Well we have come to the end of another amazing college softball season! Congratulations to ASU on their national championship! They looked great all season and were the complete team in the post season. I’m very happy for them! But I am sad to see the season end! It’ seems like just a couple of weeks ago I was excitedly awaiting the opening pitch and now it’s over!
OU unfortunately never got their feet under them in WCWS and went 2 out. They had an amazing season and having nothing to be ashamed of! I can’t wait to see what Coach Gasso will do with this team over the next few seasons!
Bama started off GREAT! Kelsi Dunne looked unbeatable as did Jackie Traina! But they ran into a brick wall called the Florida Gators in the semi’s. They dropped both games and were eliminated. The hardest part of their last game was watching Kelsi Dunne put on an obviously fake smile and hand the ball to Jackie Traina. She whispered a few words to her and went to the dugout stepping off the field and leaving her AMAZING college career forever.
That is the hardest part of the season ending in my opinion. It’s hard watching so many amazing careers end and most them leave so many unfulfilled dreams behind. It made me paticurally sad to watch Rhea Taylor. I know this was not the senior season she wanted and I know she didn’t have the WCWS she wanted. She was so upset and as I watched her embracing her teammates with tears streaming down her face I found myself wanting to cry with her. Maybe I’m just a sensitive person but watching these great careers end just breaks my heart. I just want to say first off congrats to all the seniors but also thank you for all the blood, sweat, tears, time, energy and everything else you put into this game over your career! Good luck you to you all in whatever you do from here!
With the end of the season comes awards. Some of them have made me smile and happy. Others made me sad and downright unhappy. UW faired very well in the All-Pac-10 awards. They were led once again by one of the best SS to ever play the game, Jenn Salling. She was named Pac-10 Defensive player of the year! She along with Kimi Pohlman and Niki Williams were named to the 1st team All-Pac-10 team(UW had more players than any other team on the 1st team)! Kaitlin Inglesby was named to the 2nd team All-Pac-10 team as well as the freshman All-Pac-10 team. Victoria Hayward was also named to the Freshman team. Even though she missed almost half of the season Taylor Smith was received an honorable mention as did Morgan Stuart! I had hoped being Defensive player of the year and on the 1st team All-Pac-10 team Jenn Salling would have a good chance at being a 1st Team All-American. But when the All-American stuff was announced Jenn was named a 2nd team At large bid! This just broke my heart! I thought then and I still believe she deserved more than that! She atleast deserved to be 2nd team SS! Niki Williams was also named to the 2nd Team All-American team. No other Huskies were named to any of the All-American teams which also upset me. As I already figured Jenn didn’t win the Lowe’s Senior Class award but I thought she would be a sure 1st team Lowe’s Senior Class All-American….guess again! She again was placed on the 2nd team(there are only 2 team)! I’ll be honest right now when I read that the other morning, I lost it! I cried and I am not afraid to admit it. It just seems so cruel! She has worked so hard, performed so well, and did so much for this team and gets little recognition for it! She deserved that 1st team as much if not more than anybody on that list! I can’t remember what if any awards are left but at this pointing I don’t know if I can make it through another disappointment! She was named UW female athlete of the year and Kaitlin Inglesby was named newcomer of the year! I still don’t think it’s really set in for me that the season is over and I will never again see Jenn Salling play in the purp and gold! It’s sad for me! But as the silver lining to the sadness I am so excited to watch her play with Danielle Lawrie and Ashley Charters with the USSSA Pride! She is going do amazing things in this new chapter of her life!
Speaking of the USSSA Pride and the NPF this weekend is opening weekend! First game for the Pride is Friday against the Bandits (I believe you can watch this game on MLB.com for free but I’m not sure). They will play on ESPN on Saturday, so don’t forget to watch!
Well I think that is all for now! This has been another emotional blog for me! There is a lot of happiness for ASU and their seniors but so much sadness for the rest of the teams and their seniors, Florida especially! They had an amazing senior class and team but it just wasn’t enough! I leave you with one of my favorite quotes tonight!
“Don’t’ cry because it’s over, smile because it happened!”
Go Huskies, RTR Go bama, Boomer Sooner, and go USSSA Pride!!
