Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

May 10, 2018
Last week was a very full week for our team and, sadly, our last week as well. We played our last regular season games and then headed right into finals week. A lot of us had to take exams early because conference tournament started on Thursday and we had to have all of our exams out of the way by then. When Wednesday afternoon hit, we were all so excited to be done with classes and just focus on softball! It was like a weight was lifted off! Wednesday night, we had the G-MAC banquet. It was fun to get all dressed up and take a bunch of pictures! During the banquet, they announced the selections to the all-conference teams! Kacey Smith was named honorable mention pitcher, Heather Lord was named second team third baseman, Morgan Arbogast was named first team pitcher, and Danielle Wolgamot was named first team utility. Congrats friends! These awards are well deserved!

After a good night's sleep on Wednesday, we played Lake Erie on Thursday morning. We came ready to play and scored four runs in the first inning helped by a three-run homerun by Sarah Parsons! We then scored two more runs in the next two innings. Dan threw a great game and ended up with six strikeouts! After the game, we went to Bob Evans to celebrate and kill time in between games. It was a great time to just sit and talk with teammates! It is an absolute pleasure
to spend time with this group of girls!

We then went back to the field to play Hillsdale. Their number one pitcher was having a great day that day, and had just struck out 12 batters in their first game against Trevecca. She threw well against us too, and we ended up losing 1-0.

The next morning, we took on Findlay, whom we had just split with the previous weekend. We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we didn't expect it to end the way it did. We started off the game strong by scoring in the first inning when Dan laid down a beautiful bunt to squeeze Hannah in from third. It was really exciting! We love scoring in the first inning! Hannah and Heather flew around the bases the entire tournament, and I think their uniforms are permanently brown from all of the dirt. Findlay responded by pulling ahead in the third inning. We tied it up in the fourth off of an RBI single by Heather Lord. Sadly, Findlay responded again by scoring two more runs in the fifth to pull ahead. It was sad to watch the next two innings go by scoreless for us. We came close to scoring a few times, but just couldn't pull it out. We ended up losing 4-2.

It was sad and surprising because we all thought we were going to win the conference tournament this year. After winning the regular season title and coming into the tournament as the number one seed, we certainly didn't think we be out after the first game on Friday. We were all pretty sad after that game, and it was hard to see all of the tears in our post-game meeting. For the seniors and two juniors who aren't coming back to play next year, it was the last time we would step on the field as softball players, and that reality hit us pretty hard in that moment. As Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven."  This was the end of our season, and although it was not how we would have wanted it to end, we can trust that God has a perfect plan for ending it when He did. Softball isn't life, Jesus is. We're thankful for all that He taught us this season, and we are ready to transition into whatever He has for us this summer.

Would it have been great to win the G-MAC Tournament? Of course! But as Coach Kels said on the van ride back to campus after the game: in a few years, no one will remember who won the G-MAC Tournament in 2018. That got me thinking. It's so true. In a few years, I won't remember what the score of our last game was or how we scored our runs. What I will remember, however, are the conversations I had in the back of the bus with teammates about what God was teaching us in His word, praying with teammates in Callan parking lot after Bible study, laughing at the hilarious conversations we got into, being honest and vulnerable with each other about what we were struggling with, and hearing teammates' testimonies at Bible study. It has been such a joy to be on this team! I have never been on any team quite like it, and I wouldn't trade my experience. God really does use softball to sanctify us, as He does with all situations in the lives of His children. Even though our season has ended, and for some of us our softball careers, we can trust God to keep working in our lives in every stage of life because He is faithful. He deserves the glory in everything we do because He is God and He died to save us from our sins. He can use even ordinary things to accomplish His purposes. God taught me that truth by allowing me to be a part of this team, and that lesson is something I will carry with me the rest of my life.

Stay tuned for more Lady Jacket softball next season! I know my girls will come back ready to dominate in the conference! To God be the glory forever!

Until Next Time,

STING IT!!!


