Re-inspired

I am not able to play in the games yet at dome ball but I can hit during warm-ups. By coaching in the dome league I am able to take advantage of using the cages along with my team. In order not to take reps away from the other girls I arrive early to get my work done. By the time I am done hitting most of the team is there and ready to get started. We progress through warm ups and get ready to move to the field as game time approaches. As we are walking over one of my players walks up to me, "Hey V, I saw you hitting in the cage. After about 30 seconds I turned to my dad and told him that I wanted to hit like that. So will you help me with my swing?" Tons of different emotions flow through me at one time but I tell her of course. We will work together after the games are over. At this point I am feeling so many things. First pride, someone watched me and decided that they wanted to try and be like me. I did the same thing with the elite players that I wanted to be like. Second humbleness. This girl and her father both thought that I was a good enough coach to instruct and help his daughter instead of asking an actual hitting coach. Finally excitement, here is a player that wants to get better. She wants to work hard and to learn. Her hunger for information reminded me of myself when I decided that I wanted to be great. Her small action of simply asking me for help re-inspired me. There are people that look up to me and what I do. This is the reason that I continue to work to be as good as I can be.

After the game we meet back at the cage to go to work. Her father and her explain that they saw how I can hit and hope that with my help she may be able to do the same. The hitting instruction that she has gotten up until now has been next to none. In order to begin we had change her whole entire hitting style. She was still purely a rotational hitter. To be successful I believe that you need to combine linear and rotational movement. It takes a long time to get used to this weight shift while you are hitting but she was totally open to try all of the different drills that I suggested. I could tell each of them were absorbing everything that I said. After working through normal swings, one handed, and two part drills we went over the keys to focus on. We came up with drills that she was going to do during the week and we will work again next week. I am very excited to see what she has changed and how much she has improved. Even though she plays for a rival school I am willing to help anyone that has that amount of drive and motivation to get better. She sparks the drive in me to work harder just by working hard herself. She will never know it, but by asking for my help she made my whole day and encouraged me to get better along with her.

Coaching Dome Ball

Usually during this time of year I spend every Sunday in a dome preparing for the upcoming season. My recovery is coming along but I still can not play, so instead of being a player I now get the chance to help coach.

Coaching is so much different than playing in many ways. Of course there are the obvious reasons like not being able to actually participate in playing the game or being able to employ physical skills in order to help your team. The biggest differences are things you would not really notice as an outsider. As a player you are used to just focusing on yourself and what you need to do. As a coach you need to have a broad perspective and constantly be checking on everyone. Before each pitch when I am playing defense I will run through what I need to do with the ball in certain situations. You will occasionally say the outs out loud but most of your thinking is internal. While coaching you have to voice all of these thoughts. Not only do you have to say them, but you need to explain them in a way that will get the players to understand and do what you want. The biggest challenge is getting them to understand what you are saying. I may say to widen out their lead. In return I get a puzzled look. In their head the fastest route from second to third is a straight line, why would you widen out? Bowing out at second base allows a runner to cut the turn at third base and score faster. After telling them they say that it makes sense, but they never would have thought to do that themselves. The problem is many of the girls have not been taught so many of the minor details from a young age. Even without being physically better than someone, being mentally more advanced allows you to take advantage of situations and have greater success. Little things that seem like second nature to me, other players would never think about. Seeing this gap of instruction encourages me to want to help them as much as possible in the time that I have to coach them. I have found that there is so much information and different things that I want to tell each player but there simply is not enough time to share all of it.

Coaching a softball game is like being able to control organized chaos. As I said before when you play you only have to worry about your job. Now as a coach, everyone is looking to you for what to do. Being the third base coach really opened my eyes to this. First you are helping to instruct the batter on what their plan of attack should be in the box. Next you change focus to any runners that are on base. You tell them to check the gaps and the fielders around them to know what balls are going to drop in order to score if the ball is put in play. While all of this is going on you are trying to read the other coach, steal signs, and pick up what the pitcher may be planning to do next. When I am playing the game seems to move very slow. I am able to pick up on many different things that most people would not because I have played so much. Coaching, the game feels like it is moving 100 mph. I am not used to having to do so many things for so many other people while still trying to pick up on the little things like pitching tendencies. The more that I coach the easier it becomes. but sometimes it still feels like the game is moving way too fast.

After coaching myself I am able to reflect on all of the amazing coaches that I have had. They have a very tough job to control all of the chaos and do it without any problems. These men also have been some of the most influential people in my life. How they coached me as a player and treated me as person shaped who I am. Not only have they taught me so much about softball, but also about life.  I owe so much of what I am to how good of coaches they were. I only hope that I can impact someone else's life by coaching like they impacted mine.

Overall I think that coaching is a blast. If I can't actually be playing I would definitely want to be coaching rather than just sitting on the side and watching. The thing that I love most about coaching is seeing things click for a player. They may have been struggling on hitting an outside pitch. You help them make some adjustments and soon they are crushing that pitch. Their big smile and the reward of seeing them succeed and have fun is better than any thank you they could ever give you. Coaching allows me to share what I know about the game and hopefully help other players get better. After my playing days are complete I definitely want to be a coach and continue to share my knowledge of the game I love.

I Believe

In one of my English classes we were asked to write about a topic or idea that we believed very strongly in. At first I had no idea what I was going to write about and then I thought of one of my biggest values, working hard. I thought it was a great assignment to get you to think about what you really believe in. Here is something that I believe in with all of my heart.

Hard Work

I believe in hard work. I've come to the point in my athletic career where I have many people watching everything I do, how I practice, the way that I train, and the amount of work that I put in. Many people have questioned why I put in so much extra time?  Or ask why do I work so hard, don't I just want to have fun? My answer is always to achieve my dreams. I have the most fun when I am working my hardest to get better, not when I am goofing around. I may have been blessed with an aptitude for sports but I believe natural talent can only take you so far. One of the major things that makes you who you are your habits. Working hard is one of my habits. It comes into play in every area of my life but is most evident during sports.

When most people generally think of hard work, they think of it as a difficult task that they were able to accomplish.  They are happy to complete the task and be done with it. But working hard is not something you just do once, especially if you have dreams and goals as big as mine. I chose to start working hard to get something that I wanted. Over the countless hours of training it has become who I am, what I pride myself on, and who I want to be.

