Fastpitch 2003

I was sick and tired of not being a part of a team and not having anything to do after school like I use to.  I was at the REC center one afternoon when I spotted the flyer.  I had no idea we had a fastpitch team and that it was a club team.  I read on…tryouts will be after Labor Day...SWEET!  I was going home that weekend.  I’ll bring all of my softball stuff back with me.  I got really excited about this opportunity.  This might turn into something good but I guess we’ll see what happens.  
 

I got really nervous when it came closer to tryouts.  I did not know anyone that was going to go and tryout.  I had to call the president, Jen Weenink, who was from Sunnyside, Wash., to get a ride to Pullman High School because I didn’t have a car.  There was a big turnout of girls.  I got even more nervous than I was before.  I have never tried out for a softball team before so I really had no idea what to do.  I have always been picked so I don’t know what I would of done if I was rejected.  We filled out some forms, insurance, club waiver, personal information etc.  Since I didn’t know anyone, I just kind of kept to myself and waited until someone spoke to me.  This girl named Jamie asked if I wanted to warm up with her, so I did.  I found out that she was from Castle Rock, Wash., and that she knew people from Toutle Lake so that was reassuring that she was almost from the same area as I was.  We got into infield and outfield drills and the people there were impressive.  I kind of thought less of my talents watching the other people play.  I snapped out of it and told myself that I was just as good as or better than these people.  We hit, ran and even played some fun time-filler games.  We did this for three days and at the end of tryouts we were to get a phone call to decide whether or not we were going to be a part of this team.  I got a phone call a few days later and they told me that I was a part of the WSU fastpitch team.  Now comes the tricky part, getting to know all of these new people and the girls who were already on the team...more names and faces to remember.  Along with myself, Jackie from Bellevue, Natalie from Gig Harbor, Lauren from Clarkston, Jamie from Castle Rock, Jasmine from Seattle, Shauna from Yelm and Stephanie from Seattle, we were the new additions to the team.  This was the first time since I graduated from high school, I felt like I had a group of people to hang out with.  However, I didn’t really feel like I ever belonged until the end of my third year on the team.

WSU Fastpitch Club Mission Statement

• The WSU club is a competitive-highly skilled softball team.
• The goal of the WSU fastpitch team is to ultimately be sanctioned as a PAC-10 fastpitch team. This goal will be realized through hard work and continued development of a solid program.
• It's NOT a huge time commitment. HOWEVER, the team is a well structured-fundamentally sound organization. Focused practices ensure that the team will have great chemistry - solid fundamentals - and play as a cohesive team.

Fastpitch practices went alright considering I had to learn how my new teammates played.  We had a lot of nice weather so we could be outside.  A girl named Lauren acted as our coach so she ran the practices.  I guess she used to play on the team and now just coaches.  She only coached fall semester.  I have no idea what happened to her after that.  One thing I learned about her is that she spent a lot of time at My Office, a popular sports bar downtown.  We played a bunch of games against University of Idaho, Gonzaga and Eastern and I sat on the bench…A LOT.  I had no idea if it was because I wasn’t that good or she would just rather have people she knew play.  I kept score most of the time because I was the only one who knew how or was willing to do it.

I got a few rides with Jen because she must have felt bad for me and she was the only one I sorta knew already.  One afternoon, when I couldn’t find a ride, I got on the bus and road down to Sloan Hall and then walked down the steep hill to the City Playfields.  One time, Nickey drove by in her green Jeep Cherokee and asked if I needed a ride.  I hopped in.  That was the first time I actually got to know Nickey, but on a really small level.

The weather started getting colder and we decided to call it quits on fall ball.  We started the season back up after Christmas Break in the field house.