Mighty Ball Busters Softball Season

“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” — Jim Valvano, former North Carolina State Basketball Coach

“Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they’ve got and win just one for the Gipper.” — George Gipper, former Notre Dame Football Player (This quote was given in a halftime speech to Notre Dame’s team from former Head Coach Knute Rockne)

It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” — Vince Lombardi, former Green Bay Packers Head Coach

“You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.” — Herb Brooks, Head Coach of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” US Olympic Men’s Hockey Team

“It ain’t over till it’s over.” — Yogi Berra, former New York Yankees Catcher

Well, Mr. Rockne, Mr. Lombardi, Mr. Brooks, and Mr. Berra… we tried. We really did. Your quotes were inspiring, and we appreciate that, but we couldn’t do it. We almost did it.

And, by “it,” do we mean won the championship? Nope. Made the playoffs? Nope. Hit a walk-off home run? Nope. Won a single game? Yes.

The Mighty Ball Busters now share something in common with the 2008 Detroit Lions, the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the 2000, 2001, and 2006 Duke Blue Devils football teams. We did not win a game. It’s not like we weren’t competitive. The final two games of the season were decided in the final inning, where we lost on walk-off hits.

But you know what? We had one heck of a time during our first softball season.

From making an appearance on the news (can any other team say that? I don’t think so! That’s a W in our book!), to wearing some fabulous, bright, construction-orange t-shirts, to having just a few “sodas” and “cups of Jell-O” — the inaugural season was a memorable one.

How memorable? Well, let’s take a look at some unforgettable moments from the 2016 MBB+ Softball Season.

• “The Fireworks Game” — Let’s just say one member of the team wasn’t exactly pleased when a competing team lit a firework while he was catching a fly-ball. Don’t worry, we handled it well.
• “The Forfeit Game” — Ah, yes. The game that wasn’t a game, because it didn’t happen. Why didn’t it happen? Well, you see, our games were on Monday nights. You know what else is on Monday nights? ABC’s The Bachelor/Bachelorette. We didn’t have enough females to field a team. Was this a coincidence or did some of our female players ditch the game to see who got the final rose? We will let you decide that one.
• “The Called Shot” — Well, kinda. One (unnamed) left fielder was feeling a little confident in his skills and “called his shot” towards an opposing batter. “Hey, (insert name here)! Hit one right at me, let’s see what you got!” was yelled from this left fielder to the batter. Next pitch: the batter gets ahold of one and sends it over the head of… yes; you guessed it, the left fielder. It resulted in a home run. Maybe just keep your mouth closed next time (you know who you are).
• “The Photo” — This one. That’s all.

We’ll be back next year. And we’re going to win a game. Mark our words.

(Okay, we’re going to try our best… No guarantees about winning, let’s not get carried away.)