Tuesday, July 21, 2009

euro softball

If i was still in high school thinking about my future in softball and in life in general , i would have never imagined myself playing softball in puerto rico. it's definitly an accomplishment and a step to a much bigger and better opportunities in life itself!

like i said, i was going to save the best for last.

well, let me tell you around june, i have recieved a phone call from a man named Marc Collat, who is involved in the professional sports industry in South Africa, Italy and in France. they are in the process of building a professional softball team in france and have offered me a contract which the amount i will not disclose in public.

unfortunetly , season practices would start in july 30th. i have already committed myself to this team in puerto rico and wasn't looking for another "option" while i was here.

another reason why i chose not to join , is because season is from september til april of 2010. i wasn't planning to celebrate my birthday without my family since i've been gone already and the fact that i miss them terribly!

so i made a wise choice. many of you would have jumped into the offer like a lunatic. not me. in order to understand where i am coming from. all this is a business. there is no guarantee that you will make the team, even if you sign a contract.

Here, where i stand now. its guaranteed ! besides, being committed made me feel good. i did this for my team....

but im not overwhelmed by this. more and more opportunities are coming into my life. can i imagine myself, representing the Mexican National Team in Nicaragua for the 2010 world cup? definitly! i've been in constant contact with the treasurer of the national team and they are in need of a pitcher, im just a lucky girl aren't i?

being a girl from a small town and doing big things is amazing!

oh crap! how could i forget about spain...yes, spain 2010? we'll see....

i guess i can say im not feeling so guilty when i decided not to play JC ball....its all coming together :)

the opportunities in softball

hey :)

its been awhile since i've blogged. but im back. i just recently finished a video of me, my sister and a teammate of mine when we went to old san juan and el morro. it was really fun! i really enjoyed my time with these girls!

i remember back in the states, many of my coaches weren't aware that there is professional softball league in the united states. many thought DI as far as any softball player could go in their career. think again..

since i've been here there has been many opportunites that have presented itself to me. i recently met the head softball coach for the puerto rican national team and he talked to me about trying out for the national softball team for mexico. in fact i didn't know there was such team of softball that existed in mexico!

so im super psyched about all these opportunities. of course this has been such a wonderful experience for me and my sister. but coming back again? maybe...its definitly a maybe.

right now. summer now. i just want to focus on softball and nothing else. when i come back im in the urge to finish college and get the bachelor's out of the way. and maybe i could resume traveling again.....

i would definitly consider traveling to europe. spain is one place i would love to visit.

since i've been here. my outlook in life has definitly changed. im becoming more mature about life in general. all i wish is some independece.....but im not complainng.

i definitly miss my family back home. so far i've heard the weather is super hott!! im sure not missing anything here , ha!

one thing im truely missing is moms cooking : how can i go another week without home made chile rellenos and damn mexican food? all there is here is taco bell. of course they have tijuana bar and grill but im not spendin $60 in an evening..that could be spent on jetskii and stuff like that lol

but yes, mom if you are reading this, save you hands for when i come back, you will be needing those to be feeding me !!!!!!!!

::::::::::::::about last week ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

so before i go on, i need to tell you how this team had the last three years..winless....saturday we broke the 25 game losing streak ! san lorenzo is a fair team. it was a double header both wins 5-3, 7-2 . we definitly knocked their socks out! after the game we gathered at one of the girls houses and partied til 3 am. so yea i stayed up late but did nothing crazy, i promise!

the coach is planning to take the girls out to culebra island. i was thinking of going island hopping to the virgin islands!!!!!!!!!!!! yes i know...life is totally sweet :D


i'll save the better for next time

♥ tyson

comunicado de prensa - Cayey vs. Roosevelt

La noche del sábado 4 de Julio, Dia de la Independencia fue una noche de dobles victorias en el softbol superior femenino para los equipos de Cayey, Hatillo y Las Piedras.


En Cayey, las Toritas se impusieron a las Cangrejeras de Roosevelt 7-3 y 13-1. Hatillo triunfó en su casa sobre Barceloneta 1-0 y 18-3; mientras que Las Piedras como visitante le asestó dos derrotas más a las campeonas de Juncos, 4-0 y 11-1.


Racimos de tres carreras en las dos primeras entradas abrieron el juego temprano en Cayey para las locales. Alvis Rivera se apuntó la victoria y perdió la refuerzo mejicana María Gómez. Ambas poncharon 7 bateadoras. Las mejores bateadoras fueron por Cayey Isabel Olivares que bateó de 3-2 con dos impulsadas y por Roosevelt lo fue Mayra Valdez quien bateó de 3-2. En el segundo partido Lissandra Berrios bateó un jonrón e impulsó 4 carreras para facilitar la labor de la lanzadora ganadora Coralys Meléndez por la regla especial del nocaut 13-1. Oliveras bateó de 4-4 mientras que Roosevelt fue lidereado por Franceska Martínez que bateó de 2-2. Perdió el partido Isángelie Vélez.