Being from a small town no one had ever done what I wanted to do, or the way that I wanted to get there. Almost every high school coach will tell you that to make it big you have to go and spend thousands of dollars to play on the premier teams that travel all around the country and practice together almost every day. I played on a few of those teams and they were not for me. I disagree with how they are shaping these athletes as people. Instead I played for the Rochester Royals and it changed my life forever.

As a younger athlete I was also told that playing softball at that level was a good dream to have, but not many people become Division 1 athletes. There are only so many schools and there are hundreds of thousands of softball players in the country. So I set out to prove them wrong.

During my freshman year I started working harder than I ever had before. Early morning batting practice, late night workouts, and daily practices added up to hundreds of hours spent at the Rochester Athletic Club and city softball fields.  All of the blisters, aching muscles, and bruises were well worth it the day I was offered my dream. I am going to attend North Dakota State University and have the opportunity to play softball there. So that means that all the hard work is over right? It is actually the exact opposite. I work harder now than I did even when I was trying to get recruited. I have my chance, now I get to show everyone how good I can be. Working hard is what I do now and how I will continue to work for the rest of my life.

I believe if you are willing to work hard and fully immerse yourself in your goals you can achieve anything. I was told I would never be good enough, yet through hard work I am on my way to achieving my dreams. Do not let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do, you are the only one who can determine that.

Waiting

Waiting is not something that I do very well. My mom always tells me, "Vanessa, patience is a virtue." Well I must not have very many virtues if I have to wait to receive them. I had to wait exactly two weeks from the day that I got hurt to have surgery. At the time, it was the longest two weeks of my life. I was not able to do anything that I used to do. Normally, I am one of the most active people around and I rarely am sitting still. Now all I am supposed to do is sit on my butt with my foot in a bucket of ice.

Being on crutches and in a boot before surgery allowed me to do some stuff that made life easier. I got hurt right before the Fourth of July. Typically my team plays in the Ringneck tournament in South Dakota this weekend. Knowing what was to come, mentally I could not go and watch all of those games at this time. My emotions were still too raw, I would get worked up anytime I thought about how much softball I was going to have to miss. Instead my parents decided to take us to Duluth where all of my family lives. We did tons of fun things that took my mind away from what had happened. One of the days we went to Gooseberry Falls, I do not recommend the 1.5 mile hike on crutches. Luckily I have an amazing Dad who carried me some of the way. After all of that hiking we were SUPER hungry so we went to the best place on the North Shore, Betty's Pies. In the past we had always talked about doing the eating challenge that they have. It is called the Pig's Trough, 3 pieces of pie, 5 scoops of ice cream, a banana, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. My dad, brother, my sister and I all decided to take it on while my mom and grandparents stared at us with wide eyes. We had 20 minutes to eat all of that dessert. If you know me well you know that I can eat a lot of food. Needless to say my dad and I were the only ones that finished, Vance and Dreez did not have a chance. That night we watched fireworks over the oar docks in Two Harbors. It was a great trip and a great reminder of all of the people that I had supporting me as I went into surgery.

The days before I went in seemed to drag by. I had nothing to do besides for lay outside on the picnic table and tan or watch my brother swim at the pool. I was not supposed to do any strenuous activity or leave the house that much. Boredom during the days stunk but nothing was worse than the nights. After I got hurt there were few times I slept all the way through the night. I was constantly reliving the collision, but there was always a different twist at the end. All of them had me waking up in a cold sweat. The worst had to be the dream that occurred the most, the doctors telling me I would never play sports again. Without distractions of the people around you, your mind is free to roam wherever it wants. Alone, it was very hard to deal with all of the negative thoughts. There was nothing to convince yourself that these dreams weren't real. The more you thought about it the more helpless you felt. The night before surgery I barely slept like usual, I was so nervous for the next day. I knew that this was the path I had to take to get better but that didn't mean I was any less scared.

Crutching into Mayo on Friday morning everything finally felt real. Up until this point there was still a part of me that did not believe that all of this was happening to me. I was going to be fine and playing next week, not next year. As the doctors circled around me, attaching monitors, injecting medication, and setting up my IV I closed my eyes and thought of why I was going through all of this, to do what I love again. It is all going to be worth it when I am able to play again. After hugging my mom and telling her I loved her my wait was finally up.

Post Surgery

The thing I remember most about coming out of surgery was being SO HUNGRY! You have to fast starting the night before surgery and when I woke up it was about 3 p.m. I had not eaten in over 15 hours! In order to leave I had to eat two granola bars and a bowl of soup which I did no problem. As we are going to the car I asked my mom to stop at Chipotle, I still was starving! Once we were home I mowed through the burrito and took a three hour nap on the couch. I slept the most in my life the three to four days after surgery as my body was trying to heal. I now had three screws and a plate in my left foot to try and fix all of the damage that I had done.

I was not really used to a sedentary lifestyle.  During the summer it is VERY unusual that I watch TV at all much less during the day. After surgery I was put on house arrest for 10 days. I dont think I have ever watched that many movies or tanned for that long. I never knew how much I took for granted just being able to leave home for a little bit! Luckily I have amazing friends that came to visit and spend time with me so it wasnt so bad. At about day 5 my dad snuck me out of the house and took me to dinner because he knew I was going crazy. That weekend I talked him into letting me go to watch the Danes play. I still had many conflicting feelings but it was great to see my teammates and wish them luck before heading to nationals. It killed me not to be traveling with them but it would be even worse being there and having to sit out after making my parents drive thousands of miles.  It would not be fair to ask that of them.

After the 10 days I went in to get my soft cast cut off and a hard cast put on. I wore that for 4 weeks during the summer. Yes, THE SUMMER! So that meant no swimming, nothing like that. Without inventing new ways to do the things I love I would have gone crazy. I found a way to go swimming in the kiddie pool so I could be in the water a little bit.