May 1, 2018 Your Lady Jackets had a full past two weeks of games! The academic bus also hit me pretty hard, so I missed last week's blog post...Sorry! To recap two weeks ago, we beat Ursuline twice with a 3-for-3 plate appearance by Sarah Parsons in the second game and outstanding pitching performances by Morgan, Dan, and Kacey! The next day, we beat Lake Erie twice in two low-scoring games. Kacey Smith pitched the whole first game and half of the second and threw very well! We also stole nine bases between the two games!

Last week, we had games against Urbana canceled due to rain and then traveled up to Michigan on Thursday to play Hillsdale. Before that, however, we attended the first annual Golden Jacket Awards hosted by the Athletic Department. Coach let us out of practice a little early so we could get dressed up before the Awards Show. We all cleaned up pretty well, if I don't say so myself. It was such a fun night consisting of seniors and juniors not playing next year being recognized and Danielle Wolgamot winning a well-deserved award for her ministry work on and off the field. The award couldn't have gone to a more deserving athlete. This girl has such a heart for others and points everyone around her toward Christ. If asked why, she will tell you it is all because of God's grace in her life. Amen to that! It was a fun night filled with lots of laughs and picture taking!

The next morning, we left bright and early at 7:00 a.m. to play Hillsdale, and had a 3 1/2-4 hour bus ride on which most of us either slept or worked on homework. It's the end of the semester and finals are this week, so a lot of us are feeling quite a bit of academic pressure. We'll finish strong though; I'm confident in my girls! We ended up losing the first game to Hillsdale in a heart breaking nine inning game. Our bats came alive in that game with home runs from Jess Steger and Sarah Parsons, but Hillsdale rallied back late in the game to tie it and then again to win it in the ninth. Our bats woke up even more in the second game though, and we ended up winning 13 to 1! Sarah Parsons hit another home run, Dan hit a three-run double, and roommates Morgan and Avary both had three hits! Dan also pitched a great game! It was a good end to the day. We then loaded the bus and headed back to Cedarville.

We didn't have to play Friday, which was nice after getting back late on Thursday night. We did play on Saturday against Findlay on our Senior Day! We ended up losing another heartbreaking extra inning game for the first game, but came back and won the second one 5-2. Hannah Lord had seven stolen bases on the day, two of which were home plate! She's so fast! Our two seniors and juniors who are not playing next year were honored in between games, and it was a blessing. We were greeted by each class at each base where they gave us heartfelt gifts and hugs. This team is so special and so fun to be a part of. I've never been a part of a team that loves and supports each other like this team does! Speaking for the seniors and the other junior who will not be returning due to academic conflicts, we love you guys! Being a part of this team has meant so much and we will miss playing the game we love with all of you! Thank you so much, coaches, for all you have invested in us these past years! I know we will look back at our time playing Cedarville Softball with fond memories. We are all so grateful that God allowed us to be a part of this team for as long as He did! To Him belongs all the glory!

On a less sentimental note, we head into our conference tournament on Thursday and are all so excited to battle for the title! We found out last night that we won the regular season and are the number one seed going into the tournament. We know we have to play our game and focus on winning each inning. We're ready to do just that! We play Lake Erie at 10:00 a.m. Thursday morning at the Athletes in Action Complex in Xenia! If you need a break from studying for finals, come on out and support your Lady Jackets!

Until Next Time,

STING IT!!!


April 17, 2018
We were on a roll this past week! Due to the crazy Ohio weather, we've had to reschedule a bunch of games, and ended up playing Walsh and Malone last Monday and Tuesday. We woke up bright and early and loaded the bus at 8:30 a.m. to travel up to northern Ohio to face these two conference teams. On the way up, it started snowing! We were all wondering if we were going to still play in the snow, but we had to get these games in and Walsh's field wasn't wet yet, so we still played. We got there early, so we made a stop at Lowe's to try and find a heater for our dugout, but we couldn't find one. God provided one though! Shout out to Allyssa Kerchner's high school softball coach who let us borrow her heater! It was such a blessing! Allyssa's high school wasn't too far from Walsh, so Allyssa's mom picked it up and brought it over to Walsh for us! Thank you so much Allyssa's mom!!

