TUG OF WAR

TUG-OF-WAR EXERCISE

Thursday, November 30

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Click here to 

enlarge these photos 

at an online album

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Click here to enlarge these photos at an online album.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH

The Post and Courier

Pictured, Wesley Wolverine senior #99 

OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

Wesley Wolverine sophomore #2 

3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL).

CLICK FOR FASTPITCH DREAMS 

SPRING CLASSIC TOURNEY INFO

SHARE YOUR PASSION

From left. Wesley Wolverines
freshman #9 OF/C Miranda Kinney (Bethlehem PA),
sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL),
freshman #1 MI Bianca Newsom (Edison, NJ).

PENN STATE VIDEO

CLICK HERE FOR THESE TALENTED LIONS ON & OFF THE FIELD VIDEO

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SCENES FROM LAST SEASON’S
CONFERENCE DOUBLEHEADER
between the Wesley Wolverines and the Penn State Harrisburg Lions played on the Pennsylvania fields. Wesley picked up two Ws on the day. (Now freshman #32 OF Kelly Palmer, from Hershey, PA, attended the games as a fan!)

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Pictured, upper left, sliding,
junior #8 OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna,DE) , 
on right, top & bottom, 
senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE), and 
bottom left, at the hot corner, 
sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL).

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In 2018, the Wolverines will play the Lions at home on DuPont Field (Dover, DE) in a doubleheader, Friday, April 20.

LIFTING 11/28

PRE-WINTER 

BREAK LIFTING

no nonsense sweating 
to sounds of holiday music 

(played at the request of the team)

TICTACKTOE!

RACING WITH WEIGHTS 

used as pieces in ticktacktoe games 

played out on the floor of the 

Wesley West Field House.

VOTE FOR SOFTBALL!

Fastpitch tally behind so far!
Vote for baseball/ softball
for Summer Olympics 2024

Vote today for “baseball” (which includes the game of “softball”) at L’EQUIPE TOUS-SPORTS for the fastpitch game to be included in the Paris Summer Olympics 2024.

Note, the page you will visit is entirely in French. The header on the panel for voting reads in English: “From this list, DESIGNATE THREE SPORTS that you think should be included in the program of the Paris Olympics in 2024.”

You must vote for three sports to record your ballot. Once again, a vote for “baseball” includes fastpitch “softball”! 

Website at www.lequipe.fr/Tous-sports/Actualites/Quels-nouveau-x-sport-s-integrer-au-programme-olympique-pour-paris-2024/853433)

Wesley Wolverine senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

LOVE OF THE GAME

Sliding, Wesley Wolverine freshman
#25 P/ 1B Dori Loukopoulos (Chambersburg, PA).

NCAA GOALS STUDY

More connected to campus community
DIII athletic participation
enhances college experience

Quotes from an NCAA study.

CLICK HERE for the full report (PDF file). 

“In the NCAA’s GOALS study, Division III student-athletes overwhelmingly reported that they see themselves as part of the campus community (91%) and that athletics participation has helped to provide them with a sense of connection to the campus (94%)….

“… also are more likely to report:

“ ● Higher levels of academic motivation;

“ ● Greater satisfaction with the overall academic experience...

“ ● Feelings that the team environment is inclusive and accepting of different cultures and backgrounds;

“● Seeing their coaches as ethical leaders.”

Wesley Wolverine sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD).

NEVER BE SATISFIED

From left, Wesley Wolverines
freshman #1 MI Bianca Newsom (Edison, NJ)
and junior #13 UT Ashley Royer (Lititz, PA).

USA UPDATED RULES

---- SMALL RULE CHANGES ----
Prepare for the 2018 season!
Updated Code, Rule and Procedural  
changes have been posted @
teamusa.org/USA-Softball/About/About-Us/USA-Softball-Code

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Pictured, Wesley Wolverine freshman #5 
UT Amanda Curry (Williamsport, MD).

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INTERESTED OR COMMITTED?

