Corona Angels (Calif.) pitcher Sam Manti, a 2016 right-hander who has committed to Washington, is on the East Coast this week to help her club team compete in the Team NJ Summer Classic in Edison and Bridgewater, N.J. 

Manti will be blogging about her experiences all week while she’s at the tournament for FloSoftball.

Here’s what went down on Day 3 of the event on Friday, June 26.

Today was the first and only day we were able to get a little extra sleep in the morning. But with elimination games starting today, Friday, the girls and I were antsy to play.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP/LOG IN FOR TEAM NJ SUMMER CLASSIC LIVE GAME STREAMING!

Our game wasn’t until late in the day, so we met in the lobby to drive to the field. As we sat there waiting for the vans, we saw softball players coming back from their early game. Their loss meant it was time for them to pack up and go home. The reality of elimination day hit me.

We started off strong in our first game when our offense attacked early! Lead-off hitter Amani Bradley hit the first pitch of the game! We won our only game of the day, letting just a single run score. This win moved us into bracket play on Saturday. We won’t know our opponent until all the games are played.

However, our day wasn’t done yet! We ate lunch at Popeye’s where the team fought over the biscuits and mac & cheese. Corona Angels love to eat!

After lunch our coaches drove us around until we were able to find a softball field to practice on. We worked on specific fundamentals that we had been lacking the previous days. The pitchers were throwing on different “planes” of the strike zone and the hitters trying to stay inside the ball.

When practice was all finished and the team was back in the hotel, we caused some trouble while racing each other down the halls to see who was the fastest. Angels are always competing!

My roommate for the week, Peyton, tried to beat one of our fastest girls by sliding on the carpet and ripped her pants! We soon realized that we were getting a little crazy and we retired to our rooms to take showers and meet up later in the hotel lobby.

As the day ended, we met up for ice cream to celebrate our win and for making it to the final day of elimination play.

Follow FloSoftball on Twitter @FloSoftball.