Cool Beans!!!

(Pictured Dani, Bobbi, Kailee, Calista, Me, Jessica Mendoza, Cassie, Bubba, Skyler, Taylor and Cheyenne)

When we arrived at the Pepsi Center we had to park in the back and walk around to the front door and "Will Call" to grab our tickets for the Crystal Bowersox and Avery concert.  As we walking in my dad says "There goes Cat"...  Nobody believed him and neither did I.  So we all just walking around the building.  While we were waiting at "Will Call" and watching a couple of my teammates goof off.  A lady in a long pretty dress came up and talked to my dad and Kristi (our chaperons).  The lady tore off a dozen or so tickets and said she was making an executive decision.  She handed my dad and Kristi the tickets and told us to stop over for some snacks and drinks before the show...  We really didn't know what she was talking about, so we asked where we had to go.  She said just right around the corners...  After Andrea picked up the tickets Kristi showed her our special pink tickets and we all proceeded next door to find out what it was all about.  We entered the fancy restaurant that we had the tickets to...  It was really fancy I am sure my dad really liked it becasue it had a bunch of taxidermy in it and it looked like you were in a log cabin.

After dad pushed a couple of tables together we noticed that standing right in the buffet line was Jessica Mendoza!...  Just as I was thinking Wow!  Cool Beans!  Natasha Wately walked by and sat down next to us.  Guess where.  Yep, right behind us and right next to Cat Osterman!  Before we knew it though, all of the players had to leave for opening ceremonies and they were in a big hurry cuz they were gonna be late.  Jessica however, took the time even though she was in a big hurry to take a team picture with us.  That was really nice of her and I want to thank her for being so nice.  Wish we could have got all of the other players in the picture, but we didn't notice they were leaving until it was too late.

Sparkler Pro Pitching Clinic

My catcher (Bobbi Singleton) and I attended a pro clinic at the Sparkler on Monday.  At first I was a little nervous waiting our turn.  I didn't know what to expect.  But once the gates were open and all of the pitcher/catcher combos filed onto the field I was fine and proceeded to warm up.

My dad mentioned to me that he thought that the 12 pitcher/combos looked like a little much for the pro to handle but by the time the physical and instructional part of the clinic was over he and I decided that Amanda Scarborough REALLY knows what she is doing.   She clearly explained what she was doing, what was expected of us and had all of us practice the new techniques she was teaching us...  She even spent time with each one of us during each of our new trials of her methods.

All and all it was a very good seminar.  But what I enjoyed the most and will take away from her seminar is what she said to me and it felt like she was talking directly to me at the time...  It may have felt the same for the other pitchers as well.  But what I will take away from the clinic is what she said and the way she delivered her speech.   She talked about what it takes to be a college ball player naturally, but she also told us that it takes more than just a ball player.  It takes skill, determination and pride.  I not only live and breathe softball, I love it and I respect it.  Softball it's not just a game...  It's much more than that!

(Bobbi Singleton, Amanda Scarborough and me Bulldog)

If you ever get a chance to hear Amanda Scarborough speak or go to a clinic of hers I would recommend going. 

How to make a custom visor for a Rip It fielding mask

I’ve always wore a visor since I have been playing softball and even started wearing one back when I started in T-Ball, so after my pitching injury- I took a direct line drive to my face, breaking my nose and both eye orbits my mom and dad asked me to wear a fielding mask at least until my injury healed. I really didn’t want to wear one, not because I thought it was a bad idea, I mainly didn’t want to wear one simply because it didn’t have a visor.

With the types of bats being used today, softball has become a hitters game and the balls are being hit harder and further and traveling a amazing speeds. So fast, anyone is at risk of getting an injury, especially those playing the corners and at the pitching position like I do. I also play second, short and centerfield but do not feel these positions are necessary for wear a fielding mask. Most of the time you play further back than the pitcher and don’t come up on bunts like the corners normally do. Unless you are a crashing on bunts at second base, I/my parents and even my coaches feel there is more than enough time to react to a ball from those distances. I would prefer not to wear a mask at all in all honesty, but until my face has healed have been asked by my parents to wear one. Who knows, maybe I will get use to it and it.  Surly it isn’t going to hurt meif I get hit in the face again while I am wearing one.

The following week after I was injured and while I was healing and basically bed ridden, my parents had bought a Rip It fielding mask and thhat same day dad brought it home he customized it to make me feel more comfortable. At the time, Rip It had not came out with their visor. So I am not sure if we were the first one’s to attach and play with a visor on a fielding mask or not… It really doesn’t matter if we were or not but I do want to thank my dad for helping feel more comfortable on the mound wearing the mask.

Step 1

The first step in making a custom fielding mask with visor is to buy a Rip It fielding mask and also a visor. We purchased our visor for a $1 at Walgreens but I am sure you can find them just about anywhere. The next step is to remove the visor from the band. What my dad used is a scalpel blade. Take your time ripping the seems along the bill of the hat on the outside and then slowly and carefully on the inside. It is very simple and only takes a few minutes to remove.

Step 2

The next step is to clean up the rough edges. We used a hot glue gun. First fold over the two corners and glue them on the bottom side. This may sound gross but my dad licked his fingers when pinching down the corners. You can do the same or dunk your fingers in a bowl of water. The reason he said he did this is because it cools the hot glue and helps you from getting burned and your fingers sticking to the molten plastic. Once the glue has cooled and you have the corners glued you then can start gluing the rounded edge. Again fold over the material towards the bottom. Remember to dampen your fingers when pinching the material and hot glue together. If you don’t, you’ll remember the next time I promise!

Step 3

OK, now that you have cleaned up the bill you are ready to mark it with some holes and a slit. Start by eyeballing the center of your mask with the center of the bill, you can measure for center if you like but it really isn’t necessary. Once you have centered the bill on the fielding mask go ahead and mark a slit about the same size as the slit on the mask for the center strap. Next mark out 4 evenly spaced holes to drill so that you can attach your visor to your mask. The holes and slit should be marked about 1/4” from the edge. Your marks should be made with a contrasting marker so you can easily see them when you are ready to tap those holes with your drill and scalpel.

Step 4

Now that your holes are tapped let’s go ahead and ad 6 tie straps to your bill through the pre-drilled holes and slit. With the tie straps added go ahead go ahead and move your focus back to your mask. Remove the padded velcro lining from the interior of your fielding mask. Once the lining is removed go ahead and loosen the center strap, but leave it attached. Now go ahead and feed the strap from the bottom of the bill up. Feed the strap back through the buckle and then make sure to have your player test fit the mask with loosely added new bill (don’t forget to ad the inner padded lining). Once it is decided that the fielding mask fits well, double back the strap and feed it back into the buckle so that the visor is now locked into place. To insure that the strap is locked into place go ahead and lock it into place with the center two tie straps.

Step 5

We now have the bill loosely attached with one strap and two tie-straps.  Now let’s go ahead and attach it for good. First step is to start at the corners. If you will notice your bill at the center and where it is attached should be lined up in the center and towards the top of the fielding mask. The reason I am telling you this is I prefer a little bit of a curve in my bill. To make that possible, your bill should be groomed to your standard. Once you have that established go ahead and attach you outer two tie-straps. If you notice those two tie-straps are secured lower on the fielding mask… About an inch. If you prefer a straight bill, do not groom it and secure the outer two tie-straps equally as high as the center strap and tie-straps. Once the outer tie-straps are secured in either position go ahead and secure the center two tie-straps and now walla! You have secured you bill to your fielding mask. Test it though before you re-attach your inner lining. If it moves back and forth or up and down you need to simply tighten the tie-straps until there isn’t any movement. Once it is firmly secured, go ahead and re-attatch the inner padded lining for a test fit and to let your player see how cool her new custom visor looks on her.

Step 6

We decided to add a little extra comfort to the mask. Remember the original visor? Go ahead and remove the inner linning from that by cutting it off with a pair of scissors. Next, go ahead and attach a piece of equal length double sided sticky tape to the back side of the lining (at first only remove one side. Now take the taped lining and again remove the padded lining from your fielding mask. Now take the original visor liner and round off one end to give it a finished look. Next go ahead and line the original visor liner with the rounded edge and run it along the inner side of the fielding masks’ padded lining. Mark it off appropriately, then round off that end. Now you can go ahead and remove the second double sided sticky tape strip and connect it to the padded fielding mask. The reason we did this was to ad additional comfort to the mask because I didn’t like the feel of the rubber lining on my forehead.

