Back to School!

The Mason Softball team is back on campus and getting involved in some big things!

They tackled the fitness test, attended their first classes of the semester (on time and in the front of class we hope!) and adopted a new team member all in one week!

Be sure to keep up with Mason Softball this year through http://www.gomason.com as well as our facebook, twitter and this blog!

Tara is our newest addition to the Mason SB family, and by far the youngest! Tara, an 8 year old from the Fairfax area, was diagnosed with Stage 2 Astrocytoma, a form of pediatric brain cancer. She is a softball fan and a Mason fan and thanks to the Friend of Jaclyn Foundation, she is now a Mason Softball member! The team met her for the first time yesterday and we are so excited to see what the year will bring with Tara in tow!

 

GW at Home

Looking forward to playing George Washington at home tomorrow. The game will be the second time we have faced this GW squad this season and with a payback win on our minds, the team goes to work today. Lots to be done, we are always improving!

Long Time No Post…

We have been on the move lately! We hosted a number of tournaments and have just recently started CAA conference play! We opened up with a three game series vs. UNC-Wilmington. We won the series 2-1 and played some good quality softball in the meantime. This past weekend, we traveled to Delaware and took the series there as well. We had an offensive outpouring on Sunday putting up 11 hits and 8 runs!

We have a tough double-header tomorrow vs. Maryland, which will prove to be a good test for us and then we return home again this weekend for a series against James Madison University. We play at 12 and 2PM on Saturday and again at noon on Easter Sunday. Come on out and see us, we are looking to keep up the great work!

It’s GAME WEEK!

We are getting ready to host our first tournament of the year! This year is the Patriot Classic and we are welcoming Marist, Rider, Cornell and Akron to Fairfax. We are looking to face some good quality competition and hoping to pick up some good wins. We are slated to play a double-header tomorrow, Friday March 2, and have one game each day following on Saturday and Sunday. The game schedule is posted on our website (www.gomason.com) and any changes or updates will be posted there throughout the weekend. We are looking to have a good crowd of Patriot supporters! Come on out this weekend and support. Admission is free for all the games. We are looking forward to seeing you!

Work to do…

It was FREEZING in Myrtle Beach this past weekend! We were not quite expecting the temperatures in the 30’s and the 25 mile per hour winds! We went south to get away from the cold! Alas, we played through it and got a little practice in dealing with adversity. After the conclusion of our first tournament, and a much needed day of rest, we are back to practice and we have work to do. We dropped a couple games this past weekend to some good competition, but it was great to get on the field and play against someone other than ourselves. We are continuing to put in good work in practice because our work is never done. With that being said, we are moving forward and preparing for another weekend of high quality softball. We play in the USC Upstate Tournament this weekend and are hoping for good weather, good competition, and good quality wins. Go Mason!

 

Four More Days!

FOUR MORE DAYS!

After watching the NFL season close last night with the Super Bowl, (great game!),  the anticipation for softball/baseball season to start, is growing by the minute.  MLB Opening day is only 58 days away, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY; we get to open up this Friday vs. George Washington University!

The excitement for this weekend is very apparent online.  Just this morning alone, I have seen at least 4-5 Facebook status updates from teammates containing countdowns.  We are all pumped to translate our hard work in practice, lifting, and conditioning into success on the field!

The last two weeks have provided ideal weather conditions for practicing outside. We are very fortunate, as some teams aren’t outside until their first game!  The forecast looks good in Myrtle Beach, SC too, low 60’s and sunny.

There is a lot of preparation that goes into a road trip before we hop on the bus.  Each of us has an excused absence form to give to our professors.  Girls that have Thursday night and Friday classes are expected to be proactive about missed classes/assignments.  We recently received the remainder of our gear.  It’s obviously essential to bring every uniform piece and all your socks!  Not to mention some garb for dinner and downtime.  Packing a snack or two for the road trip is also advised.  (My go-to: pretzel goldfish).  Don’t forget about updating the iPod too!

The hype for this weekend will continue to grow as we put in two more days of hard work before we head South.  I am looking forward to the trip and this weekend’s games.  Be sure to keep up with us on GoMason.com, Twitter and Facebook for updates throughout the weekend.  GO MASON!

-Emily Lafferty #1, Junior

Our beautiful team at the student-athlete formal this past weekend! They clean up nice don’t they?

This past Sunday was the Student-Athlete Winter Formal. Softball had one of the highest team attendance rates at the dance, as they were supporting their teammate, (and SAAC Social Committee Chair Member) Alyssa See!  Coach Steele and Coach Shaw were kind enough to volunteer to chaperone the dance and in return got to see all of the players all dolled up!

TEN MORE DAYS!

Just over a calendar week until our first game and we could not be more excited. We are full steam ahead on our progress to being game ready. The team got a couple of very productive days of practice in this weekend, and after a much needed day off yesterday, they are ready to get back on the field today. We will be sure to update you all with some posts from the players as they get ready for their first games of the 2012 season. GO PATRIOTS!

Quick Update…

Getting back was exciting and the last few days have been very productive! Friday evening everyone was anxious and nervous because none of us had any idea of what we would be doing that night for our first practice. This initial day was the first of three hard days of work. We began Friday and Saturday with circuit training that consisted of 45 seconds of various exercises. Some of the exercises included: tuck jumps, split squat jumps, squat jumps, box jumps, and ab work. There was also a lot of agility work that certainly got our blood flowing! After the circuits, we ended with other conditioning exercises that included 33’s, (running baseline to baseline 3 times down and back in 33 seconds) sprinting around the track, and running up and down stairs. Each day after the conditioning we split up into hitting groups and got some good work in.

Monday was our day off and I came in to hit with a couple of the other girls. We are really trying to set the bar high this year and the effort we are all giving is really helping us achieve that goal. We know we have to put the work in to be the team we all want to be. It is essential to have all of us on the same page and being a senior I would definitely say that this year has been the best for that.

Today was our first full day of practice at 6:30 A.M.  The infielders got back into the swing of things quickly with our big fours that included shuffles, backhands, short-hops, and hop-hop-spread.  The outfielders began with their drop steps and then we all threw long toss. Once our arms were warm we went into live bunt scrimmage. For the first day of skill work it was very productive and flowed pretty smoothly.  All in all, the first couple of days have been hard, but definitely what we need to get us were we need and want to be this season.

Rachael Davies #00, Senior

Sacrifice:

“Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.”

-James M. Barrie