Getting my cast off was one of the best feelings in the world. When I looked down at my foot it did not look human. I am a huge fan if The Walking Dead and my brother and I agreed it looked like a zombie foot. After getting the cast cut off I had to take x-rays. Simply standing on that foot felt foreign. It was as if I had forgotten how the stand normally on two feet. It felt like I had a bunch of tiny rocks in the bottoms of my feet. It was the craziest feeling and is so hard to explain, but it was from all of the blood pooling and the lack of use. I was so happy to finally be getting out of the cast but I felt far from normal. I would spend the next 4 weeks on crutches and in a boot. After that I slowly began to ween off the crutches and into a boot and finally a shoe! It was about a 9 week process to get there. In the beginning I walked with a nice limp because I was so used to the different height of the boot. I got plenty of crap from my friends and family about it but I was just so happy to be walking on my own. Just over 3 months after I got hurt I was finally walking on my own. Most of the waiting was finally over and now I could focus on working to get better.

Results

On Monday after the tournament my Dad wanted to go into the doctor just to make sure nothing serious had happened. My foot was starting to feel better and I was walking on it in small amounts around the house so I was not worried at all. I went in to get x-rays and then have a meeting with a sports medicine doctor at Mayo. The doctor tested my foot and determined that she thought it was just a sprain, they did not have to take x-rays, and I would start doing physical therapy. I told her that we had actually already taken x-rays so she pulled them up on the screen. Her eyes got big and then she turned to look at me. I had several broken bones and needed to come back for an MRI. This was crushing news because it meant that summer softball for me was most likely over.

Later in the week I had my MRI. If you have never had an MRI it is a very unique experience. You are in a tight, confined space and have to stay very still. It is super loud so they either give you earplugs or headphones to block out the noise. None of these things bother me and I have fallen asleep every time that I have had to have one. The longest part of this process was waiting for the doctor to call me back about the results. When we got the call I was sitting in the kitchen with my mom. I can remember watching the blood drain from her face as she frantically wrote things down on the notepad in front of her. It was much worse than anyone had expected. On the top of my foot I had a severe Liz Franc ligament tear. Evidence on the MRI showed that my navicular bone was dented and I had shattered off pieces of other smaller bones. She was referring me to a surgeon to determine whether or I not I needed to have it fixed. 

Waiting to meet with the surgeon was one of the most nerve racking days of my life. Before this I had never broken a bone, much less had to have major reconstructive surgery. Sitting on the hospital bed I was faced with two options. The first, I simply wait for it to heal on its own. There is a major risk that it will not heal properly and that I will have to have surgery anyways. The second option crushed me, it was to have surgery and go through a 6-12 month recovery process. The decision was up to me but the doctors we recommending heavily that I have the surgery. They gave my family two days to go home and think about it. I was able to keep it together until I got in the car and looked at my mom. Tears started streaming down my face and I could not make them stop. I had so many emotions flowing and did not know how to take in this information. I was completely silent the whole ride and when we finally got home I went straight to my room. Hundreds of things were swirling around inside my head and I felt like the world was crashing down on me. I just did not understand. Why did I get hurt? Why does it have to happen now, in the middle of my summer? What is going to happen to me? What if I can never play again? I laid on my bed thinking about all of these things and came to the final conclusion, so what? Yes I have to have surgery. Yes I am going to lose the rest of my summer, fall, and most likely basketball season. Does that make me happy? No, but is this going to stop me from achieving my dreams? I am going to work as hard as possible during PT to come back and when I do I will be an even better player than before. 

I knew that I had to have the surgery. I could not risk waiting six months and then still having to under go surgery anyways. I did not accept the fact that all of this was real until I was crutching into Mayo on July 11th, the day I had to have three screws and a plate put into my foot. 

Getting Hurt

On June 28th my whole entire world was flipped upside down. This day changed life as I knew it and sent me into the world of the unknown. Friday started out just like any other summer day. I had lifting in the morning with a bunch of my friends and teammates. After that I went to lunch with one of my friends and hung out before having to head the fields. I was so excited because this weekend the tournament was in Rochester. Many of my friends and family were going to come and watch me play because we rarely get the chance to play this close to home during the summer.

The Danes typically do not start until after Father's Day weekend so I had the opportunity to play with the Royals in a few early season tournaments.  Several of my former teammates still played for them so I wanted to watch them play this weekend if I got the chance. I headed over to McQuillan Fields because the Royals were playing before I had to warm-up. Even though I was not playing with them I still went in the dugout to hang out with the kids on the bench. I love bantering back and forth with the girls I have played with forever. Soon I had to go to a different field to start warming up for our game. I was feeling amazing during warm-ups. The past couple weeks I had been seeing the ball very well. In the previous tournament in the Quad Cities I hit five homeruns in five games. On the season I was averaging one homerun per every three at-bats. You could say that I was on a hot streak that I really wanted to continue.

The rest of pre-game was the same. We ran through all of the same drills and were ready to play. People from this area have always questioned why I chose to play for the Danes instead of a large program like the Sting. Playing this close to home I wanted to show them how good we were and why I love playing for the Danes. Finally getting this chance I was so excited to get out on the field. I was the lead-off hitter in the top of the first. I was walked on five pitches so I jogged down to my spot at first. On the fourth pitch of Abby Klopp's at-bat I was given the steal sign. When I slide, I slide hard, especially if there is someone blocking the bag. When I saw the shortstop coming across the front side of the bag I slid into her hard just like I had done so many times before. There was a big collision and she went flying backwards. I popped up to see where the ball went because I saw it sail over my head as I slid in. The throw had not even been close and the ball ended up in short right center field. Then I look down and see the shortstop still laying on the ground. The umpires call time for the game and the tournament trainer comes out to help her off the field. During this I jog over to my coach and notice that my foot does not feel right. When I made contact with the other girl the ball of my foot was jammed backwards towards my shin. It was pretty much numb and tingling but didn't hurt excessively. Based on my pain I thought that I had just sprained an

ankle like I had so many times in basketball so I tried to just jog it off. I returned to second and on the next pitch Abby hit a double to left center. Sprinting home my foot did not feel right so when I went into the dugout I asked for it to be taped. After being taped I tried to go out and play defense but it hurt a lot to plant on it after throwing. My coach decided to just sit me for the rest of the game, it was only Friday night and the most important day is Sunday. Once I took my shoe off to ice my foot inflated like a balloon. My teammate helped me out of the dugout and onto one of the picnic tables so that the trainer could look at my foot. Based on my pain they said that it was only a bad sprain, I may want to go in just in case to get it looked at but they did not think anything was seriously wrong.

