I am happy to be writing this blog from our beautiful condos in Gulf Shores, Alabama!! We arrived around 1:00 this afternoon, and have been blessed with gorgeous sunny skies and a perfect view of the Gulf from our rooms. The bus ride was much more pleasant than I envisioned it being, since we chose to leave Monday evening and drive through the night. I remember falling asleep in St. Louis and not waking up until we crossed the Alabama state line. Charter buses just aren’t made for sleeping, unless you’re a contortionist I suppose. We made do with the space we had, though. We watched a wide variety of movies: Tangled, Friday Night Lights, Martian Child, and The Last Song. The 16 hour drive really did seem to fly by, and I am so glad we have an entire day to relax and enjoy our surroundings before getting a morning practice, followed by both the banquet and “Parade of Champions” tomorrow.
The team is healthy and ready to get back on the field, especially with the pool we’ve drawn for the National Tournament. Being the #2 seed is exciting, but we know that rankings don’t mean much in a place where every team is good. Babs told us at our last practice that every year, at least one #1 seed does not advance to the Elite Eight. How great would it be for us to upset not just the #1 seed in our pool, but also the #1 team in the nation? This entire season we have played with targets on our backs. The entire HAAC was thriving to beat MNU. Now, at the biggest stage in NAIA Softball, the pressure isn’t on us to win the pool—it’s on Cal. Baptist. Before we begin thinking of them, we have to prepare for our first opponent in Friends University (yes, we came all the way to Alabama to play a school from the same state as us). We’ve played some tough games against schools in their conference this season, so we know that they truly earned their right to be here. SUNY-Canton is a school we don’t know much about, but will hopefully get to scout later on Thursday when they play Cal. Baptist. MNU Softball isn’t just here to say, “Hey, we made it to Nationals. Good for us.” We know we can compete, and we are ready to shock the nation this week.
I’ll be updating this blog daily, so feel free to check back often. Time to go enjoy the beach with my teammates. Havin’ a day!!
Love Always,
Taylor #21
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