Step 7

This is basically the last step and it isn’t even that important. On my fielding mask the chin pad kept on falling off because the Velcro on the chin strap wasn’t great. We went ahead and removed the opposite side of velcro that was needed. That is which ever side is connected to the metal frame of your fielding mask cut off the opposite of that from you $1 visor. Round off one end just like you did with the inner lining from Step 6. Now, again test fit this piece against the frames’ velcro mark the appropriate length and round it off. Next, make sure to test fit your mask and find the absolute best fit and best placement for your chin pad. At least within a half inch in any direction. Once that is established. Mark it and attach your rounded velcro strip to the chin pad with hot glue. Once it has cooled ad the chin pad back to your fielding mask and test fit.

Step 8

The only thing left is to wear your new custom mask around for several minutes just to get use to it. I would recommend test fitting your mask for how ever long one inning of softball is played while you are in the field . If your innings are a few minutes. Wear it around the house for a few minutes. If they are 15 to 20 minutes ,get use to it by wearing it for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Make sure you wear your fielding mask at practice as well. That is, if your wear it during games while pitching, playing first third or wherever, wear it at practice as well. Practice makes perfect.

Step 9

Play ball!

Good Luck!

-The Bulldog Team





My Cat Osterman Experience

My team the Nebraska Nemesis 98s was the first team to sign up for the Cat Osterman Experience in 2009.  We actually broke ground on this complex last year with Mayor Ed Babbit.  Unfortunatly, Mayor Ed Babbit passed away this past year and did not get a chance to see this beautiful complex.  Though we were not the first team to play a game on these fields this year, we are still honored to have been a part of this historical event.

I was looking forward to this the entire year and had told everyone I knew or met about this.  About a week before the scheduled date of July19th-24 for us to attend this event I was playing in the USSSA State tournament.  The plan was to finish the tournament and we had to win one more game to make it to the chamionship.  During the majority of this semi final game we had the lead the score was 3-1 in our favor.  With a time limit in our favor and us being the "home" team we were surly moving on to the finals with maybe 15 minutes to go in the game.  But then it happened.  I pitched a ball down the middle into the coffee can sized strike zone the umpire was giving me and the batter hit a hard line drive directly into my face.

Dad said that I looked like I got my hand up and the ball tipped off of the top of my glove and crushed my face.  Dropping me instantly.  Apparently, he was the first one out on the field.  I was bleeding, scared and disoriented.  After about 15 minutes of gushing blood you could hear the abulance in the back ground.  I wanted to get up.

-Bulldog

Once Brooke got up I asked her if she wanted to go sit in the shade because she was very wobbly.  She refuesed that and said she wanted to sit in the dug out and watch her team win the game.  I told her that was fine and the abulance was on the way.  She asked for a bucket to sit on.  A few seconds later she said she didn't feel good.  So I got her up and she got week in the knees and colapsed in my arms.  I carried her to a shaded area were the ambulance could pull up.  After the ambulance took my daughter Brooke and my wife off I remained at the field.  I was actually so upset that the other parents at the field noticed this and told me they would take care of my other two daughters while I went to the ER to see how Brooke was doing.  I said that was fine and that I was going to stay and watch the game because I knew Brooke would want to know the score...  What the heck was I thinking?  Obviousily, I wasn't thinking clearly.  Another dad said "Come on Scott we need to get you down to the ER and someone can call us with the score".  At the time I told him Brooke was going to be upset, but on the ride to the ER I started to process how hard of blow my kid just took and I got very teary eyed.

Once we got to the ER we entered a room and Brooke was laying in bed and it looked like here face was swelling right in front of my eyes.  It was very hard to see my daughter in so much pain that about every 10 minutes she was puking up blood from all of the pain.  In and out of x-rays and cat scans believe it or not, Brooke was actually asking how our team was doing.  By the time I had left the field the score was already tied up and there wasn't any outs.  It was obvious the team was very upset and probably wasn't going to win the game.  I told her we were doing fine and once I actually told her we were winning.  She was obviousily very tired so I dimmed the lights in the room so she could get some rest.  About an hour later my friend Scott told me that entered the room and told us that our team just lost in extra innings on a bad call.  Oh yeah, and our coach got thrown out of the game.  This is something that doesn't normally happen, so it was obvious everyone, including the coach was shook up by the event.

