It’s cliché to say that in most college athletic programs, your teammates become your family. But for Florida’s softball team, it’s exactly that kind of mentality that helps its program succeed when it faces long road-game stretches.
No. 4 Florida (32-4, 7-2 SEC) is on a four-game winning streak coming off a successful tournament at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium as the team enters a five-game away stretch.
Up first, the team will travel to Orlando to take on UCF in a midweek matchup. This weekend, the Gators will resume SEC play at Alabama as they take on the Crimson Tide. Florida will end its road stretch with another midweek contest against Florida State.
“It’s going to be an exciting time going away and being in those different atmospheres,” infielder Sophia Reynoso said.
The Palmdale, California, native said the team thrives on the hyped up energy because that is when Florida performs its best.
“Away trips are fun spending time with each other,” she added.
Reynoso said she looks forward to the team bus trips on road trips because she and her teammates sit in the back together and play games or send funny pictures to each other in their team group message.
“I think that builds chemistry with us,” Reynoso said. “Having those little inside jokes, having that comfort with each other where you’ve seen me at my worst… little things like that are a lot of fun to do on the bus.”
Another pastime the team has on the bus is making fun of pitcher Kelly Barnhill, known for being one of the first players to fall asleep inside the moving vehicle.
“We make fun of Kelly for that all the time,” Reynoso chuckled.
However, when the team gets close to the game site, everything is about getting in the zone and focusing on the competition ahead.
“We’re all kind of listening to our own music,” she said.
Senior utility player Aleshia Ocasio said spending every day together — on and off the field — also helps build team chemistry.
“When we’re on the field, obviously there’s an adaptive personality,” she said. “You have that grit about you.”
Off the field, the St. Cloud, Florida, native said spending time together helps the team become a more cohesive unit on the diamond.
“That’s really special and really important when you’re playing a team sport,” Ocasio said.
Follow Mari Faiello on Twitter @faiello_mari and contact her at mfaiello@alligator.org.
Shortstop Sophia Reynoso went 3-for-6 from the plate in Saturday's games against Jacksonville and Hampton.
