Stuck in an Austin, Texas, hotel room last Friday, Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea planned an impromptu road trip. The destination: Dairy Queen.
Half of the Arizona Wildcats’ traveling part had safely made it back to Tucson just a few hours earlier, but Candrea — along with Jessie Harper, Alyssa Denham and several other players — were stuck in Texas overnight.
So they went to their coach’s favorite ice cream place.
“I’m just a die-hard Butterfinger Blizzard man,” Candrea said this week. “Growing up, that was the only ice cream that was around.”
Arizona’s season-opening tournament was wiped out due to inclement weather that only got worse the longer they stayed in town.
Now home in warm, sunny Tucson, the third-ranked Wildcats will properly open their season on Friday. Arizona takes on Southern Utah at 3 p.m. and New Mexico at 6 as part of the Hillenbrand Invitational. The tournament also features Seattle University, a team the Wildcats will play Saturday night. Because of the pandemic, games will be closed to fans.
UA players said they’re excited to be back.
“That’s where we always want to start, here on our home field,” Harper said.
Arizona’s season-opening tournament in Austin, Texas, was wiped out by steadily worsening weather. Now home, the Wildcats say they’re excited about how things worked out. “That’s where we always want to start, here on our home field,” says Jessie Harper.
The Wildcats’ first road trip proved disastrous, almost from the start. When Arizona got word Thursday that the four-day tournament was off, the team began coordinating flights home to Tucson.
The team booked one of the last flights out of Austin on Thursday night, but it wound up getting canceled. With the help of operations staff Brittany Meade and Stacy Iveson, the softball team split into three groups. Some players left at 12:30 p.m. Friday, another at 4:30 p.m. and the largest group at 6:40 p.m.
The final group’s flight got delayed long enough to force the team to stay another night in Austin.
Candrea threw a round of batting practice and then tracked down some Dairy Queen.
“It was kind of a blessing we stayed the night there,” he said, explaining they would have missed their connecting flight on Friday anyway.
The final group landed in Tucson at 10 a.m. Saturday. Three hours later, the Wildcats held a practice.
This weekend’s tournament will include on extra game. Candrea added a fifth as his team tries to make up for last week, and said he plans to explore similar options for the Wildcats’ two subsequent tournaments.
Harper, a two-time All-American, knows every game will count this year as she chases the elusive NCAA home run record. She needs 19 homers to pass Lauren Chamberlain’s 95.
Candrea has told Harper, the Wildcats’ star shortstop, to “not shy away from it” as she inches closer to the mark.
Head coach Mike Candrea hits balls during a practice at Hillenbrand Stadium. The Cats open their season Friday.
“Records are going to happen if you go out there and perform,” he said. “Jessie’s got a good head on her shoulders; she loves to play the game.”
Harper agreed with her coach’s assessment, emphasizing it’s been almost a full year since she put on an Arizona uniform — a feeling she desperately misses.
During the pandemic, “I’ve learned to love the game so much more and be thankful for what I have here at Arizona,” she said.
If nothing else, the roller coaster of emotions during the last week has only added to the anticipation of Friday’s first pitch.
“We’re triple-excited,” Harper said.
