GREAT LEADS

Make things happen!
Defense always feels the pressure
when baserunners take great leads

Stacie Mahoe

Excerpts from Stacie Mahoe's blog. She writes... 

“Good baserunners … make things tough for the opposing defense and add pressure to otherwise 'routine' situations and plays.

“All this distraction on the bases often takes focus off the batter. It can also open up holes for batters to hit through...

“And all of it starts with a great lead...

WESLEY WOLVERINES ON THE BASE PATHS. Top, junior 
#2 OF Sarah Saunders (Wayne, NJ) and junior #22 C/UT 
Morgan Seymour (Smyrna, DE). Bottom, sophomore 
#42 1B/OF Devin Mackay (Bangor, PA) and sophomore 
#18 C/3B Nina Marcano (Middletown, DE).

“Explode off the base as if you’re going to steal... disguises actual steal attempts, it gives the defense one more thing to worry about... Pressure is on the pitcher not to throw any wild pitches... (a) great jump start you get if the batter actually hits the ball...

“Make sure you can get back to the bag with just 'a step and a dive' … ONE step and a dive away from the base...

“Don’t be late, get a good jump... main thing is GOING on time!...

“Look for the hit, wild pitch, or passed ball... take a peek in toward the plate. If the ball looks like it’s heading toward the dirt, either on the way to the plate or after your teammate hits it, GO!”

CLICK HERE for the full story at the Stacie Mahoe blog.

PEAK PERFORMANCE

THE PROFILE OF A
PEAK PERFORMING ATHLETE
Does Your Daughter or Team Possess These 8 Traits?

John Michael Kelly

By John Michael Kelly, author of America's Sports Confidence Coach and Softball Smarts website at www.softballsmarts.com. Facebook: www.facebook.com/SoftballSmarts

What makes for a great athlete, one who performs at a peak level on a consistent basis? On television we can watch these elite athletes every weekend. However, at the youth softball level...not so much. What then separates the great athletes from those who aspire to be, and how can your fastpitch athlete become a consistent peak performer?

Let's look at the profile of a peak performing fastpitch player to see how your athlete compares:
 

Wesley Wolverines 2014: junior #32 C/3B 

 Kayla Fromal (Middletown, DE).

1. She is proactive in her mental approach and preparation for both her practices and her games filling her head with positive thoughts and statements. She recognizes that how she thinks is how she plays.

2. She has a solid pregame and in-game physical and mental game plan that allows her to remain in the present moment on the field, rather than future or past focused.
 
She possesses rock solid self-confidence that allows her to remain calm under pressure and focus on the task at hand.
 

Wesley Wolverines 2014: junior #8 OF 

Steph Caracozza (Melbourne Beach, FL).

3. Because she is self-confident and does not focus on the results but rather the process she is able to overcome any adversity and looks at such adversity as a learning opportunity to further improve her game.

4. Her mental mastery allows her to play anxiety and fear free, enabling her to consistently perform at peak levels.
 
She knows that she is mentally and physically prepared each game and, as such, she expects success.

Wesley Wolverines 2014: sophomore 

#21 C/3B Whitney Dibb (La Mesa, CA).

5. She possesses a deep level of joy and passion for playing the game she loves, that anyone can easily see by the smile on her face and her body language.

6. She is a poised athlete who recognizes that errors and outs are part of the game.

7. She is able to manage the expectations of herself and others around her in a healthy manner, challenging herself but keeping the game and her performance all in perspective of the bigger picture.

8. She is a leader on her team and the player her teammates look to for inspiration and her coaches looks to for peak performance.
 
She can’t wait to get to the field for practice or games!

Wesley Wolverines 2014: sophomore 

#18 C/3B Nina Marcano (Middletown, DE).

Becoming a consistent peak performer is a journey, not a destination that requires constant effort and practice mastering the same mental skills that Olympic, professional and elite athletes the world over engage in.

It also requires that the adults in her athletic world support the process of mastery, remain patient with her, and look beyond a "results only" mentality.

Thanks for reading! --John Michael Kelly

LOOK BACK: WORLD CUP

Photo of softball in dirt by Susan Lueck.

