Inside Pitch with LC: WCWS Edition (Day Three)
5/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 29, 2015
ASA Hall of Fame Stadium-OGE Energy Field
Junior 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 Women's College World Series.
WCWS Day Three (Thursday, May 28)
After two busy days of practice, media obligations and hotel lounging it was FINALLY the moment we had all been waiting for: Game Time. Our first game of the WCWS, which was against the Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama, was delayed an hour due to heavy thunderstorms. We were forced to take shelter during warmups and kill time in a locker room for around an hour.
After listening to music for about 10 minutes, our portable bluetooth speaker ran out of power. Could this faze us? No. As Hutch would say, "Champions adjust," and that we did. We immediately launched into an a cappella song and dance performance of the Barden Bella's final act from the movie "Pitch Perfect," followed by several other choir-like renditions of songs such as "Let It Go," "My Heart Will Go On" and "You Are The Music In Me." If we do not win the national championship, I think our team has a shot at winning American Idol.
After the rain delay concluded, we finished warming up and headed over to OGE Energy Field to take on Alabama. The field looked quite different than it had the previous day at practice -- there were thousands of fans quickly filling up the stands. Everyone on our team had looks of pure excitement; we were on the biggest stage of college softball, one that every young softball player aspires to play on someday. Hutch quickly reminded us to "just do what you guys always do," and we were brought back down to earth. It was time to play Michigan Softball.
Even though every player in our dugout was cheering as loud as they possibly could, the roars of the stadium made even the person standing next to you difficult to hear. With our Michigan fans and parents at our backs, however, we felt a sense of strength against our SEC opponent as we battled to defeat the Crimson Tide.
Our great crowd in action
When catcher Lauren Sweet hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth, the dugout went so wild that even Hutch told us to calm down a little -- there was plenty of game left. However, Sweet provided the energy and confidence to propel us through the remainder of the game and lead us to our first victory of the 2015 WCWS.
After our game ended well after our bedtimes back in Eastern time zone, our duties for the night were far from over. This included an autograph session outside our locker room at OGE Energy Field, where we signed hundreds of balls and posters for girls not unlike ourselves at a young age. This was a great reminder to all of our players of why this sport is so special and why we fell in love with this sport in the first place.
After a long day of work at the ballpark, we finally headed back to the hotel, where Hutch issued a "reverse curfew" again. Because our game tonight is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CDT, it will likely finish after midnight Ann Arbor time. Make sure to get in your afternoon nap and a dose of caffeine to watch Michigan Softball take on UCLA in some late-night softball on ESPN, and as always, Go Blue!
LC
