The Softball team has a new coach this year; an experienced and proven leader, who came from Oregon and brought four of his superstars with him from that program. Together, they really transformed the Texas team and it's been a fun season. One of his transfer players is All-American pitcher Miranda Elish who can hit almost as well as she can pitch. We're fans.
So a couple of weeks ago during church, we had a "meet and greet" for those around us, and when I turned around, Miranda and her 6'-6" boyfriend were in the pew behind us! We introduced ourselves, and when she said, "I'm Miranda," we both said, "Yes. We know who you are. We're fans!" Interestingly, she seemed surprised that we knew who she was.
The Softball team, in spite of being in the top 10 most of the season, got into a bit of a slump toeard the end of regular play and the Big XII Tournament (as in "2 and BBQue"). so they were very excited when named to host a regional. But the slump continued, and Texas lost the opener to a much lower-ranked opponent Friday night. So that meant 2 games on Saturday to earn the right to play the winner of the other bracket on Sunday. And Miranda pitched both of those games - about 320 pitches in all.
Texas won both of them, but now had to play two games on Sunday, so we were a bit surprised when Miranda and boyfriend Reese sought us out after services. We chatted about what an amazing 2 games she had, and asked if she was going to pitch Sunday, after two marathon games on Saturday - one with extra innings.. She said she was tired, but she really wanted to pitch the upcoming games!
So yesterday afternoon Barb and I watched the games in air-conditioned comfort while Miranda and the team played must-win games in "feels-like 100 degrees" temperatures. And Miranda pitched both of these games as well - 441 amazing pitches for the two days, with only 2 walks and an ERA you need a microscope to see! And hit a double and scored three runs as icing on the cake! So UT is going to a Super Regional. I won't be able to record books today because I yelled at the TV too much. We're excited fans!
But something funny happened yesterday afternoon. All of a sudden, the games became too important. That's our friend Miranda out there. Every hit against her became personal. Every pitch called a ball when we knew it was a strike upset us. It was distressing to hear her say in the post-game interview that she got a little delirious toward the end. It's sort of like when your child is playing sports in a very important game and you want them to do well, but there's a lot of pressure and you worry about them. I realize that we have only spoken to the young lady twice, but now it's different. We met her. We have something in common. She's a friend!
Who knew it was so hard to be friends and fans?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment