Utah Softball ‘Freezing A Moment’ Together At World Series
Jun 2, 2023, 3:46 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – It’s been 29 years since Utah softball made it to the World Series and their first game didn’t go the way they would have wanted between the weather delay and the loss to Washington.
However, head coach Amy Hogue says she has been encouraging her team to “freeze” moments they want to remember throughout this process, and it appears they have taken her message to heart. That message could also be just what the Utes need to push through a tough double-header day as they are hours away from an elimination game with Oklahoma State on the heels of their loss to the Huskies.
Look At Someone You Care About And Think About What You Want To Remember
The last time Utah was playing in the World Series, Hogue was a player on the team, not the coach. As someone who has been there and done that in the very uniform her players don, Hogue came through with some very Ted Lasso-like advice about living in the moment and enjoying even the smallest parts of the process.
We’re not the only Utes who made it to OKC.#GoUtes /// #SOTL /// #WCWS@pepsi pic.twitter.com/AblfbBJkGJ
— Utah Softball (@Utah_Softball) June 1, 2023
“I talked to them about that little feeling you get in your belly and how when they feel that, all that’s doing is freezing something in time that they’ll remember forever,” Hogue said. “So, when you feel that, make sure you are looking at someone you care about and you’re thinking about something you want to remember because it will be frozen there forever. I have moments of being here a long time ago, and they were good moments because I did exactly that. I think that experience out there and the reminder I’ve given to them is that it is way bigger than the game. I’m hoping they are doing a little bit of that because I’ve felt it and there are plenty of times today to freeze a moment and remember it.”
As mentioned before, the early conditions of Utah’s first World Series appearance in nearly three decades haven’t been the smoothest. However, coach Hogue doesn’t think it’s mattered to her team, noting they viewed the weather delay on Thursday as just a few more hours to hang out together with some of the people they love most.
Getting creative during the weather delay @Utah_Softball
From ping pong to Facetime with All-American @hannahFlippen from Japan where she is playing professionally. #wcws pic.twitter.com/6HAKqZW9yC— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) June 2, 2023
“I think if it did, it might have been a positive,” Hogue said. “It didn’t seem like it with the way we played, but this team just wants minutes together and because we had to sit around together, they got that. Honestly, they are finding joy in all of the little things.”
We are about four hours away from finding out if the Utes have a little more magic in them to push past the Cowboys and advance in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Hogue says she and her team already have their plans hammered out in the event they get to spend a few more days together.
“We threw in ice cream at that Braum’s place,” Hogue said. “If we win tonight, we are going straight there to the drive through with the bus. We’re going to roll down each window and take their orders. They just want to have more days together and they know ice cream and a day off and another ball game with our group.”
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
