Tuesday

On this day I got to watch a softball game. Anyone who knows me in the slightest knows that I am addicted to the game of softball. From a very young age it has consumed my summers and spring. I started playing on a travel team when I was right years old. We were the first team in our organization called the Miami County Blaze. Now, there are about 15 teams in the organization. I ended up playing for 11 season with the same girls and coaches. Of course playing the game was the main priority, but the bond I built with the girls is my favorite part. I also had great coaches as mentors for that part of my life. The biggest thing I took away from playing in this organization was family and commitment. The girls and our families all became one. I am still great friends with all of these girls and keep in close contact even though we are not playing anymore.
Outside of playing for the Blaze, I played on my high school team too. I loved every second of it. My dad was the assistant coach and the head coach was Brian Kadel, who was also my Social Studies teacher in 9th grade. For four years we put up a great team and were feared in our conference, winning it twice. We were always stacked as a team and winning makes everything a lot more fun. I learned a lot more from playing ball for Mr. Kadel. The rules of discipline and reliability were stressed. It was a very important concept for him and am grateful for the lessons.
I went on to play my freshman year at Muskingum University. The experience was different from any team I was on before, but that's expected. Instead of a close knit 12 girls, there was almost 40. The coaching and time commitment was a lot more strenuous as well. I played a lot my freshman year and did enjoy it. I became extremely close with my teammates which is probable if you spend large portions of every day of the week with them. I lettered but decided this year that it was not for me anymore. I decided to work which will allow me to graduate on time and debt free. The most important thing I took away from playing Muskingum Softball was professionalism. This is a characteristic that will be used for the rest of my life. I learned from example and non-example, meaning that I had great role models and some that weren't so great and showed me what not to do.
Watching this softball game brought back so many memories to me, and made me realize that playing ball for so long molded me into the person I am.


This past summer and last season on the Miami County Blaze