Last week we had our first road trip of the season. We completed our home series with the Dallas Charge on Friday the tenth around 10:00 p.m. and hit the road right after the game to drive to Pennsylvania for a three game series. One of the biggest differences between College and Pro travel is that in the Pro League, when it comes to bus trips, you will drive overnight to get to the next place and play a game that night. We arrived in Pennsylvania at approximately 8:00 a.m. and went straight to bed for a few hours. It sounds pretty rough and many people question how we are able to perform the following day, but every team in the league has to do it at some point and it’s something you get used to.
Once we arrive at our destination, life on the road is structured very similar to college ball. We are given per diem for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day. I prepare my meals for road trips and will cover that strategy and reason in a future blog post. Each morning on game days on the road, our coach will set up extra batting practice for hitters at 10 a.m. While the hitters are getting their extra work in, the pitchers hang back at the hotel and get mentally ready in a different way. We go on pitcher runs outside or you can find us in the hotel workout center.
I have found that in college and in the Pros, bus trips bring teams closer together. When you are trapped on a bus for 10 hours with no WiFi, you’re forced to get to know your teammates. On our team, some popular bus bonding activities are “brain busters” like “contact”, “road trip”, “Bananagrams”, and competitive Sudoku. Bus trips are also a perfect time for late night heart to hearts which are my favorite.
After our last game of the three game series in Pennsylvania, we drove to Akron, Ohio for two days of games. After two awesome team wins in Akron, we headed back on the bus for a second overnight drive back to Chicago. We had an off day and then three days of home games against Akron where we went 1-2. We head into another busy week with an 8-6 record. This week we have our second battle of the sexes showdown, then we fly down to Texas for five games, three against the Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs and two against the Dallas Charge. Check back next week for some more Pro Life insight and as always, GO BANDITS!
Sara Moulton is a current Pitcher for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch League.
