The Final Chapter, by Araceli Martinez
Perspectives on Toros Softball
March 18, 2007

This series of journal entries is from softball's Araceli Martinez. She is a second baseman, who is a Downey native

As the lone senior, Araceli will lead the 2007 team. She is a four-year starter.

All Final Chapter Entries

So we have officially started our softball season for the year 2007 and for the first couple of weekends we looked promising. Our first weekend in Stanislaus was a little shaky, but we continued to work out the kinks throughout the past weeks and it seemed as though each weekend we grew more and more as a team. I thought after the Arizona tournament that we played really well and that we were starting to look like the champions Dominguez Hills has had in the past, but having a weekend off I think threw us off our game.

Our weekend in Arizona was very successful as we came in fourth in the tournament, and we were 3-1 in conference. Unfortunately, we hit a bump in the road after getting swept by UC San Diego and losing three to Chico State the week after. These losses put us in a bit of a bind, pressuring us to perform perfectly for the rest of the season.

I do not feel that we performed to our ability these past weekends, but nonetheless we are still a good team and we can still come out on top. All we can do now is learn from our experiences and focus on the very important weekends we have coming up for us. If we can come out this next month and dominate then we will be in a better position to compete in the CCAA tournament.

It is tough for me personally to be a captain for our team when I feel as though my true potential has not yet surfaced. As a veteran I feel like there is so much more that I can and should be contributing, and now my only hope is to somehow bring that ability out on the field and lead our team to victory. There is so much knowledge and experience that I want to give to this young team and yet so little time to give it.

Having such a young and talented team has its positive and negative aspects. Though they do not have the experience of a veteran squad, they do have the time to earn that experience and respect. But because this is my last year, I feel that asking these girls to mature at a much faster pace may be difficult, though not impossible.

Who knows, the raw talent and naivety that our team possesses could very well be what creates the magic we need to succeed. I believe that coming back and sweeping Frisco this weekend will be a much needed confidence boost. Having said this, I still think that playing to the best of our ability each game should be our collective mindset.

So let’s go get ‘em Toros!!