Softball sisters bring tightly-knit team closer together
Sophomore Chelsea DeLamielleure is a superstitious individual, but her numerous rituals might be the key to Central Michigan softball's success this season.
Before games, it is not unheard of to see DeLamielleure listening to the same music in the same order, drinking the same drink and eating the same food on game days. She sees it as something that helps her mentally and physically prepare for games.
"As a team, we all do the same warm up, our coach does the same warm up," DeLamielleure said. "We pray together. We pretty much all do the same things together."
The Chippewas have had a successful pre-conference tournament stretch.
"It was good to play a variety of different teams we were not familiar with or had a detailed scouting report about," said senior Cory DeLamielleure. "So it was good to just play and not know so much about them."
During Spring Break, the team travelled south to compete in the University of South Florida Under Armour Showcase and gained experience playing outdoors, while back in Mount Pleasant they are relegated to the Indoor Athletic Center turf bay.
"I think all of our games have been challenging so far," said junior Trista Cox. "USF was tough because it's just so many games in such a long period of time instead of just a weekend."
The Chippewas pulled through with nine wins and three losses at the showcase.
"Our team is very flexible because we have had some injuries," Chelsea said. "In Florida, there was a lot of people out of position, but we still did really well."
Cory is capable of hitting home runs.
"It's great for my team to put an extra run on the board with one single hit," Cory said, "but it all comes from a lot of work and preparation and tee work ... but it's a great success to have."
Cory said the team has been focusing on taking it one game at a time, despite falling behind early.
"We noticed that most of our games we fought a lot and there was quite a few games where we came from behind and won," Cory said. "We didn't necessarily score first, but we were scored on and we came back, answered, were the fighters and kept winning games we fell behind in."
Chelsea believes the team has a strong bond, especially between her and her sister, Cory.
"(Cory) knows me like the back of her hand," Chelsea said. "She knows what to say to me, when to say it. She knows my swing really well, she knows what to tell me when I am doing wrong and I can always turn to her when I am struggling, too. I can talk to her about anything, so it's awesome being on the same team as her."
CMU picks up the bat at the season opener at 1 p.m. Friday against Akron at Margo Jonker Stadium.
