March 12, 2010

California Dreaming Photo Gallery

Pirate Nation,

After seeing the beauty of San Francisco, Calif., yesterday, we are experiencing the rain and gloom today. It has not stopped raining since I woke up.

Today's game against California was cancelled due to the rain, but both contests are still on for tomorrow. The Pirates play Cal State Fullerton at 1:00 p.m. EST and UC Davis at approximately 3:30 p.m. EST.

After we found out the game was cancelled, we went to lunch at Smart Alec's Intelligent Fast Food, right across the street from the Cal student union. It was a great place to get some healthy food quickly. I had a roasted turkey sandwich, a bowl of corn chowder soup and a huge piece of some of the best corn bread I've ever had.

The restaurant was also exceptionally busy. By the time all of us got our food and sat down, the line of people waiting to order wrapped around all of the tables. When those people got their food, they were standing around our tables wanting us to get up and leave so they could sit down. The staff certainly did a great job getting good food made in a hurry.

After lunch we came back to the hotel and the whole team went through a study hall period before a brief workout. Tonight, we'll go to dinner and a movie and head back to the hotel for our final night of rest on the road before returning to Greenville on a red eye flight tomorrow night.

A Look Back
One benefit of the rain was that it gave me a chance to talk with the team. To wrap up the spring break adventure, I asked each player to give me her thoughts on the trip she is sure to remember for quite some time.

Senior Cristen Aona
"It was great seeing how we matched up against some top teams. We didn't always get the win, but we were contending. We can't be content with just contending, but we showed what we're capable of and the potential we have. Now we just have to achieve it.

"Playing in front of family and friends was really good. My grandpa and aunties had never seen me play college softball before our trip."

Senior Marina Gusman-Brown
"Hitting my grand slam against Hawai'i felt really good. It brought back a lot of high school memories because we played the state tournament there.

"The best part was the team being able to experience something new together. The support of all the family and friends in Hawai'i and now California has been great. This trip brought us closer as a team."

Senior Nicole Jordan
"It was a good experience. I got to see where part of our team is from. For me, personally, I also enjoyed traveling and going to see Hawai'i and California. I really enjoyed seeing those places and going on the trip."

Senior Christina Merrida
"One of the highlights of the trip was flying over the water and going in the water at White Plains Beach Monday afternoon. It was big for me and overcoming that fear of the water.

"Besides that, seeing so many families and what their homes were like in Hawai'i was great. We also got to go to San Francisco and that's one of my favorite cities. We're so close to my house now. It's great for my parents because they don't have to stay in a hotel to be able to see our games."

Senior Vanessa Moreno
"This trip brought us closer as a team. It has been a very family-oriented trip. We had almost everybody's families come and travel with us to Hawai'i and now California. We have still been playing good softball, which was the point of the trip, but the balance with family was nice. It has been a trip to remember."

Senior Charina Sumner
"As a senior, it was a really good spring break trip. It was kind of a way to go out with a bang. It has been an exciting trip that I had been looking forward to for a really long time.

"Being from the West Coast, it was good to return and play in some familiar places. The family and food in Hawai'i were the best parts of the trip."

Senior Kaui Tom
"This was my last spring break trip so it was a good way to end it. We played good softball against good teams. We were also able to experience new things together as a team. It was fun to hang out not just with teammates, but also with their families and friends."

Junior Sissy Jimenez
"Seeing my family and friends was the highlight of the trip. My brother and sisters were all able to come to Hawai'i along with my parents. Seeing the Hawaiian families, their hospitality and their culture was amazing.

"We have been having fun and playing softball."

Junior Toni Paisley
"It was refreshing and a learning experience. We had never done anything like this before, so it was a nice change. It was certainly the meat of our schedule from a softball standpoint. We now know where we stand and what we have to do.

"The trip to Hawai'i wasn't just like going to Hawai'i for a tournament. We were able to experience real Hawai'i with our players and their families. They all welcomed us into their homes."

Sophomore Suzanne Riggs
"Overall it was a great experience. I got to see Hawai'i and California in the same week. The families in Hawai'i and their hospitality made the trip. I really enjoyed the food and cookouts we had. They were greatly appreciated."

Sophomore Faith Sutton
"This was my second trip to Hawai'i, but it was so much more enjoyable than the first. My teammates and their families who were there made everything very special.

"Yesterday in California was my first time here. When we went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz, it was cool seeing things I had only heard about before."

Sophomore Priscilla Velasquez
"It was good to experience the West Coast. I'm from southern California, so it was good to see the northern part of the state.

"When we were in Hawai'i, it was good to see where everybody is from. I hear our Hawaiians talk about so many places all the time that it's nice to have a visual now. The friends and families have been a great part of this trip.

"From a softball standpoint, it was great for us to play such a high level of competition."

Freshman Kai Clark
"I loved the trip home. It was great to see my family in the spring and not have to wait until the end of the school year to see them again at home. We were able to get away, take in a new experience and see part of the culture of Hawai'i. I also got to show my team my home and where I grew up."

Freshman Cicely Lopez
"I'm from southern California, but it has been fun to experience a different part of my home state. I hadn't seen my parents since Christmas, so it was good to see them again, too.

"Going to Hawai'i in general was a lot of fun, but I really liked the luau. I loved all the different Hawaiian foods I tried and eating all the rice"

Head Coach Tracey Kee
"The level of competition we played added to seeing everybody's families made it special. We were even able to see the families of some our signees while we were in Hawai'i. The whole family atmosphere made this trip different from any other I've been on during my 13 seasons as a head coach.

"When I'm standing on the field at the University of Hawai'i and at Fresno State and can look into the stands and see our fans outnumbering those home teams is pretty special. Here in California, we have every player's family but two and in Hawai'i we had almost everybody's families there.

"We have tried to achieve a good balance between playing high-level softball with spending time with families."

This entry concludes our blog about the trip to Hawai'i and California. I hope you all enjoyed reading about our journey as much as I enjoyed writing about it. Much like our players and coaches said, the families and their hospitality really made this trip unique for me.

If you would like to leave any comments, questions or suggestions about the blog, please send them to me here at fetterss@ecu.edu.