USA triumphs last summer...
International softball
still battles for the gold

Looking back, Team USA reclaimed the World Cup of Softball this past summer 2014 from Japan who had won the previous year. 

These two teams usually battle for this international title -- as they did, too, when softball was an Olympic sport -- with the USA victorious seven times and Japan dominant twice. 

However, this year, our neighbors from the north, Canada, finished a strong second with a 5-2 record against Team USA's 7-0 perfection. (RELATED: click here for ESPN's article about the games titled “Five lessons from World Cup of softball.”)

Here's a relatively little watched video capturing the excitement of the international contest...

GERTRUDE HAWK

New softball fundraiser
Specialty chocolate bars
sweeten the holiday season
 
Love chocolate? Ask a Wesley Wolverine softball player about the team's latest fundraiser.

It is a high quality, reasonably priced Gertrude Hawk candy bar or as many as you wish to keep on hand as a small delicacy for yourself or a gift to others. There's your traditional milk chocolate and 11 more varieties! The flavors are...

■ Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter ■ Solid Milk Chocolate ■ Milk Chocolate Caramel ■ Milk Chocolate Almond  

■ Milk Chocolate Toffee Almond ■ Dark Chocolate Mint ■ Milk Chocolate Coconut Custard ■ Solid Dark Chocolate ■ 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolate

■ Milk Chocolate Crispy ■ Dark Chocolate Raspberry    ■ White Chocolate Truffle

Treat yourself to Gertrude Hawk Chocolates this holiday season. Buy a few bars for the neighborhood kids, too!

Proceeds benefit the Wesley Wolverine softball program. 

THANKSGIVING 2014

First played in a boat house!
Game of softball born 
on Thanksgiving Day!

The first game of what would become the sport of softball
was played 127 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, 1887.

Wesley College Wolverine softball 2014

Photo of turkey by Don McCullough

This 1887 Thanksgiving Day "softball" game actually was a hastily configured baseball contest, which pitted Yale versus Harvard alumni inside Chicago's Farragut Boat Club. 

After 1889, the game was played 
indoors and outdoors with a ball the 
size of a small medicine ball with a 
bat two inches thick. By the 1930's, 
rules standardized the game to 
appear more like what's  played 
today.

The first softball was a tied boxing glove with a broom handle for a bat. There were no gloves, but alumnus George Hancock did write down that day's rules for posterity.

In 1889 the game moved outdoors. Minneapolis fireman Lewis Rober marked up the first field and set seven innings as the game's official contest. By this time, the ball had become a small medicine ball with a bat two inches thick.

The games – known variously as cabbage ball, mush ball, kitten ball, pumpkin ball, diamond ball, etc. --began to draw as many as 3,000 fans. 

In 1926, the Denver YMCA dubbed the sport “softball” for the first time. The name caught on.

The first travel team formed in 1931. It was a squad entirely of men, 75 years-of-age and older, taking the field in business suits, who called themselves Kids and Kubs.

First photo of a softball team, Chicago, 1897

 Newspaper reporter Leo Fischer and sporting goods salesman Michael Pauley brought the game to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, where 55 teams participated before 350,000 fans who watched different games of men's and women's slow and fastpitch. Softball had arrived. The ASA – Amateur Softball Association – was founded that fall.
  CLICK HERE for the full story.

SOFTBALL CAMP

FLEXIBILITY TRAINING

Softball Conditioning
Flexibility training
increases running speed

Coach Marc Dagenais

by Coach Marc Dagenais 
from the Softball Performance website 
(also Facebook page and Twitter postings)

Softball is sport of speed and power. Anything you can do to increase these two very important physical qualities will improve your game and make you a more dominant player.

We've always thought that stretching was important to prevent injuries but it also improves running speed.

The results of a recent study that was looking at influence of flexibility training on running speed is now confirming it.

Sophomore #18 C/3B Nina Marcano (Middletown, DE) 
led the Wesley Wolverines last season 
with 10 stolen bases. Here she swipes 
second against the Salisbury Sea Gulls.

Sustained and regular flexibility training for the muscles around the hip and the knee joints (glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors, quadriceps, calves, low back, etc.) increases range of motion around the hip and knee joints.

