[//]:# (!pinmapple 41.93260 lat -84.63065 long  d3scr)


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This past weekend my wife and I made the two and a half hour drive down to Hillsdale, MI to watch my niece play softball.  There is a small liberal arts college in the town called Hillsdale College (imagine that!), and our nieces school from Ohio, Tiffin University was there playing.

Hillsdale sits just south of Jackson, MI.  It actually isn't an easy town to get to, but once you get there it is actually a lot larger than I realized.  Once you get off the expressway in Jackson, it is mostly back roads to the town.  

It's actually a kind of cute little town if you don't mind being in the middle of nowhere. It's actually closer to the boarder of Ohio/Indiana than it is to Jackson.  We had to leave at 10 in the morning to get there for the game at 1:00.  


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It was a double header with one game starting at 1 PM and the next game right after at 3 PM.  I knew it was going to be a long day and a late night by the time we got home.  Thankfully we dropped our dog Jovi off at my inlaws so we didn't need to worry about rushing home for her.

Probably the biggest bummer of the day was the fact that our niece didn't get to see any time on the field.  She is a freshman though and I know that she will start getting her reps in as the season gets going.  This was one of the first games of their regular conference season.  They have plenty more on the slate.

While the facilities at Hillsdale weren't the best I have seen, they had a really nice camera system so that they could stream the games.  You can't see it in the photo above, but there is a Panasonic studio camera on top of that tripod.  I looked up the model online and the cost is right around $4000.  They had two of them to get different angles of the field.


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Unfortunately, the Tiffin Dragons lost both of the games they played.  My niece was telling us that Hillsdale is one of the best teams in their conference and the one pitcher they had throwing has won a ton of awards in the conference for her skill. 

They were actually keeping things pretty close in the first game until Hillsdale hit a grand slam homerun and then tacked on another couple of runs to end up run-ruling the Dragons. 

My nieces roommate at college also plays on the team and she hit two home runs in the game. It was pretty awesome to see her do so well even if my niece didn't get to play.  

Unlike a regular position player, my niece is a pitcher and a utility player, so there are only certain circumstances where she would get the chance to enter the game.  


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In the meantime, she helps the coach by relaying signals to the outfield and other players when they aren't batting.  I feel bad for her that she isn't getting more play time because I know how much she loves the game.  She seems to be taking it in stride and learning as much as she can.

There was a slight breeze during the day that kept things chilly even though the sun was out.  Then some storms came through and rained on us for about thirty minutes before the sun broke through again and warmed us back up.  

I wish the outcome could have been better for the Dragons, but it was nice to see her and spend some time watching her do what she loves.  We get to see her team again in just about a week when they come up to Saginaw Valley State University to play.  SVSU is @mrsbozz and I's alma matter and we are looking forward to breaking ranks and cheering on the Tiffin Dragons.

The other good thing is SVSU is only about 15 minutes from our house, so the drive will be a lot easier for us and our niece will have lots of family there to cheer her on if she does get the chance to take the field!

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<center>*All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced*</center>