Saturday, June 20, 2009

Oh Canada!

On July 13th, I depart for Montreal, Canada to play in the Canadian Invitational International Women's Baseball Tournament, for Team America (official name TBA). I'm psyched! I've also gotten permission to train with the Canadian National Team before the tournament, which will be awesome!!! From what I've heard, Canada has a fantastic girls/women's baseball program with top-notch coaches. They have several baseball leagues for girls, unlike here, where girls are expected to play softball. I'll learn a lot from the coaches there and hope to come back an even better ballplayer. An intense week of baseball awaits!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Finally a New Post!




It's been an eternity since I updated my blog. Sorry for the wait! There are so many baseball happenings, I don't even know where to begin. Okay, I'll start with some updates:

The Shoulder: All good! I think I was misdiagnosed with rotator cuff tendonitis. It was actually a bunch of work-related trigger points in my shoulder. I still get 'em all over, but it doesn't affect my pitching and I know how to work them out.

The Baltimore Tourney and Men's Senior Baseball League (CNMSBL):

Great people, Great times! The one thing both have in common - heartbreaking end-of-game losses!

My team, the East Coast Yankees went 2-2 in the tournament. The two losses happened at the very end of the game, one in the seventh inning (we play seven inning games), and one in the 10th inning (extra innings). I pitched one complete-game to get the win, earned one save, and batted .375. Despite the losses, it was a great tournament. The Eastern Women's Baseball Conference did a fantastic job as organizers.

In the CNMSBL, my team the River Bandits have had similar end-of-game losses. We have a strong team but have often struggled defensively, losing many games to errors and walks. Our record so far is 1-8. Half of our team are new players including myself, and having had no pre-season practices, I think our manager is just now figuring out where to best utilize his players. With 27 players on the roster, that's no easy task.

As far as my teammates go, I can't say enough positive things about them! They respect me as a ballplayer and pretty much treat me like one of the guys. The dugout is always positive and full of energy. We have the talent, it's just a matter of time before we start stringing together some wins.

One of my goals coming in was to earn a starting position on the team, and I accomplished that as a pitcher. We still have 17 games left before playoffs, so plenty more opportunities for some W's!

Women's Baseball in the Olympics:
Huge strides are happening as we speak to further the development of women's baseball. Whether or not baseball gets into the Olympics is in the hands of the International Olympic Committee, which makes its decision in October. Nevertheless, I am stoked about all the progress that's being made by IBAF to mainstream girls/womens baseball across the globe. They formed a global Women's Baseball Committee to ensure that women's baseball has the growth necessary for nations to compete in the 2016 Olympics. They will also be adding a women's division to the 2013 World Baseball Classic! So, plenty to strive for, both as a player and an advocate!

Baseball Happenings to Come:

Representing USA at another International Tournament:
I'll have another opportunity to represent my country July 16th - 19th at the Canadian Invitational International Tournament! As you know, I played in my first international tournament in Hong Kong this past February and helped the North America Liberty Belles take silver. This time I'm going for gold with a newly formed American team. I'm psyched! Only four teams have been invited to this tournament - America, Japan, and two Canadian National teams. I've never been to Canada before. I'm arriving a couple days early to site-see in Montreal, then it's 7 games of baseball in 4 days!

Chicago Women's Baseball League (CWBL): The local women's league I play in starts June 14th. My team, the Chicago Riveters are the reigning champions, and we hope to defend our title this season. I'm upset about a new rule that the league imposed, which I just found out about. The new rule states that pitchers can only pitch 4 innings a game. With only 11 active players on our roster and no other pitchers on our team, it'll make for some long innings. It concerns me that untrained pitchers are being thrown on the mound in game situations. In the past, this has led to many arm injuries in our league. Proper mechanics are crucial when it comes to pitching and saving arms. Hopefully the rule won't stick. If you're interested in coming to a game, we play at Bedford Park and this is our schedule.

Chicago North Mens Senior Baseball League (CNMSBL):
Still 17 games left, then playoffs for my team, The River Bandits. I really enjoy playing in a men's league. Less drama and a higher level of competition than the women's leagues. We have 14 teams in our division and tons of games. Playing against guys has really improved my pitching. Many of these guys played college ball and even minor league ball. If you miss those corners or make a bad pitch choice, you'll definitely pay for it. The CNMSBL competition level is comparable to national and international women's baseball tournaments, so it's great preparation for all the upcoming tourneys. We play in the northwest suburbs so if you're ever in the area, come out check out a game! Here's our schedule.

Kenosha Diamond Classic:
July 4th weekend, I'll be playing with the Washington Stars at the Kenosha Diamond Classic at Simmons Field in Kenosha, WI.

AWBF Women's National Tournament: October 9-11 I'll be playing with the East Coast Yankees at the AWBF Women's National Tournament at League Stadium in Huntingburg, IN. It's the same stadium that they filmed A League of Their Own in!

Women in Baseball Night: The Schaumburg Flyers, a professional Minor League baseball team is going to have a "Women in Baseball Night" at Alexian Field. Me and the CWBL will be playing an exhibition inning or two at the stadium before the Flyers game. The date is TBA, but I'll be selling tickets for the game, so tune in for updates!