University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL SOFTBALL DIARIES - LAUREN MATTOX
March 02, 2004 | Softball
March 2, 2004
Senior Lauren Mattox (Charlotte, N.C.) provided the third Lady Vol Softball journal as the globe-trotting Big Orange competed in the Compass Bank Invitational hosted by Baylor University last weekend.
It is our fourth weekend in a row traveling around the country competing at various tournaments and we just arrived in Dallas before boarding a charter bus to make the drive down to Baylor in Waco, Texas. As we approach the Hilton Hotel, we notice that where we'll be staying for the next few days is very nice. The property has a huge waterfall out front, surrounded by a natural area full of pretty flowers. On Thursday night, however, waterfalls and flowers fell a distant second to the Arizona baseball team that was pulling up in their bus across from us at the same time. All of a sudden, you could feel the excitement on the bus and I don't think I have seen my teammates so focused on one thing, for so long, since our breakfast buffet in Hawaii.
When I was younger, I took hitting lessons at a baseball training facility in my hometown of Charlotte with a former UNC Charlotte baseball player whom I have kept in touch with over the years. When I was around 15 years old, he moved to San Antonio but on Friday, he drove two hours to come watch me play. It was the first time in over seven years I had seen him.
We opened tourney play against Louisiana Tech that morning, and although I felt great in our pregame warm-up, every time I got up to bat I froze. I don't know how to explain it, I just couldn't swing the bat. Not a very good hitting performance in front of my previous hitting coach! However, after being able to spend some time with him, I calmed down a little bit and managed a single in our second game against Baylor. Even though I didn't play that well, it was special to have him come watch me play. It's funny, I never would have thought that a hitting coach would influence my life so much...but I guess it goes to show how much one individual can make a difference in someone's life.
Before the championship game against Baylor on Saturday night, our team possessed a certain energy that I had not seen this season. We were so loud and pumped up, I think everyone was sure that we were going to win. Before the game, we had some time to kill, so we brought out the CD player, stood in a circle, and let the dancing begin. I have to give it up to my roommate, Kim (Anders), who always says that she should have been an entertainer. She can dance pretty well, and when you watch her you can't help but laugh. I have seen her dance moves a thousand times in our apartment. when we are just hanging out, but she reminds me of the movie "Office Space." No matter how many times you watch it, you still find something funny to laugh about. It was a fun time and it was nice to see our team come together before a big game.
It was a bittersweet weekend, though. There were a lot of things we did well but we didn't reach our goal of winning the tournament. If there is one thing our team walked away with from this weekend, I hope it came from the banner in our dugout that said,
Championships aren't just given away...
They are paid for.
They are paid for every day...
One mile at a time.
