The kid is back. An extended college season. Conference Champions. Regional Champions. Super Regionals ... out in 2 straight extra-inning games. And now she's back. After 4 years at 2 US colleges. She's back on the household roster.
It hasn't hit me yet. Maybe it will in the fall. But there's more softball. Because a 60-game college season isn't enough for some players. There's also the Provincial Senior team that wants to win Canadian Nationals. Her closest friends. All US college players in their own right. The D1 MAC pitcher. The D2 All-American pitcher. The D2 catcher. The D2 Canadian National Team slapping speed demon. The many JUCO-experienced multi-tool players. Its a good team. As good as most any D2 team in the US.
She has played for this team since she was 13. Its a 13-player team. She has come up through the U14, U15 and U16 teams. She graduated to the U19 3-year team. And now 3 years on the u23 senior team. No guarantees. Tryouts every year including this past winter. 9 years considered but not an automatic.
There are 9 million people in Quebec. There are maybe 60 players on the various provincial teams. And what are the odds?
When my daughter pitched, we would practice on out street. I would sit on a bucket on the lawn. She would stand on the other side of the street. People would walk through the pitching lane. The younger girls in our dead-end street would walk by quickly. Eyes down. But I would always catch them looking back at the next pitch.
A year or two later, we were in the front yard, a bownet behind us, whiffle balls in a bucket and I was throwing the ball as hard as I could to speed up her bat. It must have looked ridiculous. But my daughter was hitting them off the house, onto the roof, into my stomach. And I noticed these 2 girls ... the same girls ... maybe 10 years old now ... they walk by and then they stopped at the edge of our property. They watched. My daughter ripping whiffles at high speeds. It must have looked impossible to them. How can she hit those? I'm no Paul Skenes but I was 20 feet away so I might as well have been.
2 years ago, I noticed one of them wearing a familiar softball uniform. The same uniform my daughter wore for her regional team. I noticed her outside practicing a lot. She was outside often. With a friend. With her dad. They speak French. We speak English. A language divide. I don't talk to my neighbours in general. I'm not a very social person. My daughter has never said one word to this neighbour, 3 doors down. Curious, we asked around the softball community and found her name.
And a few days ago, on Facebook, I saw a post for the Provincial team's new lineup for the 2026 season. For the u15 team. And the 4th player listed was the girl 3 doors down. A catcher. The odds???
The odds of 2 players in a 9 million person province, who have no real connection, playing in the same 60-person softball program at the same time. 3 doors down.
But maybe ... I don't know ... I'm just Catfish Hunter spit-balling here... I can't help but wonder if maybe its only a little bit of a coincidence ... Maybe. Again, I don't know for sure ... but maybe those days they spent watching my daughter hit whiffle balls. Or pitch. Or work on short hops or backhands or fly balls or throws or bunt coverage. I can't help but wonder if we had an impact on those odds.