We ended up losing the first game to Walsh 5-2 and winning the second one 4-0. Our two runs in the first game came from a cultch hit from Danielle Wolgamot early in the game. In the second game, Sarah Parsons went 3-for-3 with an RBI, Jess Steger went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Morgan Arbogast threw a great game! We were all pretty happy to finish those games because the temperature was in the 30's and the snow did not stop flurrying the entire time. After the games, we went to BJ's and had a fantastic dinner! If you've never had a pizookie from BJ's, you have to go over there and get one. They're wonderful!

The next day, we drove to Malone and played yet again in 30-degree weather. It wasn't snowing this time though, so that was a plus. We ended up taking both of those games, and improving our G-MAC record to 8-2! Our two freshmen pitchers Kacey Smith and McKenna Smith (no relation) threw great games! McKenna threw her first collegiate shutout and Hannah Lord went 2-for-4 in that game!

On Thursday, Coach Rowe took us to see a live scale replica of the Old Testament Tabernacle the Israelites worshiped in for over 400 years! It was soo cool! This ministry travels all over the world to teach people about the tabernacle and how God designed it to point forward to Jesus's sacrifice for us on the cross! It was so cool to see how the design of the structure, the instruments used, and the different sacrifices and ceremonies all pointed to how Jesus would come hundreds of years later and pay the penalty for our sins on the cross. What a great God we have!! It was so clear that God intentionally planned to send His Son to save us, and it was awesome to see how He designed the tabernacle to point to His great work of salvation! God loves humanity so much!! We then went to Olive Garden and had a great dinner!

We then played Trevecca the next day and beat them twice! We were all pretty fired up for these games, especially because we played in 70-degree weather! We won the first game 3-0, and Morgan pitched another great game! Avary Humes, Jess, and Dan each had two hits in the win as well! The second game was a lot closer. We ended up winning 5-4 in the eighth inning! It was pretty exciting! Sarah hit a single to lead us off. Danae Fields then bunted Sarah over to second, and she advanced a little later on a passed ball. Kacey Smith then laid down a perfect bunt to squeeze Sarah in! It was a textbook way to score a run and a great way to end the game!

The next day was just as exciting! We ended up moving the games up to 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to avoid the rain coming later that day. We arrived at the field at 7 a.m. to take the tarp off and then got ready for the games. We ended up beating Kentucky Wesleyan 2-1 in the first game and going into extra innings for the second day in a row in the second game. After giving up a run in the top of the 9th, Danae led off the bottom of the inning with a triple to left center. She then scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Dan. We then got the bases loaded off of two walks and a bunt single. Morgan Arbogast then hit a sacrifice fly to score me, the pinch runner, who slid to avoid the tag at the plate! It was such an exciting weekend, and I think some of our voices are still recovering from all of the cheering!

Stay tuned as your Lady Jackets have another full week ahead of us! We host NCAA II #15 Indianapolis on Tuesday (today!), at Ohio Valley on Wednesday, host Ursuline on Friday, and host Lake Erie on Saturday.

Until Next Time,

STING IT!!!


April 8, 2018
After too many days without any games, we were finally able to play this past Friday! We were originally supposed to play AB at their place, but the weather looked better in Cedarville, so they agreed to come here so we could get the games in. We ended up winning the first one 10-6 and the second one 3-2. Some highlights from the game: Avary Humes went 4-for-8 on the day and had three doubles, Heather Lord had three hits in the first game, and KWO and Danae both had two hits each!


The

next day, we were supposed to play D&E at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., but we woke up to a nice sheet of white snow on our field. We put the tarp on the night before, but were doubtful that the snow would melt in time to play. So, while Coach was on the phone with D&E's head coach trying to find a field in Columbus to play on instead of ours, we built a snow man in center field. Coach then told us to stay on campus and wait for news on whether we were going to play in Columbus. So, we all hung out in the Athletic Training room for a while and then had a team brunch in Chuck's (our dining hall). Hannah and Heather, being very talented and generous cooks, made every person on our team plus our athletic trainer and athletic training students a breakfast burrito. The were soooo good!! If you ever have the opportunity to have a Lord twin cook for you, do not turn it down! Towards the end of our meal, we got a text from Coach Kels telling us to get to the field ASAP to remove the tarp because the snow melted and we were going to play on our field! We all rushed out of Chuck's, drove to the field, and then helped Coach Rowe and Kyle get all of the water off of our tarp. After carrying a bunch of water in buckets off of our field and removing the tarp, we drove back to the locker room and changed for the game. We ended up playing D&E at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. that day after building a snowman on our field a few hours before!