This increased range of motion improves stride length and overall running mechanics. Running speed is directly influenced by two factors: stride length and stride frequency.

Wesley Assistant Athletic Trainer Jessica Gaburo 
works stretching exercises with Wolverine junior 
#25 1B Samantha Mahoski (Schenectady, NY).

So, if you improve either one, you'll run faster!

You should always take a few minutes after a workout, practice or a game to stretch. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds (up to 60 seconds) at a mild point of tension. Repeat for tight muscles. Focus on the lower body muscles to increase your running speed. You should stretch at least 3 times a week to see significant results.

You have now one more reason to stretch regularly - to run faster!

___________

Source: Caplan, N, Rogers, R, Parr, MK, and Hayes, PR. The effect of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation and static stretch training on running mechanics. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Jul;23(4):1175-80.

VOLLEYBALL GAME

Volleyball workout
Wesley softball and lacrosse
face each other at Wentworth

It's becoming a tradition.

In 2013, the WESLEY WOLVERINES softball and lacrosse teams challenged each other to a kickball contest that happened on a cold November evening at football's (and lacrosse's) Scott D. Miller Stadium.

Yesterday, or actually last evening, with temperatures dropping even lower than last year, the two teams wisely chose to play each other at a much warmer campus venue in a different sport –– a volleyball match at basketball's (and volleyball's) Wentworth Gymnasium!

The actual varsity Wesley volleyball players served as referees and coaches for each side.

There are 85 photos of the softball teammates taken during the volleyball action within the slideshow below. They are dressed in shirts now serving triple duty: 1. as practice uniforms, then later this year, 2. as pink game uniforms, and tonight, 3. as the 2014 softball-volleyball team!

HITTING TIPS

Game within the game
Softball hitting tips:
batter's box routine

Think hitting is just a good eye and swing? 

There's a lot more going on as demonstrated by Texas A&M All-American and ESPN Analyst Amanda Scarborough in the video below. Note that her lumber is a Louisville Slugger Xeno, the official bat of the Wesley Wolverines. 

ANGELS IN INFIELD

Scholarship funds raised
Softball superstars
honor fallen players

It was almost two months ago – September 26 – when a traffic accident involving the North Central Texas College (NCTC) Lions softball team bus took the lives of four players, Katelynn Woodlee, Jaiden Pelton, Brooke Deckard and Megan Richardson. A dozen other teammates, along with the head coach, were injured. A 9/28 post at the Wesley Wolverines' softball Facebook page commemorates the tragic event.

This past Saturday, celebrities from around the softball world showed up at the NCTC Softball Alumni Game in Gainesville, TX, to raise money for an Angels in the Infield Scholarship Fund that will honor the young ladies who lost their lives.

From top right: Brooke Deckard, Jaiden Pelton, 
Katelynn Woodlee, Meagan Richardson

 Olympians Jennie Finch, Danielle Lawrie and Lauren Lappin were there to serve as guest coaches, while Texas star Taylor Hoagland, Amanda Scarborough and Lauren Chamberlain also joined the crew taking part in the game. As many as 80 former NCTC alumnae came to play.

► Jennie Finch, retired collegiate and professional superstar, is, of course, internationally known.

► Danielle Lawrie is a former University of Washington, Canadian national team, and National Pro Fastpitch stand-out. (Her brother Brett plays for the Toronto Blue Jays.)

► Lauren Lappin, a past Stanford star, won a silver medal with team USA during the 2008 Summer Olympics. She plays today for the Pennsylvania Rebellion of the National Pro Fastpitch league.

► Taylor Hoagland, a previous All-American Texas infielder and World Cup Champion, currently plays for Team USA.

► Amanda Scarborough, once an All-American pitcher at Texas A&M, now is a ESPN college softball analyst and hosts a popular website where, the site states, “you will find information on all things softball.”

► Lauren Chamberlain is currently a senior at the University of Oklahoma where she is a three-time first-team All-American and a member of Team USA.

