Couldn't think of any catchy stats to post this week but I am still working on a couple. Instead I will write about what is on my mind. Namely Raissa!
Spent a miserable day today in Owensboro, Ky as Berea traveled to Owensboro to play Brescia. (No guys this ain't Div 1 but this is college and who cares?) It was supposed to be 48 and sunny at game time but instead it was more like 36 and there was nothing that remotely resembled sunshine at all. In spite of the crappy conditions I was ecstatic to get to see Raissa play. Berea is 3 hours away and since O'boro is only 1 1/2 hrs away I couldn't miss this opportunity. Just to get the preliminaries out of the way, Berea swept the double header winning the 1st game 4-0 and the 2nd game 9-4!
Raissa had a pretty productive day playing LF and batting 6th. She had 2 chances in the field and easily made both catches. Depending on how the official scoring goes she was probably 4-9 at the plate and maybe 5-9 if they show her a little love on a booted slap to 3rd base. She slapped, she bunted and even doubled to left center. She drove in 1 run on the day but did not score.
Did I mention it was freezing? Couldn't tell it by looking at Raissa on the field. She took the field with nothing more than underarmour on under her uniform. My Mom went with me and we watched a lot of the game from the car in the outfield. (Actually pretty good seats... lol) As we were trying to locate Raissa during pre-game warmups, I saw her and told Mom..... "There she is being her Billy Bad Ass Self with no jacket or earmuffs or anything on". Raissa just loves the game of softball. That smile on her face is contagious on the team and only disappears when she steps to the plate or readies herself in the field. It was pretty obvious that she has become one of the team even though she is 1of 2 freshmen on the team.
I have always warned myself to not become one of those types of parents that try to relive their childhood vicariously through their children. I dearly love watching Raissa play ball and of course want her to do good. But I can honestly say that it is HER happiness playing the sport that motivates me most. I remember when she was just a tot learning to play. Her 1st season she was "stuck" in the outfield and batted near the bottom of the order after all the coaches kids. But she worked and worked to improve her game. She always has enjoyed practice time just as much as the game itself. Toward the end of that 1st season her progress was not lost on her coaches and they moved her up in the lineup as high as they could without of course costing their own children any at bats. Her 2nd year was a different team, different coach and new spot in the batting order. Lead Off!!. She was invited to try out for a traveling team that year but I actually discouraged her from doing it because I wondered if her game was really good enough. After her 3rd season of league ball she was invited to join the traveling team "without" a try out. From there I guess you could say the rest is history. Today she plays all outfield positions and can stand in for 1B and Catcher if needed.
She has provided me with more proud Dad moments than I can possibly cover in this post. She has had game winning hits, game saving plays, All-Star recognition, awards, trophies and the list goes on. Of course, to be fair, I have agonized with her on more than 1 occasion when she struck out with bases loaded at a crucial point in a game. But Raissa always dealt with it, learned from it and moved on. She refused to let things destroy her. I told her once in all sincerity that she had more "15 minutes of fame" in 1 season than I had my whole baseball career.
She plays the game because she loves it. What a concept. She chose Berea because she felt it was the right school for her and she loves it. I told her early on as we were looking at colleges that she should not choose a college just because of softball. I told her that although we may not know what she WILL be when she finishes college, one thing we know she WON'T be is a professional softball player. As one coach at one college was calling me weekly, sweetening the pot and trying to get me to encourage Raissa to go to his school, she eventually reminded ME.... "It's not all about softball Dad".Watching her play today, even though it is early in the season and the conditions were horrendous, it occurred to me just how right she was. She was doing something she truly loves, at a place she thoroughly enjoys.Wonder why Pujols can't see it that way?
Hardballers
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