Wesley Wolverine sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL).

SLEEP INFLUENCE

Claims 7.5+ hrs sandman visit needed for success

Influence of Sleep 

on Performance

Quotes from a much longer article posted 

by Michael Mellinger at BelievePerform.com

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY.

“Currently, researchers suggest that individuals need between 7.5 and 8 hours of sleep each night…

“Sleep is a major influence regarding how an individual performs daily tasks. Sleep detriment has a negative impact over time… one night of 12 hours of sleep will not make up for the 4 hours of sleep gathered the previous week. Performance will continuously be influenced, either positively or negatively, through both sleep quantity and sleep quality.”

Wesley Wolverines sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD) applying a tag to sliding
freshman #9 OF/C Miranda Kinney (Bethlehem PA).

DO THE SMALL THINGS

From left, Wesley Wolverines
sophomore #6 P/UT Allison Mills (Leonardtown, MD)
and junior #13 UT Ashley Royer (Lititz, PA).

DO YOUR BEST

Wesley Wolverine junior #13 UT Ashley Royer (Lititz, PA).

GRATITUDE

Wesley Wolverine senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Wesley Wolverine junior #8
OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna, DE).

Wesley Wolverines fastpitch team, from left,
TOP ROW:
freshman #9 OF/C Miranda Kinney (Bethlehem PA),
freshman #32 OF Kelly Palmer (Hershey, PA),
freshman #17 P/ 1B Juli Neel (Haddon Township, NJ),
sophomore #7 OF Brandi Dalious (Harrington, DE),
Head Coach Juli Greep,
freshman #4 P/ UT Abbey Mayse (Cecilton, MD),
freshman #25 P/ 1B Dori Loukopoulos (Chambersburg, PA),
freshman #12 C/INF Mykayla Bird-Clahar (Egg Harbor City, NJ),
MIDDLE ROW:
sophomore #6 P/UT Allison Mills (Leonardtown, MD),
freshman #1 MI Bianca Newsom (Edison, NJ),
sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL),
sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD),
freshman #5 UT Amanda Curry (Williamsport, MD),
BOTTOM ROW, TEAM CAPTAINS,
junior #13 UT Ashley Royer (Lititz, PA),
junior #8 OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna, DE),
senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

How a boxing glove started it all!
Game of softball born
on Thanksgiving Day!

The first game of what would become the sport of softball was played 130 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, 1887.

This Thanksgiving Day "softball" game actually was a hastily configured baseball contest, which pitted Yale versus Harvard alumni inside Chicago's Farragut Boat Club.



1887: HOW IT HAPPENED…

A Yale alumnus mischievously threw a boxing glove at a Harvard buddy just after a telegram arrived announcing that Yale had bested Harvard in the annual holiday football game. The Harvard fellow grabbed a broom handle and swung at the boxing glove, while reporter George Hancock, who was part of the group, yelled out “Play ball!”

Suddenly a new game was born with Hancock even writing down the day's rules for posterity.

George Hancock and Chicago's Farragut Boat Club, 1887.

1889: OUTDOOR FIELD...

In 1889 the game moved outdoors. Minneapolis fireman Lewis Rober marked up the first field and set seven innings as the game's official length. 
 

First photo of a softball team, Chicago, 1897

By this time, the ball had become a small medicine ball -- 16 inches in circumference -- with a bat two inches thick! Rober changed that. His version of the contest used a ball that was more modern in appearance, now 12 inches wide.

Louis Rober's team named “The Kittens”
that kept a Minneapolis fire company crew in top fit shape.

These games, whether played with a 16" 0r 12" ball were known variously as “indoor baseball”, “cabbage ball”, “mush ball”, “kitten ball”, “pumpkin ball”, “diamond ball”, etc. They began to draw as many as 3,000 fans. 

The early game was played indoors and outdoors with a ball the size of a small medicine ball and a bat two inches thick.

