DC Blogs About the End of the Regular Season

This past week the DC softball team had two major conference games. We started the week on Sunday against Mount St. Joe. The expectations for these games were high and we expected to come out with a sweep. Sweeping Mount St. Joe put us in a good position to make it into the conference tournament.


We traveled to Manchester with hopes of sweeping it and giving us a better chance to make it into the tournament. Unfortunately, we had quite a few defensive errors and our offense did not come through in clutch moments. Losing both games to Manchester put us fifth in the conference standings with a record of 6-8. This does not put us into the best position. With more hard work and a sweep of Rose, we will have a better chance of making it to the tournament.


With that being said, we have two non-conference games in the next five days to help us prepare for our game against Rose.

Katie Grubbs, Morgan Williamson, Gloria Basinger, Anna Vasquez

DC Softball Blogs About Key Upcoming HCAC Games

The DC softball team is continuing to work hard as our season progresses.  We just had huge conference games this week against our rival Bluffton.  The weather was freezing and there was snow floating around as the team took the field.  The first game was a close one but the Beavers battled back in the seventh inning to go ahead 8-7.  Coach talked to us between games and got us all ready for game two.  Game two was also a battle but the Beavers again came out on top 10-7.  The team has been working very hard offensively and defensively at practice in preparation for some big conference games coming up.  We face Mount Saint Joe this Sunday followed by Manchester on the following Tuesday.  In order for us to get closer to our goal of making the conference tournament, we need to consistently execute in all phases of the game, every pitch, every out and every inning one at a time and come out with wins against all our conference match ups.  Attention fans, Sunday is alumni day so come out and support! Go Jackets! Sawmiller, Ferguson, Samples

DC Softball Blogs About A Busy Weekend in the HCAC

We made some strides in the right direction in conference this weekend with a two big wins over Hanover, and a split with Franklin.  We have been putting in a lot of extra time with our hitting with some positive reinforcement from coach.  After a rough outing with Olivet, coach decided it was time for us to take a mental break to prepare us for the big weekend that we had ahead of us.  SUCCESS!!! 

We arrived early to Hanover, which gave us plenty of time to mentally prepare for the task at hand.  After a solid warm up it was time to take the field.  We gave a solid performance which was very much needed to boost our conference as a unit.  Defense was great, hitting was great, and it resulted in two wins. 

Off to Franklin…

During the first game in Franklin, we started out scoring the first run in the first inning, and had a really good feeling about the day.  As the game progressed we had a few defensive blunders, and ended up going behind.  We had a comeback thanks to Katie Miller jacking a homerun.  Which, by the way, Katie has been hitting really well, and got hitter of the week!!!  We ended up losing the first game to Franklin, and we all realized what needed to be done in game two.

Game two also started out really well.  We scored three runs in the first, and held them scoreless in the first.  They scored one run each of the next three innings tying the score in the fourth.  It was a battle from there.  Then Katie Miller came in clutch again with a two run home run putting us ahead 5-3 in the top of the seventh.  We ended up winning that match up 5-4.

We have a great week ahead of us with four conference games, including Bluffton!  We are super excited to get this week under way and are pumped to get some big wins.

Neanen, Ridinger, Shough, Ebersole

DC Blogs About Last Week's Action on the Diamond

We started off the week with a conference game against Transy. This was a big game for us because it was not only our home opener, but it was our conference opener. During these two games the team was fired up and ready to play. There was tons of yelling and cheering and just plain excitement about being there and playing. After two hard fought games, we ended up going 1-1 for the day. After Transy, we had a couple of rough non-conference games. The outcomes of these games didn’t go in our favor, but we learned that we have to keep pushing and working hard during all games and practices because we are still 1-1 in conference. We have to now set our goals towards making it to the conference tournament by staying positive after our rough week and focusing on one game at a time. Saturday we play another good conference team, Anderson.  Being two more conference games, these two games are very important.  After 2 disappointing losses to Anderson last season in the Conference tournament, these games mean a lot, especially to the returning players.  As a team, we know what we have to do to be successful.  We’ve prepared ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally for tomorrow’s games.

“The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am.  Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do”. -- Dennis Waitley 

This is a good quote for our team.  As previously stated, we know what we can do.  We’ve seen ourselves step up and bring our A game.  Now we have to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we are focused and determined to be the best that we can.

Kailea, Lauren, Jessica

DC Softball Blogs About Beginning HCAC Play

After a not-so-great start in Florida, we came back with a lot to focus and work on, and a lot of hopes for the best.  We started our first day back with a little service project out at Diehl Park cleaning up the softball fields for the community.  The next day we packed ourselves up and headed out to Albion. Our bats slowly started coming back to life as we split with the Brits.  Then on Wednesday we traveled down to Heidelberg.  Our bats weren’t there those games as we lost both of them.  After a few days of intense practice and reflection on the season so far, we have our first home game as well as our first conference game on Sunday. We’re beyond excited to start conference play and hope that we can come through and show the team that we really are.  We’re hoping that a split of Transylvania will put us in the place we need to be in conference, since our next conference play will be against last year’s champions Anderson. Everyone should come out and support us in some great weather and with loud cheering to help us start our way onto a winning record.

