SB: Sam Marder Checks in from the Canada Cup – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Rising senior All-American competes with TFS International
FRIDAY
Well, you could say it was a bittersweet day, but I will just call it sweet. As a team of pick-up players playing with each other for less than a week, I would say it was nothing less than a shock to people that we beat the Netherlands National Team 6-1 this morning.
What is possibly more of a shock to a lot of people is that we came very close to beating the Canadian National team 2-0. Canada is arguably one of the top three teams in the world, and had to bring in their ace Danielle Lawrie (national champion this year at Washington) to close us down in the final innings of the game. I’m pretty sure Canada was expecting to blow us out and be able to give Lawrie and complete game of rest, but once again my team proved that we are not a team to take lightly.
Now tomorrow we will be facing the winner of the Venezuela vs. Netherlands game, and if we win that will likely play Australia tomorrow night. I’m really excited to be able to face another national team and hopefully we can keep winning and be here Sunday to face USA or Canada again.
THURSDAY
Well we did it; we won our pool. The game Thursday night game was a thriller, but we won in eight innings, 2-0, on a two-run homerun in the top of the eighth. I went 1-3 in the game with a single and caught all eight innings. Friday we will either face Venezuela, Australia, or the Netherlands, and if we win possibly USA tomorrow night. Each team gets a host family for the week and tonight ours is having a cookout for us, which is good because after that long game I’m ready for a good dinner!
WEDNESDAY
Hi there from Canada, or should I say hi there from Canada, eh?
I arrived five days ago and have been playing softball non-stop in the Canada Cup. What is really great about this tournament is that it showcases teams from all over the world. There are national teams from Canada, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Australia, the United States, as well as many club teams from Canada and the United States. My team,T.F.S. International, is a club team with players from all over the United States.
The Canada Cup is organized so that the national teams play each other and the club teams play each other during pool play, and then the top three club teams get to switch over to the national side. So far my team has done well, we are 4-1 and have another game late tonight. The weather was very nice the first couple days, but has not been cooperating with us today — rain showers all morning have caused delays all day. Hopefully we won’t have to play at two in the morning!
Besides playing softball, I have been able to experience a little bit of Canada. We have done some sight-seeing around Surrey (the city outside of Vancouver where the Cup is held) and I have really enjoyed it. We went down to the beach two nights ago and ate at a local seafood place. It was delicious! I was a little surprised to find out how ethnically diverse this part of Canada is – there are so many people from so many different cultures all right here in Surrey. Just down the street you can get authentic Thai, Japanese, Chinese, and just about any other food you want, which of course makes me happy.
I hope that I will understand what it is like to compete a high level internationally after this tournament it done, something that will help me to continue to grow as a player. So far it has been a great experience, and I have met a lot of great people, and I hope the second half of the week goes as well as the first. Hope everyones summer is going well!
Sam Marder #13
As a side note I found out today that two of my coaches are huge Buckeye fans. Just goes to show what a Buckeye Nation we really are. Also, I would like to dedicate this blog to a certain person on this team who does not think my blogs are very entertaining and wished they were better, hope this is a good one!