I woke up the next morning and in between my toes was black and blue. On the inside arch of my foot there was a dark red line with bruising. It still killed to walk on so I borrowed a pair of crutches from my grandpa. After not being able to walk in the morning I decided to sit out the rest of the tournament. At the time it was frustrating but playing in the end of the season and nationals was much more important to me than just one normal tournament. Sitting out the rest of the weekend was torture. I don't like having to sit out for an inning or two to begin with, much less eight games because I am hurt. We made it to the Championship game after playing six games on Sunday. I was so proud of my team but I still wished that I could have been out on the field with them. Next weekend I told myself. I will be back and everything will be normal. Little did I know this is not how things were going to end up.

Battle Between Teammates

Imagine stepping into the box versus a pitcher that knows everyone of your strengths and your weaknesses. Intimidating right? I experience this every time my Byron High School team plays Stewartville. Cait has been my teammate for over 5 years now and is one of my closest friends, but, she is also one of my competitors. Being teammates during the summer presents us with a very interesting situation when it comes time to play each other in the spring. At-bats are like a chess match, their are many conflicting emotions you must control, and the competion is higher than ever.

No one that I know wants to step into a box and face a pitcher that knows a ton about them. Facing Cait is different than any other pitcher because of how familiar we are with each other. Not only are we long time friends but we were also hitting partners! This means that during warm-ups and during games you are constantly analyzing your partners swing to try and help them to get better. This is where the chess match begins. As I step in, Cait knows where I struggle just as well as I do. This changes your mental preparation coming into the at-bat. I know that she is going to pitch me a certain way or try to get me to chase a certain pitch. Knowing these things, I form the mindset that I will adjust my approach to hit take advantage of what she is likely to try to do. After the first at-bat you asses your strategy and the strategy she used. Through the next two at-bats you go back and forth each making small adjustments to beat the other. In the next half of the inning the roles reverse. Now I am the pitcher and Cait the batter. I only pitch during the high school season as I am an infielder during the summer. But, I still do the best I can to help my team win by pitching. Pitching to someone you know is completely different because you understand their abilities, and if you miss in a certain spot, you know they will make you pay for it. The only true way to win this game of chess is to get the other person out or to get a hit. 

Playing against your own teammates sparks so many different emotions. First there is excitement. You are excited to see them because it has been a long time. Next is anticipation. I get antsy on any game day, but especially restless when playing Stewie because of how close our games have been in the past. Last is the feeling of determination when the game finally starts. You are preparing to do everything in your power to win and have the mindset you will not fail. During the game you have to control your emotions on either side of the board whether you are having success or not. It can be a great struggle to do when you put everything you have into the game. But that is all part of the mental side of the game. 

The most evident difference when playing against a teammate is the level of the competion. You always want to win when playing, but the desire is even greater when it is against one of your own. This level brings out the best on both sides and often leads to great plays. If your teammate gets a hit or makes a play, you automatically want to do something to top them. Not only does it earn you a bit of bragging rights come summer but also it fuels your self confidence. 

A lot of different feelings and emotions come into play when you go up against your own teammate, but personally I love it. During H.S. I constantly am playing people that I know, so I am very familiar with these feelings. Even though the game is like a chess match, it brings out a lot of emotion, and provides high competition, they are my favorite games of the year.  

NDSU vs. SDSU

Most people spend their Saturday mornings sleeping in, watching t.v., and just relaxing. I couldn't tell you the last time I did that! So getting up at 6 to hit the road and watch some softball this weekend was nothing out of the ordinary. Our destination was Brookings, SD, to watch NDSU vs SDSU.

A quick gane recap: The game was tied at zero until NDSU opened it up with 8 runs in the 3rd inning. From there on it was very one sided. The final score was 12-0, with Krista Meinke throwing a 1-hitter for the Bison. It was a perfect game until the bottom of the fifth with one out and a lefty blooped a hit into short RF. It was awesome to watch NDSU string a bunch of hits together just like their last comeback win in Illinois that I saw.

I love watching college softball because there is so many things that you can learn. Each game I watch I try to pick out about  three different skills or plays that have good teaching points and talk about them with my dad or coaches. The three things that I picked up from this game was warming up through the 3rd baseman, hitting in different pitch counts,  and sliding into home. 

The first thing was doing most of infield warmups through the third baseman.  Using this technique everyone gets a ball coming from the home plate angle and the 1st baseman still fields their throws.  Instead of rolling to the ball to them,  the 1st baseman throws the ball to 3rd and she begins the next play. It also provides the right angles to work double plays. Each session of warm ups starts with the 3rd baseman rolling it to the pitcher once and then moving onto the other infielders. Every other inning they differed the situation (just going to first, turning two, or bunts). Then it is ended with the third baseman getting her two balls. I think that this type of pre inning infield provides a better game simulation for fielding balls and is more time efficient. It is definitely something that I would love our infield coaches to look into and hopefully transition to it for the summer.

The next thing I noticed was how much the count effects your at-bat. At the college level you will only see one maybe two good pitches per at-bat. Once they get ahead of you, don't expect a pitch that you can drive. That is why I feel it is SUPER important to be aggressive and be the one in control of the at-bat. In my last blog I compared an at-bat to a chess match, it is all about your strategy to beat the opposition. If you want to win you do not sit back and react, you are the one making the moves and being aggressive.  For me, this translates directly to hitting. Almost every hitter's batting average increases when they are ahead in the count. So it is simple, don't get behind in the count. Recognize the first good pitch and do something with it!

The last thing I noticed that whenever there was a close play at home the on-deck hitter for the Bison only used hand signals to instruct their teammate. Now I am not sure whether it was just because I could not hear them talking but it sparked an idea. When you do talk you help your runner but you also tell the catcher where she is going to be sliding. If you only use your hands and no voice the catcher does not necessarily know where you are going to slide. I am still unsure about this idea but it is definitely something to further discuss.

I had a blast at the game watching my Bison play and learned a few things which will be beneficial. The long drive was definitely worth getting to watch a ball game on a beautiful Saturday. 

High School Softball 2014 Preview

The start of the 2014 season marks the beginning of my fourth year playing for Byron. The start of a season always brings great anticipation and excitement over what is to come and what is possible to achieve in the upcoming games. It is a new year, a fresh start. Besides for the new start there is a certain sense of pride that you feel when you are able to put on a jersey and represent your school.

