Jana's Journal
5/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 25, 2009
First of all, I just want to thank all of our parents, fans, and staff for supporting us throughout postseason play (Especially MIZZOU Soccer!). This has been one amazing ride so far, and I know none of it would be possible without all of their support. As far as this weekend goes, I never doubted my team for a second! Even though we were an unseeded team going into the tournament, I knew we were just as talented as any team in the country. While some people may have doubted we could ever beat UCLA once, let alone twice, I knew we worked just as hard, and wanted it just as bad. I'm so thrilled for all five of our seniors. Their leadership has been a big part of our success all season and this weekend it definitely paid off.
Each and every player contributed this weekend, as always. There were clutch hits, diving plays, and girls giving it their all for the benefit of the team inning after inning, just as we've seen all season long. Although we're already being called the "Cinderella Story" of the World Series, we're heading to Oklahoma City with a "business as usual" attitude. Don't get me wrong, we're absolutely thrilled that we made it, but we don't want to be content with simply making it. We want to win. And we're willing to prove that we know what it takes to compete with the best.
I can remember growing up playing ball as a little girl and watching the World Series every summer on TV. I imagined what it would feel like to be those girls I watched on ESPN. It almost seems unreal that my dream is actually becoming a reality. But now more than ever, especially being injured and watching from the sidelines, I'm relying on my teammates to keep pushing each other to take that dream one step further. We set a goal at the beginning of the season to make it to the World Series. Now that the opportunity is here, I can't think of a better time than now to show the world exactly what MIZZOU Softball is all about.
This Thursday at 2 p.m., we're battling the defending champions, Arizona State, in the first round of the series. We had a pretty impressive fan base at the Big 12 Championship a couple weeks ago, so we're hoping to get even more fans for the big event next week! If you can't make it out to Oklahoma, the game will be televised on ESPN. This team has worked hard all season to get to this point, and we'll be ready to make our program, our athletic department, and our school proud when game time comes around.
Go Tigers!
