The end of the road

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Jan 17, 2015
5
13
I’ve been a member of this forum for a couple years but have always preferred to sit back and enjoy reading the comments and information posted by the other members here. I have met a couple of you and enjoyed talking softball with you. Since this is my first post, I hope you will take it easy on me!

My DD started playing softball at age 8 and ended her career at age 22 on Sunday. I have to say it was a heck of a ride! My DD played one season of Little League and then a friend told us about a tryout for a club team. We had NO experience with that sort of thing but thought, what the heck, let’s take her and see what happens. Well, we were surprised at how good some of the other girls were. The coaches had a pitching machine set up and each girl got 10 pitches. My DD literally did not hit a single ball! Afterwards, we prepared her for the likelihood that she would not be picked. To our surprise the coach called and said he saw a determination in her eyes that he liked and he offered her a spot on the team. She rarely played in games the first year but loved it! Over time, she got better and our team got better too. We competed at national tournaments like IDT and PGF Nationals and did fairly well. She was “discovered” by her college coach during a scrimmage game at a local park on a Tuesday night. The coach had another coach on the staff watch her at PGF and she was invited for an unofficial visit during the fall of her Sophomore year of high school. She committed during that visit. One interesting thing is that she felt more pressure after her commitment. She felt she had to live up to the offer. The stress on these KIDS is sometimes unbelievable!

This is getting long so I will skip many details. She ended up having a good career and a great time at a school in the Big Ten conference. It included a win against the number 1 team in the country this past Sunday!

I want to say congratulations to my DD, Mel! What an incredible journey! Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting the DW and I tag along!81BC3C36-7CAF-4839-923E-B88D48E129DD.jpeg4A00356E-6657-4940-AEC6-34DD28F6D96E.jpeg1DC79874-663A-48F8-BBEC-297918E8589F.jpeg
 
Apr 16, 2013
1,113
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100% same gear my DD uses, just a different color. :D Super congrats for you and your DD. Sucks that it just ends for the girls. :(
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
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So Cal
WOW!! Thank for sharing. I would have enjoyed following her journey all along. Congrats to your DD on a wonderful softball career, and I hope her future is equally successful.
 
Jan 17, 2015
5
13
Congrats on a great career! We played you guys last fall in Madison. Beautiful stadium!
MNDad,

I enjoyed chatting with you that weekend. For what it’s worth, my DD told me last fall that your DD was the best pitcher she faced that weekend. Your DD and her team had a great season! I was rooting for her/them and wished they could have made a regional. Congrats to you and Emma as well! I’m sure you understand some of the emotions I’ve been experiencing all spring.
 
Jan 17, 2015
5
13
100% same gear my DD uses, just a different color. :D Super congrats for you and your DD. Sucks that it just ends for the girls. :(
She really likes that gear. She took a foul ball straight to the face mask during their first conference game this year. She took a moment to gather herself but she said she was totally fine. Finished the game and they won. The next day she broke her hand and was out for six weeks. She said she wished she got a concussion the day before because she probably would have missed only a week and wouldn’t have broken her hand. I think she was only half kidding...
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
MNDad,

I enjoyed chatting with you that weekend. For what it’s worth, my DD told me last fall that your DD was the best pitcher she faced that weekend. Your DD and her team had a great season! I was rooting for her/them and wished they could have made a regional. Congrats to you and Emma as well! I’m sure you understand some of the emotions I’ve been experiencing all spring.

Thank you! I didn’t recognize the screen name and forgot we talked. I understand all of the feelings, except beating Oklahoma! Came close, but we were never able to pull that off. I can only imagine how great that was and during a Regional!

It's hard, but we can both say the programs are in better shape now than when our DD’s got there and that’s a nice feeling.

Congrats again and Best of Luck!

Roger
 

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