Izzy, Macy, Tori

DC Softball Blogs About Spring Break in Florida

We finally started our season down at Centre College in Kentucky on our way to Florida. It was good to get our cleats on and finally be able to put on our uniforms. We left Centre with a split, and we were ready to head to Florida for some warm weather and some softball. The trip down went pretty fast, but we had a surprise when we arrived to our hotel to find that they didn’t have room for us that night. After a great tour of Orlando, we finally found a hotel and food. We started our Florida games with Washington and came up short with rocky defense, and our second game got rained out. On Monday we came up short again against Otterbein and Marietta. Monday night we ate dinner with our rooms and had a round of team putt-putt and decided we should probably all stick to the game of softball. Tuesday was our day off, and luckily, we had a beautiful day to go with family and relax with the team. Wednesday we were back on the field, lost a close one to McDaniel and pulled through with a win against Framingham State. On our last day in Florida our defense started to come together, yet our bats were still sleepy. Our pitchers showed great improvement in Florida and ended with a great performance on Thursday.

We ended the week being 2-7, which was not what we anticipated, but we did not work hard all winter at 5 a.m. for nothing. We came back ready to work hard, and we know that it is not where you start but it is where you finish. We know what we need to work on, and we know we can come out on top once we wake up our bats and play like we know how. We are excited to turn this season around and have a great season.

Lisa, Stephanie, Sara

DC Softball Blogs About the Spring Break Trip

This week started the last week of our 5 am preseason practices. Wooooooooo!!!!!!! The pressure has been put on all players by coach because we will play our first game this Friday against Centre College. Practice has been going well and everyone has been pushing each other to perform at their best out on the field and at the plate. Each position has multiple people fighting for playing time and there is a lot of internal competition. This pushes players to perform at their best and makes coaches decision that much harder for a starting line-up for the game Friday. Every day we do full defense with the whole team and we have live runners to run for us. On Wednesday it was nice outside so many players went out to the field later in the day so we could take ground balls so we could get prepared for our upcoming games. It started out rough since we are used to the turf and the wonderful hops that the ball takes but we got used to how a normal softball field is and we had a decent time with Coach Butt dancing at home plate and amusing us all.

Friday morning starts the season and we are all very pumped and some of us are nervous for this first game. We depart at 8:30 Friday morning for Kentucky and we play at 5 and 7 Friday night. After we play those games we will get back on the bus with 27 loud girls and drive rest of the way to Florida. Saturday morning we will stop early morning and practice at a local high school in Florida and then we will continue on our way to Orlando. We play 2 games Sunday, 2 games Monday, we get to have Tuesday off to spend with our families if we would like, varsity plays 2 games on Wednesday and JV plays one game, and then we play 2 games Thursday and then head back to wonderful Defiance College afterwards.

Our spring break trip will set the tone for the rest of our season and we cannot wait to get out on the field and spend time with the people that are closest to us. We feel as though it is going to be a very good season for the DC softball team and we are ready for all of the challenges ahead. We believe that “To be the best you have to believe you are the best”. We believe we are the best and we will prove that this next week.

Much love,
Tori Plummer, Brittany Shough, Morgan Williamson

DC Softball Talks About the End of Preseason

The anticipation is growing as we get closer to Florida and the end of 5 a.m. practices. Practice has been going well, and we all have been working hard towards our first game on March 9^th against Centre College. This will kick off our journey to the HCAC Tournament. We all love being in the field house. We are able to do team defenses and we are able to practice plays. Everyone’s intensity is high and attitudes are great throughout practices.

This past Friday was the official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the George M. Smart Athletic Center. The official opening of “The George” was a big event because all of the sports teams attended. We are happy to have a new place to practice during the season, even if this means running endless miles on the new track. This past weekend we hosted our first official Prospect Camp. This camp was set up for future teammates to work with the Defiance College team and with our coaching staff. Overall, the camp went very well and we had a lot of fun meeting and working with our potential teammates.

This Wednesday SAAC hosted a Student-Athlete Wellness Night. At this event, a motivational speaker came to discuss the importance in Division III Athletics and mental toughness. Other offerings of the event were massages, Zumba and Yoga. They also provided healthy food to eat. We are looking forward to the season starting and the warm Florida weather!