Click here for the full story

Below, Jennie Finch's Instagram tribute. See: http://instagram.com/jfinch27 

MIA HAMM

Advice from a soccer champion
Mia Hamm on goals,
on the field and in life

Quotes from Mia Hamm, who is a retired American professional soccer player. Mia played many years for the United States women's national soccer team.  

Mia Hamm @ goodreads

“MANY PEOPLE SAY I'M THE BEST WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYER in the world. I don't think so. And because of that, someday I just might be.”

“TAKE YOUR VICTORIES, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don't settle for them.”

“THE BACKBONE OF SUCCESS IS...hard work, determination, good planning, and perseverance.”

“THE VISION OF A CHAMPION is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when nobody else is looking.”

“A WINNER IS that person who gets up one more time than she is knocked down.”

“I’VE WORKED TOO HARD and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down, and I will not let myself down.”

“SOMEWHERE BEHIND THE ATHLETE you've become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back... play for her.”

“IT ISN'T SACRIFICE if you love what you're doing.” 

“CELEBRATE WHAT YOU'VE ACCOMPLISHED, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.”

“FAILURE HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.”
                _________
“MY COACH SAID I RAN LIKE A GIRL, I said if he could run a little faster he could too.”
                _________

PRO FALL BALL

Pride plays in Georgia
Softball professionals find
college teams no easy match

As the days grow colder, are you eager to watch a little college softball?

Just the previous weekend, Saturday, November 8, the “Rambling Wreck” Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets obliged their fans when they took on – though ultimately falling to – the National Pro Fastpitch's (NPF's) defending champions USSSA Florida Pride.

The game was played at the George Tech Flats with free admission for fans and autographs signed by both Georgia Tech and USSSA Florida Pride team members. 

Wesley Wolverines attend a USSSA Florida Pride game in Salisbury, MD, last May 2014. Left-to-right, sophomore #18 C/3B Nina Marcano (Middletown, DE), junior #8 OF Steph Caracozza (Melbourne Beach, FL), junior #22 C/UT Morgan Seymour (Smyrna, DE), sophomore #9 P/OF Lily Engel (Dover, DE), Head Coach Juli Greep and junior #32 C/3B Kayla Fromal (Middletown, DE).

The Kissimmee, FL professionals arrived at "the flats" (Mewborn Field), knowing they might have a tough contest on their hands. Just the prior Thursday (11/6), The Pride had dropped an 8-7 decision to the nearby University of Georgia bulldogs at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Ga.

And, the Georgia Tech squad did not disappoint, distinguishing themselves well in what would be a back-and-forth tight contest until the final innings. In the circle, the team started a freshman, Emily Anderson, while senior Chelsie Thomas batted a perfect 4-for-4 and junior Courtney Ziese slugged a home run to even the score 1-1 entering the sixth inning!

"I was really pleased with how we stayed in the game," said head coach Shelly Hoerner.

Click here for the full story.


Click on the arrow below for video highlights  of the Pride/ Yellow Jackets game...

2020 OLYMPICS

Plans revealed next week
Could softball be played
at 2020 Summer Olympics?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will unveil next week 40 recommendations for major Olympic changes (to be voted on next month) in an effort to make the games more suitable to the needs of host cities as well as to attract more fans, sponsors and broadcast revenues.

Could adding back fastpitch softball (and baseball) to the Olympic games be part of the recommendations? 

That means, if softball was given an Olympic slot again, the first games would be played at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. It takes seven years from a sport's approval to its first appearance at the international event. 
 
In the past, one of the major upsets of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics was Japan's defeat of the USA softball team to win the gold medal. It was days after that when the IOC voted to remove softball from the program for the 2012 Olympics – presumably because the Americans were too dominant in the sport even though Japan had just won the gold!

Now Japan is in the spotlight again as Tokyo will be the host of the 2020 games. The city undoubtedly will be pushing to have softball and baseball included in their games. Plus, both sports definitely would help the Olympics gain more fans, sponsors and broadcast revenues.

Click here for the full story. (Click here for today's 2015 USA Softball Women's National Team roster.)

DOVER THINGS TO DO

WOLVERINE SKILLS & PROSPECT CAMP ALMOST HERE: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22

If you are not at the softball camp...
Things to do when visiting
Dover, Saturday, November 22  

Will you be a parent, friend or guest of a player at the Wolverines Softball Skills & Prospect Camp on Saturday, November 22, that has traveled from a distance?

