The luck of the draw...

When you coach and head up a middle school girls softball program things can change from year to year. As a coach you may find yourself in the middle of a rebuilding year or years, and, on the other hand, you may find yourself in the midst of a roll when the talented players keep coming, causing a reloading mechanism to unfold, instead of that dreaded rebuilding scenario, which forces you to take a deep breath before every game and just go with the flow. This year, my middle school girls are on a roll and can be compared to a beautiful Stallion , galloping up hill and preparing,gracefully, for his downhill, all-out run to the bottom of the valley. The girls are that good. Where do these 11 to 14 year old, talented girls come from? Of course, many of them are representing their Tucson-area school, after four to five years of "Club Ball" --the future, so to speak, for the young, local athletes -- all with their own hopes and dreams of playing ball for the University of Arizona, the most powerful women's softball program in the country. We won yesterday, 12-0, in our season opener. Sure, I gave the normal hand signals from the third base coaching box...but it was as if they knew what was coming and were prepared to sprint toward the base in front of them with or without the sign from the ole coach. Bottom line: We stole 25 bases...seven alone by our lead-off hitter, and we sprinted to an easy win. Needless to say, the coach is smiling. It was a comfortable ride home on the yellow school bus.