meant being a family unit, we acted as one and were treated as one. So if one of us did something wrong, we paid for it. She along with 2 others out of the 5 ran with the team.

                                After about 12 poles, they were given the option to either keep running, or play 21 outs. 21 outs is a game/exercise where the team takes the field and the coaches hit to a random player and the team has to make the out without any errors or they have to start over. But this time, if they made any errors they had to run more on top of starting over. Knowing this, they decided not to play 21 outs, which i think is a smart decision, but this upset the coaches. So they let them run 3 more before offering the same options again and this time they accepted the offer. They played 3 times and each time they were unable to make 21. The first time they made 11 outs, the second time they made 14, and the third time they made 17. Fortunately, they didn't have to run when they messed up. Instead they did 5 burpies, which is an exercise where you jump up then go down and do a push-up then jump back up again then repeat.

                                Being a student athlete in the Wildcat community is hard work. You have to be ready for all the challenges,consequences, wins, and loses that come with it. It might not seem worth it to go through all this trouble for a loss, but in the end it is. We either pay for it now by running and doing burpies or later when we play in an actual game. We would rather suffer now and get the errors under control then later when it's too late to fix them.
                                                                                                                                                     
   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               -Nia

                               
      
                 

              Welcome back! Today is the our 2nd game of the season. We play at Enloe at 4 p.m. We all have some of mixed emotions playing this team because last season when we played them, we had a complete shutout against them (sports term for completely wiping the other team out), so we felt like we had nothing to worry about this season when we play them. But recently, our Varsity team played Enloe not too long ago and the game was close. I'm pretty sure we were only up by one when the game ended, but it was totally unexpected because it's Enloe, they're literally know for being terrible at every sport, so for the few JV players that went to the game to support the Varsity team, we were a little worried about what Enloe's JV team looked like. I'm sure if we continue to work hard we'll have nothing to worry about. But we'll what happens this afternoon...

              Well I guess somethings just don't change. The final score was 27-4 Millbrook. Another shutout. Just like last year, their pitcher walked everyone ( "walked" means that the pitcher threw 4   balls, or bad pitches, and the batter was allowed to take a base). The best part about their pitcher was the level of frustration she had towards her teammates when they were on the field. At one point,   got upset with them for not moving up on a bunt (when a batter holds their bat towards the pitcher to gently knock the ball down) but I don't blame them for just standing there because in order to
make a play, the ball has to be hit. In order for that to happen, the batter has to make contact with the ball, and for that to happen the pitcher has to make a GOOD or DECENT pitch and she failed to do so. In my opinion, she should've kept herself in check before getting upset with the team, because their defense is pretty good. The main reason why we were able to get such a huge lead on them was because of their pitcher.
                         
               Maybe next Friday things will be a bit better for Enloe. But for now, we have to worry about Panther's Creek. I'm betting that they will give us a run for our money. We play them at home on Monday so we have a few more practices until the game. Hopefully we can put up a decent fight in this game. Until next time!
         
                                                                                                                                                   -Nia



       
                                                       

Intro

                       Hey there readers! Welcome to the Life as a Millbrook Softball Player! Here you will get updates of what goes on at games, practices, in the lockers rooms, and more. Life as a softball player is full of ups and downs, victories and defeats, funny moments, team bonding experiences, arguments, and of course drama, what's a good blog without a little drama, right? Join me and the players on the JV /Varsity team  as we take this journey, through this exciting season and see what it takes to be a softball player at Millbrook.