We ended up losing 2-0 in the first game and winning the second one 8-1. Our bats didn't come out in the first game, but they came out strong in the second one! Heather Lord and Sarah Parsons each had three hits, while Dan hit her 12th career home run and went 2-for- 4! She also threw four innings on the mound and stuck out five while only allowing one hit! It was definitely a crazy start to the day, but we're glad we got the games in!

Stay tuned as we travel up to Walsh and Malone, Monday and Tuesday this week for more conference play. We then, Lord willing, will host KWC and Trevecca this weekend.

Until Next Time,

STING IT!!!


April 3, 2018
This last week looked a lot different than your Lady Jackets were expecting. We ended up playing two out of the eight games we had scheduled. We kicked off the week with two nice wins against Salem. It was a good day all around for our team! Between the two games, we had 17 base hits and 15 stolen bases!

We then had the rest of our games cancelled due to weather. Sadly, they were all conference games. We will be making them up within the next few weeks. We are itching to get back on the field!

On a happy note, most of us were able to spend Easter with our families! It was a great day to slow down and reflect on what our Savior did for us by dying and rising from the dead! On Friday, one of our teammates texted a beautiful reminder of the gospel in our group chat. The verse she sent was Isaiah 53:5-6 which says, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD had laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Jesus took on the full punishment that we deserve. Why would He do that? He was the only One ever to walk the earth that did not deserve even the smallest amount of judgment. Yet, for our sakes, He took on the full wrath of God. That was the most selfless act in history. God Himself died in our place so that we can be reconciled to God and enjoy a relationship with Him forever! He loves us so much! But the best part is that He didn't stay dead. God's acceptance of His payment for our sins was proven in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead! All of us who have trusted in Jesus to save us from our sins are alive because He is alive! We have hope that is sure and steadfast because He is alive! We are no longer slaves to sin because He is alive! We are new creations in Christ because He is alive! We can be sure that we will never have to die twice because He is alive! We can be sure He is coming again because He is alive! There is no one like our great God and Savior! He is worthy of all worship and praise, and all those who have trusted in Him as their Savior will worship and praise Him for eternity! What a wonderful day it will be when we finally see His face!

Stay tuned for a week full of conference games (hopefully!). We are scheduled hit the road Wednesday and play Ohio Valley (Ed. Note: OVU game postponed) followed by a weekend in West Virginia taking on AB and D&E.

We're ready for some softball!

Until Next Time,

STING IT!!!


March 26, 2018
After a week of recovery, your Lady Yellow Jackets got back into the swing of things! We started off last week with some good practices and then played our first conference games on Friday. We originally were scheduled to play on Thursday and Saturday, but it snowed on Wednesday and was supposed to rain on Saturday, so we ended up playing Ohio Dominican on Friday and re-scheduled our double header against Urbana for later in the season.

It was a beautiful day for softball on Friday! The sun was shining and we all came ready to play! Most of us had classes in the morning, went to chapel, grabbed some lunch, and then headed to the field. The first game we scored early and then stayed ahead the entire game. Morgan Arbogast threw a fantastic game and has a combined 19 strikeouts in her last two appearances in the circle! Kara Eiginger went 3-for-3 that game, and we ended up winning 3-2!

The second game was a bit more nerve racking. We scored early again, but then ODU pulled ahead in the top of the 6th inning. We then retaliated with one run to tie it in the bottom of the 6th. We held them in the top of the 7th and then had one at bat to end it. Kara started us off with a single, and McKenna Smith went in for her as a pinch runner. Hannah Lord then sacrifice bunted her over to second, and Sarah Parsons got hit by a pitch. KWO (Kaitlyn Woerner) then walked. The bases were loaded with one out, a perfect opportunity to suicide squeeze. Sure enough, Coach called the squeeze and Heather Lord delivered a perfect bunt while McKenna came flying in to score from third base! It was very exciting and we ended the game winning 3-2! It was great to start our conference play with two wins against a good team!