En Hatillo, Maritsabel González lanzó su segunda blanqueada del torneo imponiendose en un duelo de lanzadoras a la barcelonetense Chloris Juarbe, 1-0. Marangely Rodríguez produjo la única carrera del juego con un doble impulsador en la cuarta entrada. Por Barceloneta Audry Michelli fue la mejor con un doble en dos turnos. A pesar de ser la derrotada Juarbe permitió solo dos “hits” y ponchó a 8. En el segundo partido las Ganaderas volvieron a imponerse, esta vez por nocaut 18-3 por el descontrol de las lanzadoras de Barceloneta que propinaron 8 pelotazos y concedieron multiples bases por bolas. Ganó Yazmin Torres y perdió Miosotis Aponte. Elimarys Padín bateó de 2-2 con un “grand slam” y Aurimir Rivera bateó de 3-2 con un triple impulsador de tres carreras. Por Barceloneta Chloris Juarbe bateó de 1-1 con una carrera impulsada.


Las Artesanas de Las Piedras no dejaron dudas de su calidad y superaron a un diezmado y errático equipo de Juncos por partida doble para tranquilidad de su apoderado Marcos Aldrich. Las Piedras había perdido dos juegos luego de estar en ventaja en la última entrada. Erica Bennet fue la autora de la blanqueada, lanzando todo el juego y ponchando a 5 rivales. Carolyn Oquendo bateó un jonrón en tres turnos y Aleimalee López se fue de 3-2 para ser las mejores en la ofensiva ganadora. La torpedera Krystell Valliere bateó de 3-2 por Juncos quien tuvo a María Rivera como la lanzadora derrotada. En el segundo encuentro Karla Claudio solo permitió 4 imparables y tambien ponchó 5 contrarias para apuntarse el triunfo 11-1, su segundo del torneo.

Perdió Sari Guzmán. Jennifer Bonilla bateó un triple en tres turnos con tres impulsadas para ser la mejor en la ofensiva de las Artesanas, mientras que Brenda Colón y Tania Oquendo batearon de 1-1 por Juncos.

El partido entre Hatillo y Las Piedras pautado para hoy Domingo 5 fue suspendido por lluvia y reasignado para el 19 de Julio.

about the league

hey everyone :-)

im two weeks into my summer job as an athlete here in puerto rico. this island is amazing. i love my new team and the coaches and the staff. so far it's been an unbelievable experience.

la liga feminina de softbol in puerto rico ( which is the league i am in ) is the strongest in all of the caribbean. all teams travel to the united states to participate in international softball competitions. on January , a team from our league won the ASA International Softball cup which was held in orlando Florida. Teams like venezuela , USA U-21 team, canada and other international teams were there.

This is a big deal for me ...this league is in conjunction to the puerto rican national team. when i signed my contract i became eligible to be part of that team. but at the moment i must prove myself.

this is not just a summer league ball. this is more than just summer ball. its a big deal trust me.

so far the competition is pretty real. we got some girls who play DI ball in the mainland and are here to continue their play during the summer. so far i have met really cool people.

ethics here are a bit different. the coaches are laid back, which helps me feel a bit more comfortable with myself. i hate arriving to practice knowing im going to fail. here its different. its the kind of support i've been looking for.

so far these past two weeks have been such a huge change in my life. never have i dreamt of coming to puerto rico. never crossed my mind. i was happy when the opportunity presented itself. i guess im the luckiest girl along with these girls who are here to compete.

gee..i have failed to mention that professional scouts are going to be coming to our games. there are professional softball in japan, italy , switzerland and in other parts of world. these guys will be traveling to puerto rico to find talent!

another thing is that the league holds its own all star games. you know like the ones you see on tnt about the nba. except its softball. i think it wll be cool to call myself an all star..don't you think?


well our team goal is to win the national championship! yes we are setting the high standard because we want to be better. this is a huge team and we have some potential athletes here. this girls can play and don't shy away from adversity.

so we are going to keep working hard...cause i did not come 3,000 miles to go back home empty handed.....im determined...than never before


tyson

saturday pre game

so...



the tournament went well lol. we lost by two but we did fairly well. the league is very competitive. and i love it. the coach tried to get everyone some game time but the blue was to bitchy and ended the game early than expected. its' like ethics doens't exist here...

so far i was able to see every team in the league out here and the competition. there are two great teams that are loaded with DI talent. but i won't shy away, instead i look at this as an oppotunity to see how i can stand in the competition. always turning negatives into positives

my team looks good , we just need to work our way up. it seemed like we had those first time jitters but all that came crashing into the second inning. errors and more erros. but it's okay this game doesn't count. so far the team chemistry is great!