This years team is completely new besides for me and our center fielder Takota Tierney. So there is lots of opportunity to grow and improve every day. Practice starts indoors for the first few weeks because of all the snow. It is awesome that even though we have all the snow we have access to scrimmage indoors at the RCTC bubble. We also ended up playing our first two games of the season in there as well. This year we did not have an outdoor practice before our first outdoor game that was this past week. Our first scrimmages and games have been kind of rough but the exciting part is that we improve drastically every time. You can see things starting to click and the kids beginning to understand things they previously had not. If we keep improving at our current rate we could be very competitive come playoffs this year. 

Last year I set a very high standard for myself to reach again this year. To reach above and beyond that standard I put in more work this off season than ever before and am still working hard to get better. I have very high expectations for myself and even though this year has started off slow I know things will come. This year will be the biggest mental test for me so far because of all the different pressures from outsiders and myself. With all of my prior preparation I feel confident that things will come together and I will be able to compete at my usual level. 

Overall I am very excited for this season as so many things are different from the past. The team is completely new and their are so many opportunities to come. No matter how things ends up, I definitely am going to enjoy this season. :)

Fall 2013

This fall was possibly one of the busiest I have ever had, but that also makes it one of the best. Along with playing a ton of ball, I traveled a ton, and finally got to spend some good family time.

Most of my weekends January through September revolve around softball. Normally in the past that has ment tournaments and games. This time it was not only games but also college. Scary I know, it has gone by so fast. We played all over Minnesota and Wisconsin.  The best thing about fall is the games do not matter (to some they do, but they are completely missing the point of fall ball). Fall ball is purely focused on getting better. Working on your swing, trying new things, just getting reps. But so many teams and coaches miss that, which is sad, but is the truth.

This fall I feel that personally I took a big step forward improving not only my softball skills but also my leadership skills. Things really started coming together and it was a very successful fall.

This fall, my family and I also traveled all over the place. A huge part of the college process for me is getting on campus, meeting the players and the coaches, getting a feel for the school. That way I know if I could see myself going there or not. I met a ton of great people who all care about this game as much as I do, and some ever more than I.

Besides for just "business" travel my family also got to go on family vacation over MEA. We went on a cruise in Hawaii. It was AMAZING!!! We had such a blast going on all of our excursions, and my favorite, going to the beach. I am so blessed to be able to do these types of things with my family as well as play softball like I do. It always takes a big event for us to realize how fortunate we are. So I wanted to say thank you to them, as well as everyone who has been a part of my life. Ive had so many great opportunities and they wouldn't happen if I didn't have all of these great people surrounding me.

Fall is also the time where I finally take some time off. My Dad puts my stuff in the basement so I wont be tempted to sneak off to the batting cage :) I love the game, but everyone does need a break. Not only does it wear you down physically but mentally, and your body needs time to recoup.  The past two weeks I have had completely off and next week we move into basketball season!! Even though I am excited for it I have really enjoyed just being able to get together with my family, watch some football, eat really good food, play two hand touch during half time, and catch up with all the new things they have going on.

2013 was a great year, it is amazing to look back at all the things that I accomplished in one season. It only encourages me to work harder to see just how good I can get.

Badger Camp

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Wisconsin Badger Camp. I had already attended one of their camps before in the beginning of summer. Both times I have learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing it. Saturday was full of drills and breakdown work on hitting and fielding skills. Sunday was supposed to be scrimmaging but, as anyone around here would know, it was a Sunday when we had softball so of course it rained! We moved everything to the indoor facilities and still got some great work in.

Friday night I went to our high school football game and then made the drive over to Madison. Saturday morning felt kind of early but I always wake up a bit more when I hear that it is time to hit. We broke up into groups and headed to our stations. We went through different tee work, front toss and base running drills. A main focus during the drills was they called slot hitting. To perform the drill you load with your negative movement and then start your swing. You stop at connection or when your hands reach your sternum. After pausing for a moment you finish your swing hitting the ball wither off the tee or off front toss. This drill really works on getting connected and getting linear. I have a tendency to rotate too early and this causes me to pull of a lot of balls. In this drill I also learned to get my linear movement with my knee still facing the right way, because when I rotate my knee before my hands get to sternum I pull off the ball. I also worked on staying through the ball and getting more extension on my swing. Another drill that they do is throwing frisbees. During our classroom drill Coach Schneider explained how throwing a frisbee is just like hitting, and by throwing them, you can be a better hitter! He made several connections with other sports of things that will help you to be a better player. Coach Schneider also stressed how much hitting hasn't changed, it has always been the same. Tons of coaches just have had new ideas of "better" ways to do it. Their main goal was to be as efficient as possible. Another new thing for me was they connected hitting and throwing. They say that the kids that throw the best and the hardest will be good hitters. Things you do while throwing you often do while hitting. It amazed me how connected all parts of your game are to each other and how much the little things matter.

After a break for lunch we moved on to defense. First we started out with playing catch. While playing catch they stressed how important the receiver is. You always need to step to the ball, catch it chest height, and on your throwing shoulder. Yes, this means you actually need to work hard to move your feet and get in the right place to make the catch. Also it is your job to always stop the ball even on a bad throw. After a loosening up and going through part of their throwing progression we moved to a different kind of throwing. Both coaches believe that you should be able to throw from anywhere, especially the ground. In softball we play low and spend a decent amount of time on the ground especially on diving plays. To work on this we started with throws from your knees falling forward. We also did throws on your knees falling to the right, falling to the left, sitting criss cross applesauce and falling backwards, standing up falling to the right, the left and backwards, jumping into the air and then throwing. We also placed the ball behind us, dove on the ground to recover it, rolled over as fast as possible and then threw it from there. The last drill was for finishing plays. There may be times where you stop a ball but it ricochets off and you need to finish. They always finish the play because you never know when the runner may try to take another base when they think you will just give up. Through all of these drills especially when you are throwing from crazy positions they talked about keeping your head with your hands. If you do this you can throw from any slot and any position because you have the proper form. Along with keeping your hands with your head, they emphasized kinesthetic awareness. Kinesthetic awareness is knowing your body in space and knowing how to handle it. Next we moved into break down drills in diving, ground balls, short hops, and fly balls. We worked on their everyday drills that focused on coming through the ball and lots of short hops. We got tons of break down drills on the small parts of the overall skill that were very beneficial.

