Friday Cardinal Couple - Softball set to start in Feburary

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Coach P. returns power, speed and hitting for 2013

-Bullpen Softball Dinner coming up!

-Should we name the Ulmer Dome after Jurich or Sonja?

University of Louisville head softball coach Sandy Pearsall spoke to an appreciative crowd at the monthly Sportsmen's
Supper Club meeting at the University Club Thursday night
and CARDINAL COUPLE was there to bring you the exclusive
report on it.

First off the bat, Coach P. expressed her thanks for the fan support that the 55-win Cards had during their magical season last year. She noted that it was very special to the players and also a great recruiting tool for future softball Cards. She explained that the entire success of Louisville athletics was quite important to recruiting for all UofL sports, seeing Cardinal fans in droves at the Sugar Bowl, Cardinal basketball games and at the softball regionals speaks directly to the prospective recruit that the Louisville fan base backs their teams.

Sandy Pearsall has a veteran, experienced and slugging bunch of softball Cards hard at work for the season-opener (less than a month away!) in Las Vegas at the three-day Sportco Kickoff Classic. The only starters graduated from last year's team are right fielder Kristin Austin and pitcher Tori Collins. Chelsea Leonard has had to end her softball career because of recurring knee injuries.

How about this for a lineup to choose from! Jordan Trimble, Maggie Ruckenbroad, Jennifer Esteban, Alicia Wolny, Katelynn Mann, Taner Fowler, Whitney Arion, Katie Keller and (Sonja's favorite player) Hannah Kiyohara all return for the Cards. Pitcher Caralisa Connell will see the majority of balls and strikes work...but transfer Rachel LeCoq and Jasmine Smithson-Willett are available as well. Smithson-Willett, a true freshman from Cailfornia, will likely see some outfield time as well...Pearsall describes her as a powerful hitter and extremely fast on the bases.

Coach has her work cut out for her with one of the toughest non-conference schedules she can remember since arriving at Louisville. The BIG EAST didn't do the team any favors either with scheduling in 2013 or 2014. UofL head baseball coach Dan McDonnell, who also spoke to the group, and Coach P. are pretty sure that their teams will compete in the BIG EAST in this and the 2014 seasons.   

A most informative and heartfelt presentation by Coach Pearsall and if you haven't been to a Louisville softball game, you definitely need to get out to Ulmer Stadium this season! This isn't the slow-pitch softball you played in the church league last summer. It's fast, exciting and competitive.  

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You don't want to miss the upcoming Louisville softball Bullpen Club Dinner to kickoff the season on Saturday, Jan 26th. at the Hyatt Regency. Cocktails at 6 p.m.

The tickets are $50 each and funds go to support Louisville softball. There will also be a cash bar and a great silent auction with items available from many UofL sports.

Sonja and I atttended last year and will be there again this year. It's a blast and we highly recommend you go!

This year's speaker is Olympian and 2009 and 2010 NCAA Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie. She played her college ball at the University of Washington. You'll love her.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 502.852-0706 or e-mailing Christine Krellwitz at christine.krellwitz@louisville.edu

You can also download the form at www.gocards.com

See you there!

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(The following section is a parody. PLEASE don't send any money to Timmy the Intern...)

We spoke at length with Coach after the meeting about her dream and our cause celebe now....putting a dome over Ulmer Stadium. Based on our talk, CARDINAL COUPLE has decided to put Timmy the Intern in charge of fundraising for the auspicious and ground-breaking venture. If you see Timmy and his crack team of fundraising chimps out at local venues, please donate generously. Small, non-sequential bills ($20 and under) are strongly recommended and suggested.

We are also working out the details of installing toll booths near the field at the intersection of Floyd Street and Brandeis...manned by softball players...to speed along the funding. We're hoping former mayor and current Lt. Governor Jerry Abramson will return our calls and pull a few strings to get this approved by city planning.  

We're going on record that the facility be named The Sonja Softball Stadium or SonjaDome...after our beloved operations manager here at CARDINAL COUPLE.

Online donations (all major credit cards) can be processed by going to the website www.TimmytheInternventures.com
You're on your own there...we got nothing to do with it.

We've suggested the brilliant contractor Manual Labor for the job and his construction crew of Wood, Hammer, Beam and Stucco. Now that the floods and labor strikes have ended in Belize...the boys should be available once we get those pesky work permits approved and appropriate bribes donations paid off to certain unnamed parties. The statute of limitations that prevented them from working in the United States has expired and we're confident this will be another "gem" on the UofL campus when completed.

CARDINAL COUPLE construction consultant MArkie MArk predicts it will "be a showplace that will attract both young and old due to it's majestic beauty, innovative design and one-of-a-kind structural integrity." He's pretty smart about stuff like this, so ..."what he said"

A recent staff meeting, poorly attended and...honestly, these people have the attention span of eight-year olds...also came up with other fund-raising ideas...like having Honey Boo Boo throw out the first pitch at a game this year, having a "Dress like a member of the Third Reich" night at the ballpark, letting Bill the Goat pitch an inning for the Cards and having a lobster toss in between innings for the fans. All these ideas were emphatically shot down by operations manager and co-owner Sonja and the meeting abruptly came to an end when Jeff and Paulie ended up exchanging haymakers for the final piece of pizza.

BE SURE to check back tomorrow here at CARDINAL COUPLE for Quentin Voigt/Elvis Redbird's scout on the University of Louisville WBB's next opponent...the Providence Friars. The Cards take to the road for this Saturday game and "Q" has the scoop for you!
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