Inside Pitch with LC: WCWS Edition (Day Four)
6/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 4, 2016
Senior catcher Lauren Connell will be blogging throughout the softball season to let Michigan fans in on what happens outside of the field of play. This week she takes "The Inside Pitch with LC" on the road to Oklahoma City for a daily blog at the 2016 Women's College World Series.
WCWS Day Four (Saturday, June 4)
As we awoke on Friday morning, which marked our fourth day in Oklahoma City, we were all chomping at the bit; we still had not played one game yet at the Women's College World Series. Although we had accepted the rescheduling due to weather from the previous night, we were all starting to go a little crazy. We wanted to play.
With another 8:30 p.m. CDT game scheduled, it was time to yet again play a different game: the waiting game. However, Hutch knew that just sitting around the hotel waiting for game time was not going to be the best idea for Team 39, whose players had resorted to tossing tennis balls around our hotel rooms to counter our ever-growing boredom. To get us out of the hotel and give us a much needed change of scenery, we headed over to a local indoor facility. Although the workout was short, it helped us to release some anxiety and nervous energy while we continued to wait for our late game.
Then, we returned to the hotel and found ways to occupy our time before reporting to the field for Game 1 of the Women's College World Series. Hutch had an interesting challenge on her hands: to make sure that our energy and excitement peaked at the right time for the game; if we got too excited and pumped up too early, then our rush of exhilaration could potentially wean back down before the game even started. Hutch constantly kept telling us to relax and stay calm, and when the time came, we would then get ready to attack the LSU Tigers.
When we finally got to play on Friday night, the game served as the perfect catharsis for our four-day long anticipation to play at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Although we were not able to plate runs until the penultimate inning, we had trust in each other through six innings of scoreless ball that our team would come through. With Game 1 in the books, as long as it took, we now prepare for the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. CDT ... and again we wait.
Go Blue!
LC
