Thunder takes 2nd Place in NSA tourney

In our third outing of the spring season Thunder fought to the finish and captured 2nd place and an invitation to the 2010 NSA World Series tournament in July! We fielded nine players this past weekend and kept our fingers crossed in every game that we would avoid any injuries. Every girl contributed in this tourney in some way. Our pitchers (Melia & Carly) hurled a combined 29 strikeouts in 30 innings of work and gave up only 11 runs, pitching three shut out games. On offense our girls scored 37 runs and run ruled two teams!

Wolfpack Softball off to a great start in 2010!

Kali has worked hard on her softball game since we came to Elk Grove four years ago. Duane likes to tease about her All-Star try-outs back in San Mateo when she first starting playing and jokes that if those people who didn't select her for an All-Star team then could see her now they wouldn't believe it was the same kid! As a freshman in high school Kali was selected for the Varisty team and is having a GREAT time! She's getting lots of playing time because she's a verastile player who can field hard ground balls on the infield (3rd and 1st base) and speedy in the outfield to track and catch hard hit fly balls. And it doesn't hurt that there are only 11 girls on the Varsity roster - every one gets game time!

As a team the Wolfpack ladies lost only one pre-season game (vs. Pleasant Grove of course!) and in league play they are currently posting a 4-0 record. Kali's making a great impression on her demanding coaches and is sure to have a great season! We actually picked this high school primarily because it would allow Kali to play under the direction of Coach Lynda Bettencourt who was a collegiate player at Cal. We are very happy that we made this choice! Coach B is an amazing lady and great role model on the softball diamond, in the classroom (Kali is in her Health class this term) and as a Christian woman!

Thunder Takes 2nd in First Spring Tourney

In our first outing of the spring season the Thunder had a great showing at the iFA Easter Explosion on April 3, 2010. We had a couple of fairly easy wins against Napa Valley Express in games one and three. Game two we dropped to Mizuno All-American comprised of many girls we've played with in the EG rec league. Game four was a thrilling win against the Line Drive out of Reno, a late add to the tournament and a hard hitting, fast running team. Melia pitched the complete game which she won in an international tie breaker 6th inning. The final score was 9-6 and Melia struck out five batters. The championship game was a tough loss to Mizuno - we ran out of steam! But all in all the outcome was thrilling - we went home with hardware! Melia had an awesome weekend going 10-14 at the plate with 3 triples, 2 doubles and five singles!

48 Hours in Phoenix

On a beautiful Saturday (March 20) Duane and I got up before the sun rose and jumped on a Southwest flight to Phoenix, AZ. The purpose of our trip was to attend a wedding (which I'll get to) and that purpose created a great excuse to take in a Spring Training game. So, the planner that I am, I bought these tickets a month in advance and "gave" them to Duane as a token of my love to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary back on Feb 27th.

Considering the unrelenting rain that we've had this winter in Northern California it was such a blessing and a treat to escape to AZ for 48 hours of fun! Though the park doesn't appear full in this photo, the game was a sell out and and a shut out for the G-men! 6-0 vs. Cincinnati Reds! We sat in the general admission lawn section in right center and got a nice dose of the southwestern sunshine for a few hours that afternoon.

On Saturday evening we enjoyed dessert before dinner by attending a pre-wedding party hosted by the grooms parents, Mr. & Mrs. Kaufman. The venue was Sugar Bowl in Old Scottsdale and it was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. YUMMMMMM!

Sunday brought more sunshine and fun catching up with my friend Divya and meeting husband Raj. Divya and I became friends through our professional work a few years ago when she was recruiting college grads for Ferguson. Today she's in recruiting/HR for American Express. The Merchants recommended we meet at "The Farm at South Mountain" and we had a wonderfully yummy brunch sitting outside on this cool working organic farm in the desert!

Sunday afternoon brought us to the purpose of our jaunt - the Kaufman/Laven wedding and it was a blast! Perfect weather - sunny but not hot! Beautiful setting - a castle in the desert! (A bit of an oxymoron, but who's judging?!) Entertaining and lovely reception with exceptional company at our table! The coolest thing?! The photo booth! Felt like we were at an amusement park :)