DC Softball Blogs About Team Retreat

WEEK NUMERO 5 COMPLETE!  .. Our second week of practice in the field house was great as our anticipation for the start of our season grows, we are still trying to get used to all the new, exciting things that we can get accomplished during practice! We are starting to get more and more into game-like situations during practice to get ready for our first game against Centre College on March 9^th. We are all excited to head down to Florida in less than two weeks for our spring tournament, The Rebel Spring Games. Last weekend we had our team retreat, where we played a lot of dodge ball, a jeopardy game where we had to figure out facts about our teammates so we could get to know each other better! Our coaches also put together a scavenger hunt for us to do. There were three teams and the clues were funny facts about our teammates that made it easier for us to find the next clue. With all of our minds set to go to Florida, but still have to keep focused and improve more and more every day as we continue to get more and more excited every day for the start of our season!

Love, SOME of the freshman

Lauren, Chelsea, Sara & Jessie

DC Softball Getting Ready to Begin Season

The fourth week of 5 a.m. practices was exciting, as we finally got into our brand new field house! Our team is really excited to be in the field house where we have enough space to develop our skills to their full potential. We have also been working on keeping our enthusiasm up and supporting our teammates throughout the entire practice.  Last weekend was one of the most exciting events of the year, team retreat!!  During the retreat, we received our room assignments, itinerary and our list of things we have to pack for our departure on March 9 to play in the Rebel Spring Games, in Kissimmee, Florida. We played many hours of dodge ball, hide-n-go-seek and other team building activities. The weekend before last, the team held clinics for younger kids to come learn and help develop their softball skills. Next weekend is also very exciting with our Prospect Camp on Sunday, where we will meet and work with many prospective student-athletes and hopefully future teammates. With 13 practices left until Florida we are very excited and ready to get moving in the right direction!!!

Jordan, Anna, Hallie, Sarah

DC Softball Blogs About Preparation

As we start our third week of practice, the anticipation for the start of the season is beginning to rise. We are working hard and making progress every day to ensure we play at our highest potential. Recently, we had our first speaker on success. Coach Brie Hagerty, the new head volleyball coach, spoke to the team about mental toughness. She discussed how this not only pertains to on the field, but in the classroom as well. Coach Hagerty told us that we have to be focused on every single play, every single second of the game. There were two quotes that she gave us to focus on for the rest of the season. The first quote was, “The same, is the same, is the same.” Meaning that we need to practice the way we play and treat every drill like it is a game situation. The second quote was, “When I stop thinking about the consequences of the little things, I begin to believe there is no such thing as little things.” This quote is to help remind us that every drill, every swing we take, and every play we work on is necessary to make the big things happen. Without the little things, big things would not be possible. Finally, Coach Hagerty discussed how the team that stays focused and works hard 100% of the time will be the champion at the end of the season. We are working on bringing the concepts that she gave us into our practices every day to help us reach our goals and come out as champions in the end.

Stephanie Esquibel, Kailea Holbrook, Macy Ferrall

DC Softball Blogs About Upcoming Season

25 practices left! 

As we finish our second week of 5 a.m. practices, we are starting to get excited/nervous for the season to begin.  This week of practice we have had individual goals for ourselves.  It is our job throughout practice to keep these goals in our head and use them to help make ourselves better as well as for the team.  At the end of practice we pair up with a teammate to review our goals and decide if we have accomplished them or if there needs to be improvement.  We have three different colored bands: green, yellow and red. Green means that we have met our goal and did an exceptionally good job at practice.  Yellow means we did well, but there still needs to be improvement, and red means we did not do very well at meeting our goals for the day.  By having these different goals, it gives us motivation, and holds us accountable for ourselves throughout practice.  Friday is our first Speaker on Success (SOS).  This guest speaker will help talk to us about personal goals, team goals, and things to look forward to for this season.  They also help us to get motivated to work hard during the season.  There is one more day left of practice in this week but we need to remember to keep working hard during practices as well as in the classroom. 

Love, the Jr's

                Katie, Spike, Switzer

DC Softball Talks Preseason Practices

As seniors this year, our final season is off to a good start! We have survived our first two weeks of 5am practices, despite many ice bags and a few hot tub trips.  But we have all been working hard, and are excited to finally be practicing as a team after our individual work in the off season.  To kick off our season we got new team bracelets stating our main focus, which is “Prepare today to play in May!” We have been ranked 4th  in the preseason rankings, which makes us all ready to work hard and make this a great season.   

We are also very excited to get into our new field house. The postponed opening date is the week of February 6^th, and we have our fingers crossed everything will be ready!  This will give us a new facility and lots more space for us to practice. 

We are proud of how hard everyone has been working so far this season.  Even before our team practices started, you could find many of us practicing on our own during our first 2 weeks back on campus.  We were even asked at one point if we had practice, since we filled the whole gym!

We are optimistic as our season continues, and we are patiently awaiting warm weather and our Florida trip! 29 more days of practice and 36 more days until Florida!