Click here for www-oversized campus map

Wondering how you will kill time while your athlete is busy ALL DAY with 44 other campers and 17 players plus coaches from the Wesley Wolverine softball team?

Well, Dover – capital of the first state – has plenty to do from tax free shopping to a major casino to wine and brewery tours to endless activities for the curious about history, the arts, nature or the relaxed country living lifestyle. Some stops can take a few minutes, while others can consume most of the day. There's a partial list of “things to do” in, around, and near Dover displayed below.

Or, click here for Kent County tourism website.

Wesley West Field House, 511 Mary Street, Dover, DE

For sports fans or those considering Wesley College for a student's degree, the big event of the day is the 2:00 PM Wolverine basketball game on campus at the Wentworth Gynasium, where seating is always close to the court and the game's fast paced action.

During the skills & prospect camp, there also will be tours of the campus provided by the Wesley Wolverine softball players. (Click here to arrange a college visit, but only Monday – Friday, on a weekday date.) 

WHAT'S HAPPENING ON
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22

Reynolds DuPont softball field

■ SOFTBALL CAMP SCHEDULE 
 
8:30 AM: 
Sign-in
9:00- 11:00 AM: 
Hitting & speed testing
11:00- 12:00 PM: 
Pitching and catching
12:00 PM: 
Lunch
1:45- 3:15 PM: 
Infield
3:30- 5:00 PM: 
Outfield

Players pick 2 of the last 3 sessions with free time for campus tour and Q&A with team members. Events held at Wesley West Field House and – WEATHER PERMITTING – Reynolds DuPont softball field, 511 Mary Street, Dover, DE. NO SPECTATORS permitted at indoor (Wesley West) sessions. CLICK HERE for camp brochure.

THINGS TO DO FOR VISITORS, 11/22,
WHILE PLAYERS ARE INVOLVED WITH CAMP

■ MEN'S BASKETBALL, 
2:00 PM, Wesley Wolverines versus Washington College Shoremen on campus at the Wentworth Gymnasium, 400 Clara Street, Dover, DE. 

The season has just begun for the Wesley Wolverines basketball team. Last year, they won the Capital Athletic Conference regular season title with their best record, 23-4, in Wesley's program history. Included last fall/ winter was a program-record 12-game winning streak and a national ranking that reached as high as #6 on February 3, 2014.

Dover Downs

DIVERSIONS

■ CASINO, Dover Downs, 1131 N. Dupont Highway, Dover, (302) 674-4600.

■ TAX FREE HOLIDAY SHOPPING along Dover's DuPont Highway (Rt. 13) and in and around town. Major stores: Sears / Kohls / Kmart / Target / Boscov's / Wal-Mart / JCPenney / Sam's Club / hhgreg / BestBuy / Staples / Lowes / Home Depot / Michaels / AC Moore.

 MOVIES/ THEATER

Schwartz Center

■ CARMIKE CINEMAS, Dover Mall, 1365 N. Dupont Highway, Dover. Click here for showtimes.

■ SATURDAY MATINEE at 2:00 PM, Xmen: Days of Future Past, Dover Public Library, 35 E Loockerman St, Dover, (302) 736-7030

■ WIZARD OF OZ, Schwartz Center, presented by Children's Theater, Inc, 226 S State St, Dover, (302) 678-3583.

Harvest Ridge

BREWERY/ WINERY

■ FORDHAM & OLD DOMINION BREWING, 1284 Mc D Dr., Dover, DE, (302) 678-4810. Tours and tastings.

■ HARVEST RIDGE WINERY, 447 Westville Rd, Marydel, DE. (302) 343-9437. Tours and tastings. (13 miles west of Dover.)

ART

Biggs Museum

■ ART EXHIBITIONS, Biggs Museum of Art, 406 Federal St, Dover, (302) 674-2111.

■ ART SHOW,  Delaware Byways and Treasures at the Dover Art League, 21 West Loockerman Street, Dover, (302) 674-0402.