We're in full swing this week! We host Salem on Monday, at Ohio Valley on Tuesday, at Walsh on Friday, and at Malone on Saturday. Then we'll head back to Cedarville and celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the dead! Stay tuned for a week full of conference play!

Until Next Time,

STING IT!!


March 14, 2018 The end of our Florida trip was pretty eventful! On Wednesday, we beat Upper Iowa 7-6, bunting in three of those runs in the bottom of the sixth inning! Kara Eiginger hit her first career home run! It was a bomb! As you can imagine, that game was very exciting. We then lost 4-3 to Winona State.

We then got to spend some time with our families and met back up for a team dinner at a Chinese buffet. There we received some bad news. After already having to send one of our teammates home with the flu earlier that week, we found out that two of our other teammates also had the flu and would not be able to play at least in the first game the next day. That was a big hit, but we came out ready to play the next day and beat Holy Family 6-0. Morgan Arbogast threw a great game and got two hits, and Kara hit a double and a triple, and Heather Lord went 3-for-4! We then lost to Wilmington in a nail biter. Kacey Smith threw a great game, and we came close to coming back a few times, but it did not end up going our way. That happens sometimes in the game of softball.

On our last day of games, we were all pretty tired but wanted to end on a high note. Our two teammates with the flu came back to play and pushed through the illness for last two games. I was so proud of them for gutting it out! We ended up winning against West Chester, which is a very good program. We faced their top pitcher, who threw a good game, but were able to come back in the last inning and win 4-1! Morgan had nine strikeouts and threw a great game! Sarah Parsons contributed with a double to drive in the go-ahead run. We then lost a close game to Assumption. Danae Fields is on a six-game hitting streak, and had a pretty good day at the plate that day.

After the game, we visited Mrs. Anderson's advanced fourth grade class at a local elementary school that the tournament administration paired us with. They were so cute and we had so much fun getting to talk with them, answer their questions about college, and teach them a few of our cheers! One of the students made us a poster with a hand-drawn Yellow Jacket and all of them made us bracelets! They were so sweet! After visiting our fourth grade friends, we stopped at a local citrus fruit farm where we got free orange juice creamsicles! They were so good! Avary and Morgan met the owners at Chick-fil-A earlier that week and they offered us free creamsicles! Our team never passes up an opportunity for free food, so we were all about it!

The

next day, we slept in, grabbed lunch at the wonderful dining establishment known as Wawa, then loaded up the vans and drove to the Tampa area to play miniature golf while we were waiting for our 9 p.m. flight. It was a lot of fun, but the highlight was watching Coach Rowe compete against the other assistant coaches. It was so funny to watch him get so into mini-golf. In the end, most of our team ended up beating coach. We then got dinner at PDQ and hung out at the airport until our plane took off. We got back to campus around 1 a.m. and were all ready for a good night's sleep. We have the week off of practice this week so we can "J' Recover". It is much needed.

Overall, we left Florida with a 9-9 record and are ready to rest up and then get back to work to try and break .500!

Until next time,

STING IT!!


March 7, 2018
We're more than halfway through our Florida play, and we're 4-4. It's been so nice to play in the beautiful weather, spend some good time with our families, and have fun with our team! We began our journey by loading the bus at 3am last Thursday morning to go to the Columbus airport for a 5:30 am flight to Tampa. About 20 minutes into the ride, everyone was asleep. We had a good flight and then landed in Tampa and made a much needed Starbucks stop in the airport while the coaches got the rental vans. When we got to the hotel, a lot of us took a nap while others finished up some last minute assignments. We then practiced on the fields right outside our hotel and then had a good dinner at Chipotle.

The next day we played our first games! We started off strong by beating a very good Concordia-St. Paul team. Morgan Arbogast pitched her second shutout of the season in the 5-0 win. She threw a very good game! We then lost 4-0 to Nova Southeastern.

