I already posted a couple of weeks ago that my nieces university team started their season down in Tennessee. This past weekend though we actually got to see softball on the major networks and it was a beautiful sight to behold!
Starting on Thursday February 13th, the Shriner's Children's Clearwater Invitational took place down in Clearwater Florida. Over the course of four days forty individual games of softball were played in this invitation only showcase. It's actually kind of cool because you get to see teams face off against each other that you might not otherwise until the post season.
From what I can see, Clearwater looks like a really beautiful place, but I kind of have a hard time getting over the fact that it is like the scientology capitol of the world. After hearing all the nasty stuff they do and how misguided they are, I'd rather stay as far away from them as possible.
Not a big deal given I don't think either of my nieces will ever be playing in this tournament. As I said, it's invitation only and they generally only send those invites to some of the elite teams in the country.
I was actually surprised to see some of the southern teams weren't represented from like Texas and Oklahoma, but I guess they were having their own tournament. As my brother in law pointed out. If you have the facilities to hold your own tournament, wouldn't you rather those millions of dollars flow into your accounts versus Florida. Of course with a name like Shriner's Hospital behind it I am sure a portion of that money was going to a good cause, but still... Good point!
Probably the most interesting thing for me is the fact that only two Big Ten teams were represented in the showcase. I don't really think it was a tournament because there appeared to be no bracket or anything like that.
UCLA and Ohio State were lucky enough to get the nods from the event organizers. I'm not deluded enough to think that Michigan State or Michigan should be at the top of every list, but I kind of expected to see at least more than two Big 10 teams here. I guess that just shows you how much the south dominates softball!
Ohio State started off the weekend with a huge loss to Florida State 9 to 1 on Friday. In fact they got run ruled with the game ending in five innings. Then UCLA fell to Oklahoma State 6 to 4.
Ohio State fared a bit better later in the day against Mizzou beating them 7 to 2. UCLA also bounced back in their own right run ruling Charlotte 10 to 0 in five innings.
On Saturday Ohio State took a tough loss against Alabama 9 to 5, and UCLA beat Kentucky 3 to 1. Later that day, UCLA took their swing at Alabama beating them 6 to 3. Finally, on Sunday UCLA fell to Virginia 7 to 6, and Ohio State got hammered by Clemson 11 to 3 in six innings before playing a 4 to 4 tie against UCF (University of Central Florida) that got rained out in five innings.
Don't quote me on this, but I think that Auburn was the only team to go undefeated the whole weekend. We watched some really impressive games
It was fun watching my nieces get excited about softball being right around the corner again. Even though our older niece is not playing this year, I have a feeling she is going to be her younger sisters biggest cheerleader!
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