Sunday morning we had tons of rain and were forced to go indoors. Instead of scrimmaging we did more breakdown drills for fielding and hitting while also getting a lot of full reps. We warmed up playing catch then took grounders and fielded bunts throwing them to different bases. Today while playing catch instead of working on diving throws we did throws on the run. We threw running forward, 45 degrees to the right and left, running straight to the right and left side, then running backwards to the left and to the right. This was another drill that pushed me out of my comfort zone as I tried a new skill. All of these throws from yesterday and today have a time and place in our game where we need to be able to make them. It is much better to practice them and know what they feel like then to be in a pressure situation and all the sudden have to make a play and throw a way you never have before. Next we moved to hitting where we hit of the tees, off the small ball machine, threw frisbees, and hit live in the cages off of a machine and two different pitchers. Many of the same things on offense and defense were stressed again today as I continued to try new things and improve.

A huge piece that is different at this camp than others is that they really push you to get out of your comfort zone. To Coach Healy and Coach Schneider, you will never get better if you stay the same, you need to get out of your comfort zone to learn new things and improve as an athlete and as a player. This weekend I learned lots of new things to help me improve my game and had a great time doing it. A big thank you to all of the coaches at Wisconsin as well as their players to take the time to help me become a better player.

Fall Ball Week 3

Fall ball is a very short season, but a huge part of getting better each year. In fall you get to compete in live games while not worrying about winning or losing. All you focus on is getting better. On our Sundays during the fall we play quadruple headers. Playing four games you get tons of time to work on things to focus on during the week when we do not play.

This much time also provides so many learning opportunities.  This weekend the biggest thing I learned, was that I can be me.

Talking with my dad about the differences between playing with my Royals team and now transitioning to the Danes I noticed several things. 1.) I am not as much of a leader 2.) I am do not talk as much and 3.) I do not have as much contact with other players.

All of those fit into what I used to do as a Royal. First I am always the super positive person that gets people going and makes them smile. I like making people smile because I believe smiling is one of the most powerful forces in the world. One smile can change a persons whole mood and how they are thinking.  In the dugout I am always giving positive encouragement to the batter. As my dad says, there is a difference between being helpful and being a cheerleader.  Next, before every at bat of mine or the person ahead of me, I made some sort of contact.  Many of us had little handshakes, but really it just means, hey were in this together we can do it. You show you are there for them and share your positive energy with them. When teammates made a mistake or a pitcher was struggling I was always the one to go over and pick them up, or walk to the mound and settle them down.

Now for the Danes, I do not do many of these things. Because they teach how focused you need to be on the game I think people, and myself, have interpreted it as you cant have any fun or encourage your teammates.  That isnt the case at all. Today my dad started to get on us to celebrate successes more, give high fives to people when they score or get a hit, and encourage the batter. At first I was hesitant, I wasnt sure if this kind of behavior was allowed as it had been on the Royals. In our next team meeting after the game Tim (our head coach) brought up in the circle that my dad was right, we need to be doing that. He never had said we couldn't cheer, it was just a thing that we never did.

Now that I know I can, I can finally be myself. If you have ever watched me play for the Royals, you would notice that I always as smiling and look like I am having fun. All of the things that I used to do, I now am going to bring to the Danes.  As I player, I play better when I am talking and having fun while being focused on softball. Going the serious route is not as good of a choice as my play has shown over the short time in the quieter environment. 

Another huge thing we learned was the power of good touch and bad touch. You may laugh because that is something they teach you in fourth grade about strangers and other people haha, this is a different kind of touch. I am talking about the power of positive touch. We did a demonstration on how just thinking positively will help you perform better. It was amazing how much your thinking affects not only you but the people around you. As long as you are prepared, positive thinking and energy will allow you to play at your best.

Labor Day Tournament

For us Labor Day is the last weekend before school starts. Summer has come to an end and now it is back to school for everyone.  What would I want to be doing on my last day of summer? Of course play softball!!

This weekend was meant to be more of a showcase that attracted lots of coaches to come and see players at the 16u and 18u level. I definitely want to thank all of the coaches that took the time to come and watch the Danes and I play.

This weekend we played 6 great games of softball. On Saturday my mom barely let me ride in my seat when we got in the car because I was so dirty even after I took off my uniform.  For those who have seen me play, I am generally the kid with the dirtiest jersey because I love sliding and diving. 

Every weekend I feel like I learn so much about the game from our coaches. We have some of the best coaches around in Tim Husted, Randy Witthus, and Mike Carpenter. We are also training in several other coaches who are high school coaches of daughters on the team. All of them combined provide tons of one on one time and people to run drills. They take their own time to help us get better as players and as people. A huge thank you to all the coaches that have helped out with our team. Another big thank you is to all of the parents. Without you guys I would for sure starve playing three games seeing as I tend to eat every two hours! Also all the parents support us, love us no matter how we play, and cart our butts all over the place to do what we love!

On actual Labor Day I got to spend the day with my family and was remind how much I love them. As teenagers most of us are so worried about being with friends ect, that is all great but always make sure to have time to spend with your family. They are the people who love and care about you the most.

So a big thank you to everyone for a great Labor Day weekend and an awesome end to my summer!!

First Weekend of Fall

Last year at this time so many things were different.  This first weekend of fall ball was the first time that I would play with the Danes. I can remember being so nervous and worried about how things would go. Driving up to Hudson this year was completely different.  I was still nervous but it was excited nervous, the way you get before you step into the box for your first at-bat of the day. I felt completely comfortable and was excited to continue learning and improving. 

Another huge difference was in the way I played. Looking back over the year I see how much the Danes have shaped me already anf how much I have improved.  Coming into the fall season when I hit, I didnt even stride. I was a squash the bug kid! After my first day in hudson I can remeber thinking man these guys are crazy! They want me to change the way I hit and do all these weird things! But I decided that for the fall I would try it. Try to do something new and if it didnt work out we can always go back to where we were. Back in those days I was actually the crazy one. Once I was exposed to the different ways the danes hit, field, and communicate I never went back. Its incredible that in one year I have learned so much and come so far. But I know I can keep improving so much more.