We split the next day as well. We had an opportunity to redeem ourselves against Southern Indiana in the first game. We started strong by scoring the first two runs of the game, but then our bats fell silent. Southern Indiana ended up winning 4-2. Our bats came alive in the first inning of the next game against Mercyhurst, however. We scored four runs in the first inning and ended up winning 4-2. McKenna Smith got her first collegiate win in the circle, and threw a good game! Congrats McKenna!

We had Sunday off, and got to attend an outstanding church for worship Sunday morning. It's called Celebration Community Church and it is a solid church! We've been going there every spring break for the past three years, and we look forward to worshipping there every year! It was a sweet time of worship! We had the rest of the day off, and most of us spent it with our families. It's such a blessing to get to spend time with them while they're down here!

Our games were later on Monday, and we came ready to play. After getting to sleep in, and having time to put corn row braids in our hair, we were looking good, feeling good, and we ended up playing very good! Danielle Wolgamot led us to a 6-1 victory over Assumption by pitching an outstanding game! She was hitting all of her spots and was on fire! If you ask Dan how she threw such a good game, she'll tell you it was all God giving her the strength to do so! All the glory to our great God! Avary Humes went 2 for 2 in that game with 3 RBI's! Danae Fields, Jess Steger, and KWO all had two hits each! Our bats came ready that game! Freshman Kacey Smith led us in a victory against Pitt-Johnstown in the next game! This was also her first collegiate win! Congrats Kacey! Our dugout got pretty fired up towards the end of the game. I thought I was going to lose my voice! Morgan and Lucia were leading the cheers strong in the dugout! It was so much fun!

We lost two tough ones on Tuesday to two tough teams, but we are ready to shake these off and come ready to play tomorrow (Wednesday)!

Stay tuned for more Lady Yellow Jacket play from the Sunshine State! We're ready to finish the week strong!

Until next time,

STING IT!!



February 28, 2018
After much anticipation, we had our opening games this past Saturday and Monday. We got off to a rough start on Saturday, but picked it up significantly on Monday. Saturday was rainy and cold. We started off the day by leaving campus at 9 a.m. and driving to Indiana. We played the University of Indianapolis first and nationally-ranked University of Southern Indiana second and lost both. These were two very solid teams, and it was evident that it was our first time stepping on the diamond this season. The highlight of the day, however, was Lucia Eroshevich getting her first two hits of her college career! Lucia is normally just a pitcher, but the way the subs and line up worked out caused her to have to stay in the line up to hit during the second game. She went two for three and knocked in a run. Lucia usually doesn't even take any batting practice, but maybe now she'll start? Lucia made us all laugh quite a bit that game. After getting those two unexpected hits, she was waiting for the batter to come up to the plate while she was pitching and turned to Kara, our third baseman and said, "J' pitchin" ("J" is short for just). We all got a kick out of that and told her she was "J' hittin" that game, too.

We had Sunday off and had a good day of worship at the different local churches we attend.

Monday was way more exciting than Saturday. We left for Louisville at 8 p.m. on Sunday, and got to the hotel around 11:30 p.m. It was a pretty fun van ride, at least for the van I was in. We did homework, sang some high school musical, and listened to some crazy clinical stories from our two upper classmen nursing majors. We got a good nights sleep, had a good breakfast, and then headed to Bellarmine to play some softball. It was a beautiful sunny day; much better than Saturday. We won the first game 7-0! Morgan Arbogast threw her first shutout of the season, Avary Humes got two hits, and Jess Steger hit a two-run bomb (her first collegiate homer!). McKenna Smith got her first career start in the circle and threw very well! Lucia Eroshevich came in and closed out the game and also threw very well! Danielle Wolgamot got three hits, Kaitlyn Woerner (KWO) got two hits, Avary Humes got a double, and Jess Steger hit another bomb out of the park to contribute to our 5-3 victory! We looked good on both offense and defense. We then stopped at Panera and headed back to campus.

Coming up this week, we leave for Florida at 3 a.m. on Thursday morning! We're so excited for Florida, but most of us have to get through some exams and assignments before we can bask in the Florida sunshine. It'll be a busy week for your Lady Yellow Jackets, but it'll all be worth it when we step foot off the plane on Thursday! We're now 2-2, and we're ready to add some more wins to that record!

