OK, OK, OK… April 16 until May 8 is too long of a time to not write. I know I apologize and promise to do better every time I write, so this time I am just going to say … OOPS!
Let's see, I wrote on my birthday, which I need to thank Huy (my website guy) who put up the Happy Birthday Salutation on my site. Thanks Huy! You continue to be the best.
We bused to Mississippi on my birthday, which I think I mentioned made it a tad uneventful. My mom sent cupcakes and gifts to my hotel, so that made up for not being able to spend my quarter-century mark with family and friends.
We played a good game against Mississippi State the next day. I had been struggling with consistency, so that game for me was a little bit of a turning point. I really had to fight throughout the game, but I left the field with a good feeling that night.
The next day was marked by another bus trip as we were on our way to Sulphur, La. We had no idea what was in store for us, but we had the time of our lives. First, when we arrived in Louisiana we had some great gift bags waiting in our rooms. Jennie Finch's mother-in-law and family had helped put together some great goodies for us like a USA Softball tote bag, snacks and water bottles. Alicia (Hollowell) and my favorite part was the Mardi Gras beads! We even walked down to load the bus for our game dressed ready to go with our beads on and they got a few laughs.
That night, we played in front of the biggest crowd ever at a tour stop, which was awesome. The atmosphere is amazing when we have that many fans and a good game to go with it. The Rajun Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette provided another good game for our team. They had two freshmen that did a good job going right at our team, giving us a good challenge. This type of close game prepares us for what we will be faced with in Beijing.
Bustos and I relaxing at the ranch in Sulphur. Photo Gallery
The day after playing ULL, Coach Candrea thought we could use a day away from the game since we'd spent almost 20 days on the road together. Jennie's in-laws hosted us out at their ranch for a day of southern fun. Jessica Mendoza finally caught her first fish. (She'd caught one earlier, but instead of reeling it in, she just yanked the rod up and the fish hit the dock and fell back in.) I drove a gator around, and later in the day Kelly (Kretschman), Alicia and I took off on the four-wheelers to explore the ranch. It was nice to be somewhere that resembled home.
One of the ranches close by has a bunch of different animals, so we all caravanned over there - some of the team on a fire truck, Kelly, Alicia and I on the two four-wheelers, and a couple vans and trucks of staff members and family. We saw a miniature donkey, horses, some Bison fighting, different types of deer, llamas and rabbits.
I almost forgot the best part … we had good southern food! Boiled crawfish, crawfish etoufee, crawfish alfredo, crawfish chowder, jambalaya, brisket, sweet tea and cake. I had enough crawfish to hold me over for a while, not to mention a little bit of everything else served! We left Louisiana very happy and full!
From Sulphur we headed to Los Angeles for a showdown with the UCLA Bruins. With quite a few former Bruins on our roster, we knew this game was going to be emotional, but no one was prepared for how moving it turned out to be.
Lisa Fernandez started and pitched a one-hitter, and we could tell as the game went on how emotional it was for her. After the game, Lisa left her cleats on the mound at UCLA where she established herself as the greatest player in softball history. Even though Lisa continues to tour and play with our team, the game at UCLA was her way of saying goodbye and thank you in a place she can call home.
All of us were in tears. Sometimes you take someone for granted and I think it was at that point we all remembered everything Lisa has done for the game, paving the way for many of us to have the opportunity we have.
After we played UCLA, we were honored the next night at a L.A. Dodgers game. Nike unveiled our Olympic uniform, which have an interesting tribal tattoo art design on the back. Our team was announced on the field and then Tommy Lasorda came up to the suite Nike had for us and gave us a very motivating speech. We were all ready to take the field that night, so it was too bad our West Coast leg of the tour was over.
I spent our five days off in Chicago with the DePaul Blue Demons. I landed Thursday afternoon, and after relaxing for an hour headed over to campus to catch our game against University of Illinois-Chicago. I am glad I was home in time for this game since one of my pitchers, Becca Heteniak, threw a no-hitter. It was the first no-hitter I have been part of as a coach and I was thoroughly excited. I was also around for our weekend conference series against U-Conn and Providence College. Coaching is something I really enjoy, and I get more excited when my players do well than when I was a player. After I hit the road to meet up with Team USA, DePaul defeated No. 1-ranked Alabama, 1-0! That was a great confidence boost for our team and the girls proved they can play with – and beat - anyone in the country.
This current leg of the Bound 4 Beijing Tour started in Pittsburgh, where our hosts, the Pittsburgh Power, made us goodie bags based on our bios. I got some coffee, since I am a coffee lover, along with a mug, an informational book on China and a bunch of other cool stuff. From there we headed to Florida, where I was fortunate to see some of my family. They came to our game and even took me to birthday breakfast at my favorite place, Cracker Barrel. (If you haven't, noticed I eat there A LOT!)
Next up on the itinerary was a stop in Michigan, where we had a very good game against the University of Michigan. They have two young pitchers who also held their own. Our hitters made some good adjustments, especially Kelly and Lovie (Jung) who both put us on the board with big home runs.
I write today from Williamsport, Pa., home of the Little League World Series … after a 10-hour bus ride! I won't go into details, but my short attention span haunted me about three hours into the trip. I don't sleep very well in bus seats and that's where being tall is a HUGE disadvantage! We play here, and then head to Bowie, Md., to finish this leg of the tour. Only a few more days to go!
I want to wish my Demons good luck in the Big East Conference tournament this week!
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