by Megan Murray
contributor
Millsaps softball held an alumni game Saturday, Oct. 25, during Homecoming weekend. It was a day filled with reunions and reconnections for the alumni and their families. The game, the first event of its kind for the softball team, brought together graduates from as recent as 2014, who are only just exploring their lives outside of Millsaps, to as far back as 2002, many with careers and some married with as many as three children. The players came together on the Millsaps softball field for a day full of fun, competition and memories.
The day started with designating two teams of alumni to face each other in an intense game of slow-pitch softball. After a gut-wrenching seven innings, the “Old Ladies” beat the “Young Guys” by a thin margin of 10-9. Despite the playful heckling from the “Old Ladies,” the game was about reconnecting with old friends and making memories with new friends.
After the game ended, Coach Roland Rodriquez, head softball coach at Millsaps College for the past eight years, said, “I want this to become an annual event. It is important for the alumni and their families to know that they are always welcomed back to Millsaps, and that they will always be Majors.”
As a current Millsaps softball player, I thoroughly enjoyed our first alumni game. It was a chance for me and other current players to connect with some of the most recognizable and decorated softball alumni to play for Millsaps since the creation of the softball program in 1989. It also allowed current players and families to personally meet the people who had a part in creating and shaping the path for what the Millsaps softball program and its players stand for: diligence, dedication, teamwork, encouragement and enthusiasm.