So here are my individual stats on the day:
Game 1- 1 for 1 with 2 walks.
Game 2- 2 for 5 with a single and a double
Overall- 3 for 6 (.500), 2 walks, 2 RBIs, and 4 runs scored
Naturally, after my first games, my dad blew up my phone and bombarded me with questions about it. So after testing my patience and answering as many questions as I could handle (which was only about 3), I told him to send me an email with all of his questions and I would use it to write my blog. So the following questions are just a little glimpse into my life and dealing with countless questions from my father, Scotty G.
The Scotty G Interrogation
Road Trip
o How did the actual bus compare to those you've taken for college road trips? The bus was just like any charter bus we took with Ohio and we each got our own two seats to ourselves. The only thing different was that I don't think there was a bathroom on the bus.
o How did the actual bus compare to those you've taken for college road trips? The bus was just like any charter bus we took with Ohio and we each got our own two seats to ourselves. The only thing different was that I don't think there was a bathroom on the bus.
o On bus, is there video, or wi-fi ... any plans to introduce bus-karaoke? There were some TVs I saw but we didn't use them this trip. No wi-fi and no plans to introduce bus-karaoke although the girls brought speakers and had a mini dance party in the back of the bus. That's close enough.
o How long was the trip to Parma? It took about 2 1/2 hours. That is including stopping at an "AutoGrill" which is like a gas station with food and restrooms before we arrived at the field. Oh, and of course half of the bus had to get some coffee at the AutoGrill!
o Any interesting sights of Italy along the way? When we started driving I was looking out the window in the hopes of seeing something interesting. But after looking out the window for 30 minutes and realizing it looked just like driving around Ohio, I decided to take a nap. Elda told me that there were apparently a couple of sites that we drove by that I missed because I was sleeping though!
In Parma
o What was the city of Parma like? Same as Forli, or more Italian-ish? Again, I didn't see much of the city. But from what I did see, it was similar to Forli.
o Did you buy any cheese, or at least see any cheese shops? Unfortunately, no. But I did get a sandwich with cheese on it. Does that count?
Parma Field
o How does the Parma field compare to your home Forli field? This field was way nicer! The girls told me that this field is one of the nicest of all the fields we play at. It was a complex with some baseball fields at it too. It had stadium seating and the dirt and grass was really nice too!
o Are the field dimensions/fences similar to most college fields? In center it was about 230 ft, and the left and right field was at about 220 feet. (Compared to Ohio's center = 220 feet and left and right field = 200 feet.)
o How are the crowds at the game? The crowd seemed pretty good at this game, I think someone said between 100 and 200 people there. But I don't know if that's because this field and complex is nice and there was an IBL baseball game being played at the field next to us which could have attracted more crowds.
o Were many of the players' parents there? Yes, a lot of the parents were there. Three of the parents who help out at practice and help work on our field rode the bus with us. And some other parents met us at the field. I would say maybe about half of the team's parents were at the game. But we also have our manager and founder of the team who travel to all of the games with us for extra support!
o Is there an admission charge for the games? For our home games there is no admission charge for the games. But for this Parma complex I am not sure if there was admission. I am guessing no, but I am not positive.
About The Game
o Are the pre-game warm-ups any different from what you're used to? Same as always. Because I am a catcher, I went through the hitting warm up first and went straight into catching the pitcher to warm her up for the game.
o Do they play the Italian National Anthem before the game? Yes.
o In a previous blog, you said terms like "Balls" "Strikes" "Outs" are all the same English words. Any difficulties with communication during the game? No, not really. At practices we have worked on the important vocabulary I need to know but otherwise there wasn't much difficulty. Two of the pitchers I caught, speak English very well so that made it easier when I needed to communicate with them.
o Do Umpires speak English? For instance, you might wanna ask "where did that miss" or "can you ask for help on the check-swing", etc. Any difficulties there? At the very beginning of the game when our pitcher was throwing her warm up pitches the umpire came up behind me and said something in Italian that I didn't understand. I looked at him and said "Non parlo italiano." He then repeated himself in English and told me he was going to watch a couple of her warm up pitches. After this happened, both umpires made a point to speak to me in English and when I was at bat they even told me my count in English! So at least with these umpires, they spoke English well enough for me to be able to communicate with them as much as I needed to.
o In a previous blog, you said batters must keep 1 foot in the box when getting signs. Any other interesting differences? Not really with the rules of the game. Except every player needs their passport or some form of identification to show before the game. Also, instead of saying "good game" after the game, we say "ciao" here.
Game Play
o What is the pitching speed/movement like at this level? Specifically, how do your own Forli pitchers compare to college pitchers you've caught? Our pitchers vary from mid-high 50s to low 60s. The pitchers I have caught have pretty good movement as well. Nothing crazy like the pitchers you see in the Women's College World Series, but it's kind of similar to what I've caught in college.
o When catching, do you call pitches, or does the coach handle that? If you call the game, do you enjoy doing that again? I call pitches. Yes, I enjoy doing that again because it makes me more involved and mentally focused on the game.
o Is there lots of cheering/chanting from the dugout like in the U.S.? Yes, I think about all of the cheers our team did were in English too! So they were all the same ones I've heard before.
o Game 1 ended early after 5 innings, with score 8-1. What is the Mercy Rule in Italy? With International Rules the Mercy Rule is: 15 runs after 3, 10 runs after 4, or 7 runs after 5 innings.
Dad (because I doubt anybody else would be interested in reading this)--here is a link to the International Softball Rules: http://www.isfsoftball.org/english/rules_standards/rulebook.pdf
o Do batting helmets have the wire face guards? Do any pitchers wear face guards? Some of the helmets do have wire face guards, but like college, it is by choice of the batter. None of the pitchers on our team or the Parma team wore the face guards.
LiveStats Access to Games
For fans wanting to access the games, they have a link to LiveStats, similar to Game Tracker. It works pretty well, and is conveniently in English. Easy to look at play-by-play, as well as team/player stats throughout the game. With the 6 pm Italy start time, it's easy for us to follow: 12 pm (Eastern) and 9 am (Pacific).
STEP 1: Go to http://www.fibs.it/
STEP 2: Click on the LARGE box titled "Live Baseball" (might need to scroll, but you can't miss it).
STEP 3: Click on the button titled "LIVE" next to the "Fiorini Forli" team (scroll past list of Baseball games to get to list of Softball games)
NOTE: Games don't always start on time, so you might need to refresh the screen every so often until the LiveStats pops into view for the first time. After that, it works like normal.
Here are some pictures my boyfriend took while watching the LiveStats from my games yesterday! I don't know why my name has my middle name attached to it. Also, my grandpa pointed out that it is easy to tell that I'm the only one who isn't Italian... Because my last name doesn't end in a vowel. Very observant, gramps!
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| Catching |
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| One of my at bats |
GELATO
TRACKER
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6
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Love your posts Lauren. Congrats on getting your first professional hit on your first professional at bat! Awesome!
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