We kicked off the first weekend of fall ball with 8 games in two days! The first day was in Hudson Wisconsin.  It was a great day to meet all of the new players and start to step up as one of the leaders on the team. It is a lot of teaching which is very good for us because as you teach something you also relearn it. We saw a ton of progress on the first day and had me excited for the next day. Our second day was in Shoreview Minnesota.  We haf another four games which left me wiped after the weekend. But it was definitely worth it. You learn a lot ehen your body is fatigued and especially that you really can keep going even when you think your tank is empty. It always suprises me how I learn in just one weekend of playing even though ive been playing for what feels like my whole life. It was a great weekend and definitely a step in thr right direction for not only my teammates but for myself.

Playing with the Danes a huge part of the message is not only to learn about softball but to also apply it to your life as well. One thing I learned was that when you do things the right way, you will get the results you want. I learned this from one at-bat. During the day I have been struggling with pulling my shoulder off the ball and needed to stay more linear. So in one at-bat Tim says do reverse top hand.  I try it once and foul a ball straight back. Then I go back to hitting normal. I pull it foul once again, so back to reverse top hand. On the next pitch I connect and hit the ball over the fence. Doing my mechanics the right way gave me the result that I wanted.

The biggest lesson I learned was to appreciate all the things people do for us. Our coaches take their own time to help us learn and get better, our teachers give us extra help outside of class when we don't understand, and our parents.  Our parents take care of us, bring us everywhere. Not everyone has the benefit of having two parents like I do. I won't ever take my parents for granted again. Make sure you tell your parents that you love them, im sure it means the world to them that you care almost as much as they care about you.

The Fall Begins

This past week I recieved a very inspiring email talking about starting to write your own story.  It got me thinking about all the things that have happened to me over the last few years and how the next chapter of my life will turn out. Ever since I was little I have been chasing my dream to become a very good softball player, that has dominated my storyline so far.  Each day with all the hard work that I put in, I feel like I get closer to my overall goal. This fall I have 3 main goals. 1. Continue to clean up the mechanics of my swing and become more consistent with proper mechanics.  2. Polish up my glove work. 3. Figure out what I want in a college and what to major in.

Many people have told me yes you are talented and have potential but you are still raw. By focusing and working hard I want to reach that potential and become a polished athlete.

1. To clean up my mechanics I am hoing back to the basics. I am focusing a ton on tee drills as well as front toss to put everything together.  I have also increased the amount of days a week I go to the field to work on hitting.

2. To polish up my glove work and increase my range we have set up full workouts based just on fielding.  Last fall that was not a common thing. People say the difference between me and a girl from California is 10,000 ground balls. Well hete is my chance to make up the difference.  I may be at a weather advantage but I will just work harder to get my reps in. I hope to be faster and smoother on defense along with working on my release time.

3. College. I am nearing that age where college is only two years ahead and approching very quickly.  By doing visits and touring campuses I will get a feel for what I really like. The other part of college besides for athletics is school. I am going to look deeper into what I really want to do for a career. I love science and the human body so currently I am leaning towards the health sciences field. (Kinesiology, physical therapy)

There are so many other things along with these goals that I want to accomplish this fall, but most of all I want to comtinue to try and get better every day.

Three Weeks of Craziness

The past three weeks of my life have been absolutely crazy! I managed to spend only 4 nights at my own house! In the past weeks I have played in three consecutive national tournaments the first in Kansas City, Kansas, second in Rochester, MN, and the third in Sterling, Virginia.

The first two weeks I was playing 16u with my Rochester Royals team. The last week was 18u with the Danes. As I have talked about before, there is a big difference between the two levels. I was forced to adjust very quickly in order to succeed at a higher level.

 During these three weeks my family has put close to 4,000 miles on our car. The drive to Kansas City was about 6 hours while the drive to Virginia was just over 18. It gave us lots of family bonding time, even when that wasn't such a good thing. Since the drive from Sterling was so long we decided to break it up by making a stop in Louisville and also spending a day at Noah's Ark in the Wisconsin Dells.

Since the past month of my life has been focused on all softball all the time I feel that I have learned a ton not only as a hitter but also on defense. On offense I learned how aggressive you need to be early especially when facing good pitchers. Once they give you a pitch to hit, you aren't going to see another one. On defense I learned that I need to play lower and always be moving through the ball. Using these mechanics I saw improvement on my range and my reaction time.

Reflecting on those three weeks, they were my favorite of the summer. I got to do what I love every day, I got to stay at a hotel with my teammates, and I had so many chances for improvement. I can't thank my parents enough for carting my butt all over the country this summer. They have given me the opportunity to play this game all the time and give me full support, what else can you ask for? Even though I tell them every day, thank you guys, I love you so much :)

Perspective

After our loss today we had an amazing opportunity, to help someone learn. The people we got to teach were players from the Bahamas who also were in the tournament and did not win a single game.  As a person who hasn't ever experienced anything like this before it was a great life experience.

Last year the Danes ran a full day clinic to help teach the Bahamians, which I did not attend. This year we did not have a full day, only a matter of 30 minutes to help them with pitching.  All of the girls were so eager to learn to pitch.  My partner was Diva, and man could she throw heat once she had the slightest amount of instruction. We went threw simple drills like the power drive, progressive pitching, pitching with your eyes closed, and pitching from one knee. The girls did great and blossomed under the attention and help of our pitchers. I cant wait to see how much they have improved next year when they see them at this tournament.  

While we were teaching the Bahamians to pitch they were also teaching me. The difference between us and the Bahamians is how eager they are to work hard and learn, how extremely grateful they are, and how much fun they have.

Most kids from the states playing sports work hard for a couple reasons, but the big ones being money and the payoff at the end. The kids from the Bahamas want to work hard simply because they want to get better and don't know any different.  There isn't a big payoff at the end for them, most won't even go to college. 

Second, they are extremely grateful for everything that they have and are given.  That may come from them not having a lot but still. At the end of our clinic they couldn't express how grateful they were. But the huge smiles on their faces were all the thanks that I needed. 

If you watch the Bahamas play you will notice how much fun they have while playing this game because that is exactly what this is to them, a game. The have the perspective that so many of us lack.  They see that not everyone gets the chance to play this game, but they do. They enjoy every opportunity. 