Several of Brooke's friends showed up to the ER and it broke my heart to see my daughter, that typicially always has a smile on her face almost throw up from the pain in her face because she wanted to smile at her team mate that showed up to comfort her.  I was very proud of the girls and her coaches for being so strong and not freaking out by what they saw when they entered the room.  I was also thankful because that meant a lot to me and I am sure Brooke for them to come see her in the ER. 

After about 5 hours in the ER the nurse was giving us some instructions and told Brooke something that probably hurt her more than the hit ball into her face.  The nurse mentioned that Brooke might not be able to play softball for several weeks.  That upset her so much that it actually made her shed a tear.  This kid is tough and she loves the game.  That tear made it so obvious.  Who would of thought that getting your face bashed in by a 100 mph ball coming straight into you would make you tear up less that the fact you might have to take it easy for a couple of weeks to recover so you didn't get hurt more.  That following Thursday she had a check up with the plastic surgeon and he would be able to tell us how long it would be before Brooke could play.

The reason I found out on the wasy home for Brooke getting so upset in the hospital was because she was looking so forward to playing in the Cat Osterman Experience and the World Series and they were less than a week away.  Brooke also wanted to watch her younger sister play at her Nationals in Branson and was looking forward to that as well.  As a matter of fact, we were leaving immidiatly after the touranment the Brooke was injured in.  On the way home from the ER Brooke actually said she wanted to still go with on the trip...  We delayed our departure and decided to go the next morning.  About midnight though the pain intensified and Brooke started to puke again from the pain.  She then told me she didn't want to go anymore.  I told her I didn't want to leave her, but she said she would stay home with mom.  I told her we would see in the morning how she was doing.  My sife stayed up and slept in her room that night.  I just as well should have because even though I take a ton of medication and sleep like a brick every night couldn't catch a wink and found myself in the room many times just staring at my kid with her swollen, brused and bloody face...  I just couldn't believe this happened to her and was amazed because she was almost unreckonizable.  In the morning I woke her and my wife up and asked her one more time if she wanted to go....  I knew the answer before I asked and would have made her stay home anyways if she would have said different.  So I gave her a kiss and left with Kenzie for Nationals.  That was a long 7 hour drive.  I couldn't get the image of the ball hitting her or her laying motionless on the ground out of my head.

All week long I called and worried and facebooked and worried and talked and cried to people about what had happened to Brooke.  I guess for the first three days she didn't have any appetite and threw up quite often because of the pain.  The swelling continually got worse for about three days and about the forth day, it all started to go away.  This was of course the day of her appointment.  Later that day I get a call from a voice I hadn't heard from in awhile...  You could almost see her smile through the phone.  She told me that the doctor actually said she could participate the following week in the Cat Osterman Experience.  I had never been more happy or scared at the same time.  It was so nice to hear my kid again.  Every time I talked to her from the time of the accident to that phone call sounded like almost a different person.

McKenzie was knocked out of the tournament and we headed home.  We could have stayed one extra day but we both decided to get home to see Brooke because we missed her so much.

Out of 25 teams from around the country we finished second in the silver division.  Some of the team we competed against included teams from Michigan, California North Carolina and Alabama.

The Cat Osterman Experience

Today my team the Nebraska Nemesis 98s will start participating in the Cat Osterman Experience in Bellevue, Nebraska.  You can watch me (Bulldog) and our team the Nebraska Nemesis 98s play on live webcam feeds all week long July 19-24th by going to http://www.catsvillage.com/.  I hope I get to meet Cat!

Bulldog

Had A Bad Day

Brooke Steiner, aka BULLDOG was hit today directly in the face while pitching.  She was rushed to the ER immediatly and it was determined that her nose was broken in several places, she has some fractures in her face and both of her eye orbits are broken.  We would like to thank everyone for all of their help during the incident.  We look forward to seeing you all real soon.

-The Bulldog Team (Brooke's Dad)

Why Doris Bair and her husband built a softball field for girls

Here is a link to a nice article about Harley and Doris Bair.  http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/article_bc80b15e-57b1-11df-a827-001cc4