Simmons University Athletics

Welcome to the Simmons Softball 2015 Spring Break Blog!

March 8, 2015

Day 1: “95% humidity…. Hold ya hair down” –Jen

Early sunrise, some fresh dirt, and the sight of grass brought smiles to our faces as we
practiced outside for the first time since October. We miss Eric, but Wick stepped up making
outstanding catches for the outfielders. The field was filled with energy as we prepped for our
first three season games tomorrow. With all the support from our families, coaches and staff, we
are excited for tomorrow’s games. After Simmons Softball cleared shelves at Publix, we all
settled in at our houses and even made a new friend!

We finished off the day at the Amway Center to watch a nail biting Celtics vs. Magic
NBA game. Even though the Celtics lost, we had a great time bonding and eating overpriced
chicken fingers. We have high hopes for tomorrow, coming out strong and fresh….but not as fresh as Wick this morning after forgetting his
soap and having to use Coach’s coconut passion
soap. Hopefully driving the vans will be a little easier for Mike tomorrow; for he seems to be
confused about blinkers. Another early rise tomorrow, we have to get our beauty rest!!

March 9-10, 2015

Rise and shine its game day!

The big day started at 7 am we were fueled (with Katie’s bacon) and ready to go. Princess Lauren took the mound for game 1 against WPI. The game was a back and forth battle with both teams trying to scrape for a run. Unfortunately for us, the WPI bats out-shined ours giving us our first loss of the season.

With two games left the play the Sharks head back to the houses to regroup and refocus for the upcoming games.

Freshman pitcher Juliet owned the circle for Game 2 making it her first career college game. The rookie showed no nerves as her and the Shark defenses continued to shut down the Monmouth offense inning by inning. Helping out Juliet
-- the sharks middle infielders turned two double plays in one game proving the Sharks defense is keeping them in games. It was tied through the 7^th making it the first extra inning game of the season. In international tiebreaker the Sharks offense put two runs on the board, which was just shy of the three runs the other team scored.

Amanda and her beautiful bow started game 3 of the day. The sun was setting, the lights turned on, and the thought of getting our first win pumped us up for this game. We battled and played another close game, but we fell short in the end.

Although we did not catch a win today, we showed potential and motivation for the games to come.

Go Sharks!

March 10, 2015

Day 3:

Another early morning start for the Sharks, accompanied by lots of coffee and bagels for fuel for the 9am and 11am games. Today, our first victim was the Owls of Westfield State University. It must have been a special brew of coffee because our bats came alive. Mirroring our offense, our defense was solid keeping the Owls to only 1 run. We finished the game with a 7 to 1 victory over Westfield State. Our next opponent was Wittenberg College. It was a close game throughout, but we unfortunately were edged out in the end.

After two hard fought games, we went home for some well deserved relaxation by the pool, but only 30 minutes! (don't worry coach) House 671 invented a new sport.....FRUIT LACROSSE. Fruit lacrosse is a very competitive and challenging sport, involving a variety of fruit (apples - oranges - kiwis) and a pool skimmer. Look for it in the upcoming olympic games.

At 6pm, we held our annual family/friends dinner! It was a great opportunity to see all the parents who continually give us support. We learned that Cat has a 5 foot python named Spot, and also wished her name began with a "K", we have 3 sets of twins on the team, Jen believed that a wild animal hid her fan under her bed (must be a Maine thing), and Bri suffered

a terrible loss as a child, losing her pet hermit crab Shelly.

~RIP Shelly~

March 11, 2015

After five close games, we had a day of well deserved rest. Some visited with family, but many of us stayed together for a fun filled day. We started off with our annual beach volleyball game (shout out to the Heather's parents for getting a ball). With the exception of Kayla and Kat, we determined that we better stick to softball.

After that, some teammates stayed by the pool, some others went to Wendy's (or as Kayla calls it "Windy's") and Dunkin, while the rest went to support the Wentworth baseball team at one of their games in the town over. The baseball game was a lot of fun even if the line for cheese fries were too long. Thanks to Mike for being our chauffeur for the day!

We wrapped up the day with a team dinner for those who were around. We ate a delicious stir fry and Juliet made sure to eat most of it! We spent the rest of the night together bonding and preparing for our two big games on Thursday.

March 12, 2015

Day 5:

Coming off of a relaxing day, the Sharks were ready to add more wins to our record! Unfortunately, our 9am game against Gordon College was cancelled due to rain, lucky for them. But lucky for us, Mike was willing to bring us to Dunks, because us Bostonians run on Dunkin.

We had a few hours to get prepared to take on our next victim, Northwestern. We came out with our bats on fire, knocking in four runs in the 3rd inning. We didn't let up as we finished the game in six innings with a final score of 8-0.

After relaxing at the houses, it was time for our annual Hibachi team dinner. Everyone was wondering who would eat the most, and it turns out first year Juliet came away with the win eating more food than we thought possible. It was also a night for firsts, as Mike had never been to a hibachi restaurant before. Turns out he's a fan! Amanda had to ease him into the situation slowly. It was quite a process.

No matter how full we are, house 671 will ALWAYS have room for chicken paaaahhhmm. (parm* for everyone who can't understand Janyne's accent) Well we're all full so we're going to bed to get rested up for some dubs tomorrow!

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