i know this team will improve. we have great athletes here. im very positive we can get through the league. there are several teams below average so i think are in pretty good rank here. but there are four teams that are serious competition.

this girl plays in the mainland and is currently playing summer ball here in puerto rico. she's amazing....

she has all the pitches going for her. she's also a great batter. i used my camera so for when we face them i can do some scouting myself.

this summer is going to be great! i feel like im going to get better and so is the team.

not to long ago did i start feeling lonely cause im 3,000 miles away from home.


i miss my baby princess. she's my chihuahua and she means the world to me :D im really used to having to share my bedside to her. she always slept with me and at midnight she'd run to my moms room. but now, i've got no one to cuddle with :(

she's beautiful!! i currently have a desktop picture on my laptop of her. and on my blackberry phone. that's how much i miss her.

i already bought her a cute shirt that says " soy boricua como tu" she is going to look so cute haha.

so now that we ( me and my sister) have explored alittle bit of the neighboorhood we live in , we learned a little about el condado. it's a boring tourist site. in order to learn the puerto rican culture and history we need to get out of this place ...

so we plan on visiting a el yunque which is the national forest in puerto rico. i want to take pictures of waterfalls. i've been dying to do so when we went to hawaii but was never able to see one :( but it's okay im in puerto rico and im sure their are plenty of them.

we also plan to visit el morro. which is located en el old san juan. there is alot of history in that place so i want to shoot a video for you guys:) it's beautiful from what i hear. you can google it if you want to see pictures of it. it's only a 10 minute drive from el condado.

we aren't going to visit this place any time soon. we need to get softball done first. when we do have our free time then that's when we will allow the time to visit the island.

so far in my stay i have not eaten a puerto rican food. i've been craving it and el condado isn't much of place where they serve the food. it's more like japanese and italian food. which sucks.....


but so far my stay has been pretty good. the fact that i can be independent is helping cope with the fact that im freakin far from home. im lookin at it as process of growing pains haha........


well television is limited for me. now that we are here we try to get out as much. go to the beach is what we mainly do since we only live like a block from it. the only thing im scared is that fact that when hurricane season approaches, is that it wont wash out my apartment building lol.


but its okay , im turningn negatives into positives...i'd be back home sooner ! lol


nah so far my stay has been good. im loving each moment here. and so far im living a dream ;-)

love you guys ,

tyson

practice : take two

hey guys:-)

practice today was amazing!!! i signed my contract for this summer to stay commited to this team. el dirigente was impressed with my pitching. i can't wait for this weekend game verses cayey. im very excited yet nervous.

the team is looking awesome! i love this team, we are a family, this girls are very supportive. i've never been with a group of girls like this before. this is somewhat of a dream to me , really....

my pitching has improved immensely. we've been working with a strength and conditioning coach and with our pitching coach. they've been very helpful to me and we are going to do awesome this year :-)

we have a great hitting team. we very strong. this girls don't play and level lower than JC. this girls are better off playing DI. honestly. physically and mentally prepared this team will go far.


as i was signing my contract, i read that the league has an all star game. the best players are chosen to participate!....i want to be an all star.


guys...this is like a professsional league....im the happiest person ever



i love this team. i love my coach. i love the community of roosevelt who supports our team and organization.


im only hoping for the best......and it feels so good to sign a contract



for those who thought i'd never do something in life....well, i proved you wrong

my first practice

my softball diary part 1


hey :-)

soo let me start of by saying puerto rico is beautiful! the people are great here , really! the weather is very humid, which at times can feel much hotter than the heating pot of coalinga.lol

so as soon as i got off the plane. i immediately recognized the humidity in the air. of course i was dying inside cuz i was wearing sweat pants haha.

first day of practice: wasn't exactly how i wanted to be but like i said previously i need to embrace the challenges given to me. i did very well in my pitching and let me tell you the velocity increased sooo much it impressed the coach

my new teammates where very welcoming. they are very genuine young ladies. although my spanish isn't very good we we're still able to communicate.

before joining my new team here in puerto rico , i didn't expect the girls to be so nice. on other teams, these girls would rat eachother out. become jelous of one another and not be supportive to eachother. how do you call that a team?

well this team is different....

these girls are very supportive. this is what i love about this team. as long as we have team chemistry, this team will go far. and when i say that i mean it.

we do have five other pitchers. of course much younger than i am. with more time they will become better. i know it.

the team is physically strong. these girls can withstand anything! these girls work hard throughout practice. they seem like very dedicated individuals! and i love that about them :)


well now that we are here. let me brag about my apartment....it's pretty. a block from the beach. located en el condado. it's so beautiful haha.

we have our first game against cayey. im not sure how strong this team is but i know mine is. with more practice we'll be ready, i know it :)

well now i need to make another video for you guys....remember i love you and i want to hear from you so drop me a line or something haha

love ,

tyson ♥