Wayne State University senior shortstop and All-GLIAC First Team selection Jaci Banton is providing daily blog entries to wsuathletics.com (with assistance and guidance from sophomore third baseman Rebecca Stanley) as the Warriors participate in the 2010 NCAA Division II Softball Championship tournament this week in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Our day started with a walk around the town on St. Joseph. St Joe has a lot of visual similarities to Detroit and it is a frontier town which at one time functioned as a communication gateway to the west. “It is where the west started getting wild”. We were informed by a local that this is where Eminem spent some time during childhood (how could this be true?) and this is where Jessie James (Sandra Bullocks' ex husband) ruined his marriage (also likely). After seeing no one, because here, everything opens at 10, we went back and took the bus to the Nature Center.
 
Stanley was fully disappointed that she never got to hold any animals, although the only live ones there were fish and bees, two species that are not pleasant to hold. We saw the history of barbed wire and an interesting narrative of wax figures who told of the first American settlers from the area. They also had a particularly woolly, mammoth.

Then, we ventured on the outdoor trail which led back to our hotel. Running along the trail was the Missouri River which provided a scenic backdrop on our pleasant walk. 
 
When we arrived at the hotel we boarded the bus again and went to Panera Bread (its awesome), that's not a plug, its just the best food ever (especially the…everything). Anyway, it was time to get ready for our first game, the weather was hot but there were plenty of fans.

When it came to playing time we were excited to experience our first national competition game. Hawaii Pacific had a good team and got a few key hits. Unfortunately we were not able to match them today, but are looking to bring our game to Saturday's contest.
 
After the game we bought some paraphernalia and headed to dinner at a small steakhouse. The girls told some pretty funny jokes including some old memories. This included Alison's fond memories of Florida when she saw a large bug while playing right field and screamed mid game. The umpire urged her to keep playing after she continually tried to call time out. But her fear of diving on it kept her on edge. So, all in all, the food was great and so was the company.
 
We headed back to the field for our final plans of the night; there was to be fireworks over our field. They were pretty impressive as far as fireworks go. Tomorrow we have an off-day just to practice and experience the area.

We'd also like to thank all of our fellow athletes who are following the blog and giving us messages.

And remember, haters gonna hate, ballers gonna ball…

Jaci and Stanley