Working them made me gain a better perspective of our whole week.  I realized that yes you can be upset about losing because it is not the result that you wanted. But it is inspiration to keep working hard and getting better. It also reminds me of how grateful I should be. I have a very blessed life that others do not, for that I am extremely thankful. 

I learn tons about softball from the Danes.  But the biggest thing I have learned are life lessons. Lessons that teach me to be a better person, and how I can impact the world in a positive way. 

2013 Pony Nationals in Virginia

As soon as we finished packing Saturday morning (after the Royals had lost out Friday) we began the road trip to Virginia for the 18u PONY Nationals with the Danes. It took us two full days of driving just to get there! But the car ride was just the beginning to this weeks adventure. 

The first day of play we started out with four of our five pool games. The first game was super close in which we lost to the bombers 1-0. Our second game was vs. SE Mass Extreme. It was a tight 2-0 win. Our third game was vs. Ashburn Stars. Before the game we had internet scouted (watched their recruiting video) some of the players on the team and were prepared for a very tight game. The game ended 6-3 in our favor. Our last game of the day was vs. Team Canada. As Tim said, "We are not playing for ourselves, our teammates, or our families, but for our country!! Now kick those maple syrup loving peoples butt!" And that we did! We won for merica in a hard fought 7-3 game!

The next day we only had one game in which we faced the PA Intensity. For my returning teammates it was redemption because the Intensity had knocked them out of the tournament last year. We won the game 10-0  in 5 innings, it was a very good win for our veterans. After we went back to the hotel and took a team nap. I can't tell you how much I have grown to love naps! As soon as everyone was ready to go we headed down to the train station to go to a Nationals game! I finally got to see Bryce Harper in action and he hit a homerun and made a diving catch to top it off! The Braves also hit Harper and almost started a bench clearing brawl. You know it was serious because even the bullpens were cleared haha ;)

In the morning bracket play finally started and we faced Team Mizuno first and won 5-1. We then played the green devils and lost 7-2 and were done for the day. We had a team steak dinner and then headed back to the fields for a light practice. We went through our throwing progression, then worked all defense to stay sharp for tomorrows game, and get lots of reps in doing things the right way. Most teams arrive for warm-ups about an hour before the game. Our warm-up is two hours long. A lot of the time we will have completed dynamic warm-up and have already been hitting for over a half an hour. We get so many more reps than other teams during warm-ups, and that really benefits us when it comes to game time. 

Our first game on Thursday was vs. the Bahamians. We won 10-0 in 5 innings and were on to the next game, a rematch vs. Team Mizuno.  It was 0-0 through the 5th inning when they scored a run. They also scored one in the sixth, but we never had an answer for them. The ending score was 2-0 and we were out of the tournament. Losing to Team Mizuno was very disappointing but especially because of how they acted. They did not play hard, and didn't even seem to want to be there. Their attitudes were all very negative. They could have been a very good team but because of their attitudes, they became average. 

During a whole week tournament you have so much time to learn with as many games as you play and all of the practice time available. Playing next to Megan Champion, a sub for the week, I learned a lot about the little things and how much they count. I also learned to communicate even more when playing next to someone new. Through my failures and successes this week I learned how well I can do but also have to incentive to keep working hard to fix my failures. A huge emphasis this week was how to recover from failure. You have to be able to think about what you should have done, learn from it, and then move on. Because, in our game you are going to get many more opportunities to do it right and if you have not reset yourself mentally, you will probably make another mistake. Even though I was having mechanical issues throughout the tournament, I was still able to put the ball in play to help my team. I had a blast this week doing what I love and cannot wait for our fall season to start in two weeks!

Diving catch on a bunt turned into a double play

Practice/Workouts

From reading my blogs most people would assume that all I do is play games. But that is not the case. I practice softball in some way each and every day to continue to improve and get better.

I use various equipment when I practice that includes balls, bats, gloves, all of the basics, and technology.  I am going to share what an individual hitting practice is like for me.

Last Monday I met one of my teammates Cait Hughes and Coach Tim Husted at the Byron fields for a workout.  We started out hitting off a tee. I did several reps and then Tim asked, why isnt it going over the fence? Hit it over the fence please.  He videotaped a couple of swings and had me watch them. We discussed what needed to happen to achieve the goal. I needed to stay linear longer to get my weight going forward. I also needed more connection because my bottom was releasing too early causing me to swing with only my arms resulting in a loss of power. Next we moved to one armed drills.  We worked my bottom hand to make sure I was releasing in the correct order, hands elbow then shoulder. He challenged me to hit it out of the infield.  After a few attempts I accomplished the goal and was getting it correct every time.  The next drill was my top hand.  This drill was much harder to do and without knowing what you are doing, it is very easy to do incorrectly. Next we flipped my top hand so instead of having one pull and one push hand I had two push. When done correctly you feel an explosion of power off of the bat because you are able to create more bat speed.  It was super awkward at first but once I got the feel of it, I started to excel in the drill.  Next I hit front toss working on staying connected, being late with my hips, and getting as much linear as possible.  We again used video to break down the swing and see what to improve upon. 

After I earned a break and helped warm Cait up for her pitching lesson. I learned a lot about catching and how to frame. I also learned about the river on either side of the plate.  I will say im not envious of catchers having to squat all of that time, but am glad to do it to help my teammate improve.  Catching also gave me an opportunity to work on short hops that I would normally get in a game.  Once she completed her workout, she pitched about 20 live balls to me as Tim watched and videod to see how everything came together live. 

Being able to use video is a huge advantage forbour generation.  We can break swings down into slow mo and see exactly what we need to fix.  10 years ago we did not have the technology as readily available as we do now. As a player I love to take advantage of it to help me improve. 

On a normal day my dad and I will go to the field either in the morning or at night to have a hitting practice and do some defensive work.  At home mid day I convince my brother to take a break from soccer to play catch with me and work throwing mechanics.  Along with drill work 3-4 times a week I have strength and conditioning classes to help me get faster and stronger.  On opposite days of workouts I try to fit in a yoga class or swim laps. 

My ability to practice and improve every day is due to the people around me who give me the opportunity and the help to do so. I thank them each time for their help because it means the world to me as I work to achieve my goals.