Well hello!
I’m finally back in Rockford, Ill.!
I’ve missed my bed and just the feeling of having a house to go back home to. After the Canada Cup, the U.S. National Team headed to Oklahoma City where we successfully defended our World Cup title. Other than the Olympics and last summer's World Championships, the World Cup is the premiere event. The tournament has been successful at not only drawing fans, but also making sure there is good competition there every year.
Each year the Olympics draw closer, it's harder to get the best teams to want to play each other. Everyone wants to keep the face-offs minimal to avoid seeing each other too much before the big event. We had a good meeting with Japan in order to keep the Cup at home.
I will admit it is fun to watch our lineup play. Anyone and everyone can step up at anytime and get the big hit, and if majority of the line up is hot, well, watch out!
After OKC, we headed down to Rio. If you want the low down on that event head to www.usasoftball.com and click events. In the section for the Pan Am Games, I kept a daily blog that informed everyone of our daily happenings, which was in the village more than on the field due to the rains that never went away.
This past weekend I rejoined my Rockford team in Washington, D.C. We didn't have the series we would have liked, and I sure didn't start the way I wanted to! D.C. has a very good hitting team, and they hit some of the mistakes I threw pretty hard. Our lineup did a good job of adjusting to their pitching, but we couldn't pull away with a win.
My second start there was a lot better. I felt comfortable and found my groove better. Each game is a learning experience no matter how old you are, so we take what we can from them. We did pull out to wins in exhibition games against Philadelphia Force. The two games don't count in league standings, though. We were not originally scheduled to play the Force according to the league schedule, but our two front offices agreed to exhibition games in order to promote the two team and sport. It was a good showing of fans the two nights we were there.
Big news hit while we were in Philly, though! I am officially an assistant coach at DePaul University. This is a huge career move for me, and one I could not be happier about. I have always wanted to coach, and I am honored to join Coach Lenti and his staff. DePaul is consistently a Top 25 program, and I feel I have much to gain from their expertise. I am excited to get to work!
My last stop on the road was at Longstreth in Philadelphia. Longstreth is a sporting good store that specializes in Women's sporting goods. They are the top supplier for field hockey and lacrosse equipment, and most importantly, they are the first place that is distributing my official Wilson line of softball gear. If any of you are looking to order gloves, bats, etc., from the line, go to www.Longstreth.com and order away! They had stuff in store at my signing there, and it was awesome to see. It amazes me every day to see where softball has taken me. I never dreamed of having my own glove ... I just wanted to play!
The next few days are off days here in Rockford. I will be meeting up with my family and heading out on the boat to soak up some sun and relax! Then it's back to business as we close out the NPF season with the Bandits Ö oh and I start work too!
Until next time!
Cat
