On the first day of their trip, they drove to Gorham, Maine, to practice on the campus of the University of Southern Maine. The plan for the next day was to fly out of Manchester, New Hampshire, make a connection and land in Fort Myers. Mother Nature, however, had other plans. A huge snowstorm on the East Coast grounded the team in Maryland. “It was definitely upsetting since we were going to miss some time from our trip,” first-year infielder Paige Vose said.
The softball team wouldn’t get to fly out until 11 the next night, making it one extremely late night–or early morning, depending on how you look at it. “Overall, everyone came together well and understood that it wasn’t anything we could control,” Vose said. “I know that some of the memories I made just on the way to Florida will be some I will never forget.”
They then had to fly into Tampa International Airport, an entire two hours from their original airport in Fort Myers–where their rental cars waited for them. Because of the re-routing, the baseball team’s bus driver had to make the three-hour drive from Davenport to Tampa. And then from Tampa to Fort Myers. “We got to the hotel and situated around 5 a.m.,” Vose said. Despite this unholy hour, just like the baseball team, morale never wavered. The ultimate goal remained clear to the players. “Everyone was very anxious to get there, and the main reason was to be able to play softball,” Vose said.
The UMPI softball dugout cheers on during a March 16th game versus Kenyon College- photo courtesy of Jan Vose.
Both teams went through a lot just to make it to their spring trip destinations. This raises the question of what people will do to play the game they love. During the 30 hour drive, the goal remained the same as it did for the softball team during that long layover in Maryland: play ball. “Overall, I think guys were ready to play ball,” Nichols said.
Traveling long distances to play is nothing new if you play baseball or softball at UMPI. But for people from other places, it is much harder to comprehend. During a doubleheader against a team from Massachusetts, a bullpen catcher hollered out to the UMPI left fielder. “Hey left, did you guys drive here?” the catcher asked. He had a look of amazement having seen the UMPI bus in the parking lot with that iconic “North of Ordinary” slogan. The UMPI left fielder nodded. “No (expletive) way!” the catcher responded in awe. He then turned to his teammates in the bullpen again with a sense of disbelief at the long distance the UMPI team traveled. “They drove here…they’re basically from Canada!”
Both teams went up against some of the best competition they will face all year. The baseball team enjoyed two wins out of the nine games they played. The softball team won one out of 10. Despite the long travel and less than ideal records, they all certainly made some memories. “We definitely grew closer as a team on that long ride,” Nichols said.
The air travel nightmare that the softball team endured was still worth it for the team. “I would do it all again,” Vose said. “I think even though it was such a long few travel days, it gave us opportunities to bond with each other. Being given the opportunity to go and play in a place like Florida is definitely a blessing and something I’m very grateful for,” Vose said.
Baseball and softball players at UMPI go to a lot of lengths to play the game they love. Playing for UMPI means practicing in a gym almost all season or arriving to practice at 5 in the morning when the thermometer reads 33 degrees below zero. It can also mean 30-hour bus rides and catching red-eye flights to the wrong airport. Despite it all, for these players from UMPI, the love for the game never dies.
