Sydney Supple from Oshkosh, Wisc. is one of the top 2019 players in the country and last year committed to Northwestern when she was just 13 years old. The tall lefty, who is also a standout hitter, will start her freshman year at Oshkosh North High School this fall, but currently is playing with the Beverly Bandits Premier 14U team at the PGF Nationals this week.

Here’s a profile we did on her last November.

In today’s blog, Sydney talks about how much it hurts to lose the opening game yesterday and how she and the team have battled back to play another day…

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This game is a special game.

I say that for it never knows who the winner should be. You can know everything about the team you are playing, but it all comes down to execution, like getting the key hits when there are base runners on.

In our first game, which was a blind-seeded playin game, we lost to Birmingham Thunderbolts 3-1. I give them all the credit for being able to execute when they needed to. Both teams had six hits, they just got them when base runners were on.

I wear my heart on my sleeve, so losing was very hard. Coming back to the hotel I knew that, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t get the game back.

I had to move on and focus on the next game. Last night we played Minnesota Renegades and I knew I was not going to lose that game.

I put everything I had into every single batter that faced me. My team did as well, and we played solid defense the entire game, shutting them out and winning 4-0.

I ended the game breaking my personal strikeout record of the summer with 11 strikeouts and went 3-4 with 3 RBI.

But what mattered the most to me was the win and that our team would still play another day.

After I lost the first game I talked to my mentor, hitting coach, and role model. She’s a former alumni at Northwestern, one of the greatest hitters to ever play there. She gave me some of the best advice I could receive, “If you win every pitch, you can’t lose.”

Moving forward, to keep playing today, I will take the game one pitch at a time, focusing on winning every single one.

No one said this was going to be easy, but my team and I are here to fight!