A Stanford softball student-athlete has written a weekly blog in each of the past four seasons to provide fans a behind-the-scenes perspective of the team. This year, sophomore Lauren Frost is taking over the Softblog to chronicle the team's adventures throughout the season. Her third entry this year is below.
***Welcome back, Stanford softball fans!
Another great week is in the books with even more fun highlights to share.
Despite a shortened schedule due to the rain this weekend, the Card brought home two more W's in our first home tournament of the year and a third win in our midweek game against Davis!
The season has been a blast so far and this weekend was no exception, especially with the debut of some fresh white cleats (scientifically proven to make you faster) and some new stirrups.
As a whole, the highlights of the weekend can be classified into what I'd like to refer to as the Three D's: Davis, Dancing with the Card, and my personal favorite, Dad.
As we do in most years, earlier this week we traveled to Davis for a single game showdown with the Aggies. Walking away with victory was great, but the hospitality provided by the Lagattuta family postgame is unrivaled.
Dinner was incredible, dessert even better, and the laughs and memories the best of all (even though I missed out on these laughs due to having to take a midterm ... Don't worry, dessert lifted my spirits as always).
Thank you for all you do, Lagattuta family!
Another great addition to the week was our freshmen participating in the annual Dancing with the Card fundraiser.
Each year the freshman classes of the majority of teams here on campus battle it out in a fun, Dancing with the Stars style competition in order to help raise money for Camp Kesem, a camp for children of parents with cancer.
Even though the chances are high the members of the audience were glad when everyone returned to their own sports after the show and gave up this crazy one-night dream of dancing, the cause was well worth it and the entertainment value just as high.
All of the acts were fun to watch despite the frequent lack of dancing skills, but I'm incredibly (un)biased when I say that our softball freshmen absolutely slayed their performance and looked dang good while doing it.
Both on and off the field, you guys always seem to make us proud.
The ultimate highlight for me this week, however, would have to be having my parents in town. Not only am I getting to spend a few weeks with Mom, but their visit brings about the third D of the weekend: Dad.
Being from Alaska, it's never been easy for my parents to come watch more than just a few games of the season as is usually the case with most families from further parts of the country.
Ever since I committed to play ball at Stanford though, it has been a goal of my dad's to drive all the way down to California from home and spend a few months driving to all of our tournaments and watching the majority of the season.
Well, that time has finally come!
Just a few days ago my dad arrived on campus after driving 3,530 miles through everything ranging from -50 degree temperatures, the endless Pacific Northwest rain, and of course, our neighbor, Canada.
I couldn't be more excited to have him here and am forever grateful for all of his and my mom's efforts to watch me play as often as they can. His accounts of the trip are absolutely incredible, but the pictures are what bring it all together. You're amazing, Dad!
Sunrises and sunsets are like none other along the Alaskan highway.
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And mountains are far from scarce.
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Animals were everywhere, including moose and a ton of bison!
I can't wait until I get to make this journey one day. It blows me away every time.
— Stanford Softblog (@CardSoftblog) February 21, 2017
What a week! Week three of the season is officially in the books and I can't wait to see what other adventures are yet to come our way.
As always, we as a team cannot thank you all enough for your constant love and support, and we can't wait to see you this weekend in Cathedral City as we look to dominate the Mary Nutter Classic!
Until next time,
Frosty