Four Rockford-area softball stars break down the overseas game
Four star athletes from the Rockford area will return to the states better softball players and changed people after a weeklong trip through Europe.
The players represented the U.S. in Schiedam, Netherlands for The Cup indoor softball tournament Jan. 13-15, held for the first time in three years because of COVID.
It is one of the largest international indoor softball tournaments in the world with teams coming to the Netherlands from North America, England, Ireland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, France, Sweden and other countries that have competed throughout the years.
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The four players that played in this year's tournament were (in alphabetical order): Maia Carlson (senior at Byron); Jenna McIntyre (a Harlem grad who currently plays for Trinity International University); McKenna Morrill (junior at Belvidere North); and Jalyn Yakey (senior at Auburn).
"Of course, this was not just about softball," travel team coach Jason Yakey said. "This was such a great way to see a part of the world they hadn't seen, and to play a different level of softball against an international field... It was such a different perspective of the game."
All four girls (five, if you include Joliet Catholic-grad Morgan Bruno) play for the Midwest Aftershock.
"This is definitely something I will never forget; never," Morrill said during a post-tournament stop in Paris. "This kind of trip will make us better people and definitely better softball players.
"We had to adjust our games a lot, right from the beginning. It's a different game over there, so it makes you focus on some different things and different parts of your game."
How they fared in Netherlands
The team went 0-3-2, going without a win in the tourney, but they had some highlights. They were the first team to score on a squad from Rotterdam, Netherlands, in two years, when they rang up four runs in the first inning of Game 2 of the tourney. They eventually fell 7-4.
They also tied in their final game of the competition, pushing the eventual tourney champions to the brink.
"Every team we played knew they played against a tough team that fought them until the end," Yakey said. "It wasn't as much about the record, although we would have loved to have won a game or two."
Carlson, a two-year all-conference player for Byron, is signed on to play for Rock Valley College starting next year. On Sunday, she smacked a 2-run double in the final inning to tie the eventual Cup champions, 3-3.
"Playing on a gym floor, with all the different rules and with eight players instead of nine, it was tricky," Carlson said. "But so much fun. And seeing how the players from other countries play, it was such a cool chance to learn from them."
Like she did at Harlem, and like she will at Trinity, McIntyre pitched a lot this weekend, and Morrill, the returning varsity starting catcher for Belvidere North, played catcher and some second base.
"This will look real good on my resume, for sure," McIntyre said. "It's a pretty exclusive group that gets to play in this tournament, which makes it even more special."
Jalyn Yakey, the returning All State third basemen, is committed to the Briar Cliff University softball program, and she got some valuable experience this past weekend as well.
"Handling all the different teams from all over the world, with different strategies and different languages, it was just a whole new world," Yakey said. "It's been a lot of fun."
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
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