Throughout the course of the 2012 season, MVNU senior outfielder MacKenzie Shaw will write a weekly blog about what is happening with the softball team.

"A Florida Trip to Remember" (posted on March 26, 2012)

If you could describe our spring trip to Florida in one word what would it be?

Kayleigh Williams- Growth

Brittany Kuhn- Transformation

Ashley Riffell- Coug-tastic (I am not sure if that is a word, but we are going to use it anyways!)

Brooke Hensley- Teamwork

What a great way to spend the last 10 days; 17 girls, two houses, 10 games, 80-degree weather, and way too much laughter! The Lady Cougar softball team headed to Florida last Thursday.

It was a long day at the airport and grocery shopping. Once everyone arrived in Florida in one piece, the fun began. Friday was a free day for our team. Some of the girls spent time with their families, laid by the pool, or hit the outlet malls for some shopping. Friday evening, we headed to the fields to get a good practice in before our first games on Florida soil. After practice, we returned to our houses for dinner and our nightly devotions. We were blessed to have Dr. Lanette Sessink on our trip for a few days. She shared a great devotion with us about commitment. She talked to us about the importance of commitment to our team. We each wrote down three goals for the week and made sure we were committed to them. After this encouraging devotional, we were ready to take the field!

Saturday was the first day we took the field in the Sunshine State. We went into the games a little timid because we knew we were up against the No.3 team in the nation. Oklahoma City was one of the best teams we have seen! They had outstanding pitching, unbelievable hitting, and nearly perfect defense. We lost both games on Saturday. After feeling a little defeated, we came back to the houses and prepared for our team church. We always have our team church on Saturday night so some of our families are able to attend. It is always a great experience! Randy Brooks, Meagan Stott's dad, spoke to us once again this year. He brought a strong message that hit home for all of us! He talked about the difference between being transformed and being conformed. We were encouraged to take the steps to be transformed from the inside out and not conformed from the outside in. After a wonderful message, we were exhausted and headed to bed. Sunday was our day off. We were able to spend time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful state of Florida.

Monday was the beginning of a long week of softball. We took the field Monday afternoon against Augustana University and Midland University. We lost the first game to Augustana, but were able to pull out a win against Midland. Monday night, we spent time together bonding as a team and playing some games with the freshmen. This year's freshmen are a blast to have. Needless to say, there is never a dull moment when they are around. Tuesday, we had two more games. Our first game was against SCAD out of Georgia and we fell short once again. We were able to turn our attitudes around and played a great game against Midland later that evening. Because the games were delayed throughout the day, we didn't make it back to our houses until late. Our amazing cook for the week, Julie Burke, made us late-night tacos and sent us to bed! The next morning we had to be at the park pretty early. We didn't let the late night and early morning effect us because we came out on top of our game. We beat Midland once again and were ready to take the field to get another win. Unfortunately, we weren't able to pull out the win against St. Catherine.

Our final day of softball came on Thursday. We played Indiana Tech the first game of the day. We played a great game, but weren't able to push any runs across the plate. We were fired up after our tough loss and wanted to end on a good note. We did just that as we beat Nebraska Wesleyan 3-1. It was a great way to end our trip.

Although our wins and losses might not have shown a successful trip, I would disagree. We played some tough competition and made ourselves better along the way. Our pitchers were able to gain confidence and stamina throughout the games. Our offense saw some awesome pitching and learned to make adjustments at the plate. Our defense was put to the challenge by good hitters, but we rose to the occasion and played tough in the field.

As we discussed in our devotions multiple times throughout the week, is it really about how many games we win and how many games we lose? We all agreed that we want to win and we are disappointed when we lose, but we also agreed that the relationships we build along the way are the most important. We won't remember our record in Florida two years from now, but we will remember the testimonies we heard and the late-night heart-to-hearts that we had with each other!

As a senior, I would have to say this has been my favorite Florida trip. There was so much bonding and laughter the whole trip. I wish we had been more successful on the field, but we are ready to compete in our season. Our season kicks off this week when we travel to Urbana University on Wednesday. Then, we make our first Mid-Central College Conference appearance at the University of St. Francis (Ind.) on Friday and again at Bethel (Ind.) College on Saturday. We have a special group of girls this year, and we are ready to kick off our regular season! Thanks for reading!

MacKenzie

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