But I thought everyone loved Canada...


Hey Everyone!!

Yesterday was crazy, insane, unexpected, emotional, adrenaline pumping and so much more.  No one could have anticipated yesterday's events, and to be honest, I am still in disbelief.  

Where to begin......

Venezuela and Canada have had a strong rivalry for years.  Although we are the better all-around team, Venezuela is scrappy and plays off of their energy and emotion.  When one person gets a hit, it is contagious and spreads through the lineup like wildfire.  We jumped ahead 3-0 in the top of the first and eventually scored another run, heading into the bottom of the seventh up 4-0.  Venezuela, out of nowhere, began pounding the ball and finding every single hole on the field.  We ended up squeaking by, winning by the skin of our teeth, 4-3. 

Our game against Cuba was when it got quite interesting.  Cuba is, like many of the South American countries, a feisty and scrappy team.  They swing harder than anyone I have ever seen; we describe their swings as from “out of their asses”.  The Cuban team threw two different pitchers, splitting the game, each throwing upwards of 68-69 mph.  If you don’t know softball too well, that’s freaking fast.  Regardless of their speed, we hit the ball well, tallying up 9 hits by the seventh inning.  

In the third inning, our first base coach, Dave, was told to move a few inches to his left, into the designated Coaches box in foul territory.  Claiming he was already in the box and that the chalk had been wiped away, he challenged the umpire, refused to budge, yelled a couple of words at him and was eventually ejected from the game.  Without another assistant coach, Odie, our team leader/manager was forced to take over as first base coach.  Odie was wearing a pair of nice black shorts, as was Coach Smith.  According to the international rulebook, Coaches on the field have to match.  The home plate umpire threw a fit, claiming that Coach Smith had to change shorts because his were too faded (they were a grayish black, obviously from sun exposure).  Coach Smith, Coach Dave, and about every player in our dugout was yelling at the umpires.  The stands erupted, chanting “juego”, meaning play.  After a fifteen-minute intermission of sorts, we had almost lost both coaches, players had received warning glares and the entire stands had turned against us, and were now chanting “CUBA!”.  

Throughout the entire game, it was apparent everyone on the field was against us.  The umpires called us out on every close call, the home plate umpire called strikes against us - two ball lengths off the plate, and our runners were called for leaving early, when their leads were actually late.  Ultimately, nothing was going our way.  In the fifth inning we began making our comeback.  Heather Ebert lead off the inning with a double to the wall, after two quick outs, I was up.  I lined a double to left field, putting another run on the board making it 4-2.  Jen Yee (who the Mexican announcers call "Gen Gee") then found the 5-6 hole and I headed home.  The Cuban catcher was set up on the inside part of the field, leaving a significant area of the plate open.  I dove headfirst into home, slipping my hand past the catcher and along the white part of the plate.  I got up, was high-fiving my teammates when the umpire called me out, so obviously the wrong call.  Nothing was going our way.  

We headed into the seventh down by two runs.  We held the Cubans to zeros that half-inning and headed into the dugout for our last at bats.  After a fast out, Heather was up again and launched one to deep centerfield.  Going back on the ball, the Cuban centerfielder caught the ball against the wall, robbing Heather of an easy homerun.  The entire game stopped, with two outs remaining in the game, their coaches and players raced out into centerfield, hugging and congratulating their player.  After the final out of the game, Cuba and the entire stands went insane.  Screaming and sprinting from all different directions, the Cubans met in the pitcher’s circle, celebrating as though they had just won the World Series.  Hoisting the centerfielder atop their shoulders, chanting “Viva Cuba”.  They didn’t even have the courtesy to give us a cheer and proceeded to slap our hands through the line.  I don’t know if I have ever left a game with such a bad taste in my mouth. 

The game was over and all we had to think about was today, winning these next two games against Argentina and Mexico.  We went out early this morning and demolished Argentina 11-0 in four innings, setting the standard for the remainder of the tournament.  Tonight we play Mexico at 9PM.  Thinking about how crazy the stands were against Cuba, tonight will be an entire different ballgame. 

GOO CANADA!

Love,

Victoria

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