It’s that time of year again…It’s 35 degrees tonight, there is still snow on the ground, we are bundled up and cheering away. It’s softball, Alaska style!
My daughter, Nicole is playing on the varsity squad as a sophomore for Houston High School here in the Mat-Su Valley.
We are playing Colony High (Palmer) starting at 6:00 for the junior varsity game followed by the varsity game at 7:45. We started the evening with our little annual picnic, the Forto way–Subway sandwiches in the truck as we wait for the games to begin.
Nicole is wearing number 5 this year. The number I wore all through my sports career. She has also been recruited as a somewhat of a junior coach helping the younger players on their skills. Nicole is one of the few girls that has played softball most of her life.
She started the game in right field–reason being she can back up first base–whom doesn’t have a lot of experience at the position.
At her first at bat of the season Nicole hit a single and eventually ran into home. Second at bat, same thing. Not a bad way to start off!
The Hawks ended up with a tie 12-12.
This will be a bittersweet season for Nicole. She probably won’t play next year because she was accepted into the Alaska Middle College–a hybrid high school and college program offered through the University of Alaska-Anchorage. In this program she will earn credits for graduation of high school but also an Associates degree. We left it up to her and she chose college classes over staying at Houston. She will be allowed to play next year according to the college program through her home high school but we will have to see, that is a year away.
Until then we will cheer on our little girl and the team! Up next, games on the Kenai peninsula this weekend. I plan on driving down to watch the team play!
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