1895: WOMEN ENTER THE GAME

The first women’s "softball" team (still termed "kitten ball" or“girls' indoor base-ball”) was formed at Chicago’s West Division High School. The young ladies were not able to play competitively until 1899 when they finally hired a coach. They eventually claimed the Cook County championship!

First women’s softball team,
West Division High School, Chicago, circa 1900.

1926: SOFTBALL GETS ITS NAME... 

An old 16 inch ball

In 1926, the Denver YMCA dubbed the sport “softball” for the first time. The name started to catch on.

1931: FIRST TRAVEL TEAM...

The first travel team formed in 1931. It was a squad entirely of men, 75 years-of-age and older, taking the field in business-suit-like uniforms (wearing ties and bowties), who called themselves Kids and Kubs. 

Kids and Kubs, St. Petersburg, FL, 1933

1933: ASA FORMED…

Newspaper reporter Leo Fischer and sporting goods salesman Michael Pauley brought the game to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, where 55 teams participated before 350,000 fans who watched different contests of men's and women's slow and fastpitch.

Quaskies Kittenball Team of Quasqueton, Iowa, 1934. 

 
The ASA – Amateur Softball Association – was founded that fall (1933) by Fischer and Pauley. Softball had arrived!

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SOFTBALL 2017: Unlike many high school and college sports, softball and its counterpart, baseball, today have become part of everyday youth and adult life, whether from a seat in the stands or actual participation.

► Today ASA registers some 245,000 teams and over 3.5 million youth and adult players.

► There are just over 1,600 college softball programs across the country. These number 286 DI programs, 264 DII, 392 DIII, 205 intercollegiate and 470 community college softball teams.

► Women’s College World Series fans has been growing at a 33% clip. This past season the games averaged a total live audience (TV + streaming) of 1.583 million viewers.

► Of course, fastpitch softball has been reinstated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games.

► National Pro Fastpitch! (NPF) is growing by leaps and bounds, billing itself as...

“Seventy-mile per hour pitches, 240-foot home runs, soft hands and lightning-quick reactions all wound into seven feverish innings of gritty, gutsy, fast-paced action. Welcome to hard-hittin', fast-pitchin', affordable family fun!”

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Wesley Wolverine senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

MAKE GOOD HABITS

Wesley Wolverine sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD).

SPEED, MOVEMENT, LOCATION

Pitching...

“The players who throw really, really hard get lots of attention, and hard throwing can make a difference in pitching success.

“Speed is important. But movement is more important, and location is the most important.”

CLICK HERE 
for the full story.

WESLEY WOLVERINE FRESHMAN HURLERS, from top,
#4 P/ UT Abbey Mayse (Cecilton, MD),
#17 P/ 1B Juli Neel (Haddon Township, NJ),
#25 P/ 1B Dori Loukopoulos (Chambersburg, PA).

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING

Wesley Wolverine senior #99 
OF Lauren Hoffman (Middletown, DE).

PART IV: CAMP PHOTOS

WOLVERINE SOFTBALL

SKILLS AND PROSPECT CAMP

Saturday, November 18, 2017

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CLICK HERE FOR

PART IV: 91 PHOTOS

of the team & campers

IN AN ONLINE ALBUM

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Final photos from the camp

Links to: Part I (108 photos) Part II (98) Part III (95) Part IV (91)
and the "Lighter side of camp post"

From top, left to right, Wesley Wolverines

freshman #12 C/INF Mykayla Bird-Clahar (Egg Harbor City, NJ), 

sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD), 

sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL), 

freshman #32 OF Kelly Palmer (Hershey, PA),

junior #8 OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna, DE), 

senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

PART III: CAMP PHOTOS

WOLVERINE SOFTBALL

SKILLS AND PROSPECT CAMP

Saturday, November 18, 2017

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CLICK HERE FOR

PART III: 95 PHOTOS

of the team & campers

IN AN ONLINE ALBUM

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Many more photos of the camp

to come in PART IV
 later this week.