■ ART SHOW, Paintings by Jacklyn Weldin at the Dover Art League,, 21 West Loockerman Street, Dover, (302) 674-0402.

Center Ice Rink

RECREATION

■ PUBLIC SKATING, 12:00 – 1:30 PM, Center Ice Rink, Delaware State Fair grounds, 18500 S Dupont Hwy, Harrington, DE (17 miles south of Dover).

■ SHOOTING RANGE, Shooters Choice, 5105 N Dupont Hwy, Dover, (302) 736-5166


POKING AROUND

Amish community

■ AMISH COUNTRY, Dover Amish settlement is around, near and off Route 8, west of Dover. Click here for Amish shopping.

■ SCENIC DRIVE, Route 9 Coastal Heritage Byway, two-lane road runs by Dover along the Delaware River and Bay Estuary.

■ VICTORIAN HOMES/ HISTORIC DISTRICTS on the National Register in and around Dover, DE. Most Victorian homes along State Street, the eastern boundary of the Wesley College campus.

HISTORY 

John Dickinson Plantation

■ REVOLUTION-ERA HOME, John Dickinson Plantation, 340 Kitts Hummock Rd, Dover, (302) 760-2080.

■ FIRST STATE HERITAGE PARK. Welcome Center & Galleries, 121 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd N, Dover, DE, (302) 744-5055.

■ GREEN IN DOVER. Old State House located at The Green's center, Dover, DE.

MUSEUMS

Aircraft display on Air Force Base

■ AIRCRAFT DISPLAY – extensive exhibits & planes at the Air Mobility Command Museum, 1301 Heritage Rd, Dover, (302) 677-5938

■ SOUND-RECORDING HISTORY, Johnson Victrola Museum, 375 S New St, Dover, (302) 744-5055.

Bombay Hook

NATURE

■ LITTLE CREEK WILDLIFE AREA, Bayside Drive Road (Near intersection of S. Little Creek Road and Bayside Drive), Dover, DE. (302) 284-1077. Hunting, fishing, crabbing, bird watching.

■ ESTUARINE TRAIL, St Jones Reserve, 818 Kitts Hummock Road, Dover, (302) 739-6377.

■ WILDLIFE REFUGE, Bombay Hook, 2591 Whitehall Neck Rd, Smyrna, DE, (302) 653-9345 (12 miles north of Dover, DE)

VALERIE ARIOTO

From PlayPositive series
Valerie Arioto advises
about injury prevention
  
Valerie Arioto, former USSSA Pride 1B/P, lists below her best practices for softball injury prevention... 

Valerie Arioto launches a grand slam while playing 
for the USA Softball National Team at University of 
Houston 10-11-2011. Photo by Michael E. Johnson.

1. CARDIO: Staying in shape by doing cardio.

2. LIFTING: Weight lifting to strengthen muscles, small muscles too.

3. TIME OUT:
Rest and recovery.

4. ICE: Icing after practice and games.

5. REHAB: Doing the necessary rehab on aches and pains.

6. MENTAL PREP: Being mentally prepared, sometimes injuries happen when we do something timid or unsure.

CLICK HERE for the full Liberty Mutual PlayPositive story.

VETERANS DAY

Saluting, honoring, thanking all vets today
America's Wounded Warriors
keep on giving, working with children

Excerpts below from an article titled “Wounded Warrior Softball brings veterans competition and confidence” by Larry Hawley at Fox 59 (Indianapolis).  
CLICK HERE for the full story.

► Softball team

“The Wounded Warrior Softball Team... is fielded with all amputees from the ages of 23 to 53 but most are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts....

“Players live all over the country and meet at an airport in a city before an event and then travel there together. During the late spring, summer and fall they play in every corner of the United States but stick to warm weather places like California, Arizona and Florida during the winter...

“During the three-and-a-half years of existence there is one requirement for an opponent of this veteran team: They must feature all able-bodied players.

► Children's camps

“The team has sponsored softball camps for children who are amputees, offering lessons and advice to a group of 20 each year.

“The first was held at Walt Disney World with the second in Louisville this past summer.”

Click on the video below for more about the Wounded Warriors Softball Team and their work with children.