Until next time,

STING IT!!


February 22, 2018 It's that time of year again! The time when the weather's getting warmer, school work is starting to pick up, and Spring break is right around the corner. Most students are excited for a vacation, time with family and friends, and some time away from school. But what a group of 18 softball players in the cornfields of Ohio are excited about is to step on the diamond and start our season off strong! We've been indoors for the cold winter months and we're ready for some sunshine and softball! We'll finally be able to reap the benefits of all the timed miles, sprints, after practice lifts, indoor scrimmages, and extra time in the cage when we step onto the field. We've worked hard and we're hungry for some wins!

We were supposed to start our season this past Wednesday, but God had different plans. Things got moved around due to weather, so we are now scheduled to play our first two games this Saturday in Indianapolis! To say we're excited is an understatement! We get started this Saturday and then hopefully get to keep it going on Monday in Louisville against Bellarmine and Wednesday at home against Urbana. Then we'll load the bus at 3:00 a.m. Thursday morning and be off to the Sunshine State!

This year, our team is slightly smaller, but no less mighty. With two seniors, three juniors, eight sophomores, and five freshmen, we're more experienced than last year, and just as talented. We have the potential to do some damage, and we're ready to get it going!

To get ourselves ready for the start of the season, we had a team meeting led by the seniors early this week. It was a sweet time to talk about our focus this season, set some goals, and lift up the season to the Lord in prayer! Our focus this season is playing as an Act Of Worship to our King.

Romans 12:1-2 says, "I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good acceptable and perfect."

As one of our seniors pointed out, this verse captures what it means for us to play as Christians. This verse is talking about how we are to use our whole lives, but for us right now softball is a part of our lives and something God has given us to do. We want to do it well and use it for His glory, as an act of worship. This verse says we are to offer our bodies as sacrifices to God, by His mercies. It is by His mercy that we even have bodies at all, let alone bodies that are healthy and fit enough to play a sport at the NCAA Division II level. Even more than giving us our bodies, God gave us forgiveness of our sins and a relationship with Him through sacrificing His Son on the cross. He paid the penalty for our sin that we rightfully deserve to pay. We don't deserve to even be near such a Holy God, yet He gave us a relationship with Himself through His Son! We don't deserve a thing! In fact, we deserve judgement, but God instead saved us and has blessed us beyond what we can even ask or think!

For every girl on our team, part of offering our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice means giving it our all on the diamond. It also means building our teammates and coaches up and pointing them to Christ. God is sovereign and uses everything in our lives to bring us closer to Him and make us more like Him. Our job is to seek Him in all things and let Him work in our lives. Again, for us that includes playing softball. Verse two gives us ways we can present our bodies as living sacrifices. It says not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. God transforms our hearts and minds when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, and He continues to transform us until we leave this earth.

As Christ followers, we are to look different than the world, and for us that means we are to play softball differently than those who don't know Christ do. Our actual play may not look much different but how we respond to failure and success on the field will. God uses softball as one of the ways to make us more like Him. At the end of the day, what really matters is who we are becoming and who we are reflecting, and this will show in how we respond to what happens on the diamond and how we treat each other on and off of it. Bad calls, strikeouts, errors, home runs, base hits, great plays: all of these things will not matter in eternity, but how we respond to them and how we impact our teammates, coaches, and opponents will. Our goal is to use what He has given us to put the spotlight on Him and tell all we can about His love and what He has done for us on the cross! A lofty goal, but one God can accomplish through His Spirit working in us.

It is such a blessing to get to call these wonderful women my teammates and friends. It's also such a blessing to have three coaches who work so hard and care so much. I'm excited for this season and to see how God is going to work! It's a blessing and a privilege to play for our King! Let's get it going!

Until Next Time,

STING IT!!

*Pictured on the right: Goals we set for our season and wrote on the white board in our locker room.



Kelsey Caldwell is a junior outfielder/second baseman from Richboro, Pa. She is in her third season with the Lady Jackets and is a Dean's List student as an athletic training major.