BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Up before the sun, the Bridgewater College softball team quietly loaded their bags onto the bus, neck pillows tucked under their arms and 7Brew drinks in hand. Within a few hours, the Eagles would trade the calm, small-town scene of Bridgewater for an intensity-packed trip to California, filled with challenging competition against ranked opponents, long travel days and fun new experiences.
“No matter what the results are on the field, we want to compete, we want to win, but at the end of the day, you have to enjoy your experience,” Bridgewater College head softball coach Megan Pleskovic said.
While spring break usually means time off for college students, the Bridgewater College softball team spent five days balancing travel, preparation and competition in California. The trip packed multiple games into just a few days, including matchups against ranked opponents, while also introducing new expectations set by the coaching staff.
Eagles step up, swing big and battle with the best
“We can beat anybody we play. We can compete,” BC senior outfielder Jordan Wise said. “We just have to play our best game and push through no matter what’s happening.”
Leaving behind 50-degree temperatures on the East Coast, the Eagles arrived in California to 80-degree sunshine. Bridgewater entered the trip with a perfect 4-0 record, looking to carry that early success into a challenging West Coast schedule.
The Eagles played their first doubleheader of the trip on March 1 at El Camino Real Park, home of the Chapman University softball team, which is ranked No. 18 in the NFCA Division III Coaches Poll as of March 17.
Bridgewater began the day with their first game against the University of Chicago. The team came out on top with a narrow win of 3-2, setting the tone for what would become a series of tightly-contested games throughout the trip. The Eagles carried that momentum into the second game but ultimately fell just short in game 2 against Chapman University with a score of 5-6.
The competition only intensified in the following match-up with Redlands University, which is ranked No. 10 in the NCFA Coaches Poll. Bridgewater kept the games close early, but the Bulldogs pulled away to secure 1-2 and 0-4 wins.
“It would be easy to go 1-3 and roll over,” Plesckovic said. “But the standards of the team, the fight and the competitiveness allowed us to really push through.”
To close out the trip, the team traveled to face Whittier College to play their last doubleheader in California. The Eagles split the doubleheader with the Poets, securing a 5-0 win before falling 3-4 in the final game of the California trip.
“It’s more than just showing up and playing ball to our team, but very much about our culture and development and building something that lasts,” Pleskovic said.
Eagles step away from the field and soak in the California experience
With no game on the schedule and the pressure of competition temporarily lifted, Bridgewater players traded their visors for sunglasses, scattering across Southern California with their families and teammates.
For some players, that meant spending time with family while exploring new places. One group spent the day traveling from the inland hills to the coast, taking in two different sides of Southern California.
“My roommates and I went with my parents to Chino Hills State Park and Laguna Beach,” Wise said. “At Chino Hills State Park, we were able to see wildflowers and view the rolling hills. After that, we headed towards the coast and worked our way down to Laguna Beach. We got to walk around the beach and the surrounding area and explore some of the shops.”
Beyond the scenery, the off-day carried personal significance. Between a packed game schedule and cross-country travel, opportunities to step away from the field are rare.
“It was a nice chance to spend some quality time with family and friends away from the softball field,” said Wise. “The opportunity to do something like that does not come often, so I was grateful for a day off to explore.”
Another group traveled out to the coast, spending the day at the Santa Monica Pier. Pleskovic expressed the importance of building those moments into the trip, emphasizing that the experience extended beyond the field.
“The day off in Santa Monica or people being able to go out and experience different parts of California and allowing free time is really important,” said Pleskovic. “If we were only focused on the games and results and treated it as strictly a business trip, there wouldn’t have been as much time to appreciate the surroundings and really have fun as a team.”
Bridgewater finds its spark and transforms team energy
BC senior pitcher Mackenzie Cauthorn said one turning point came after the team realized they had been “a little flat” early in the week, with energy coming in waves rather than staying steady. In response, the Eagles created a dugout whiteboard “bingo card” that tracked small but meaningful goals, quality at-bats, first-pitch strikes and other controllable details, to refocus on the little wins that don’t always show up in the final score.
Alongside the board, the coaches and players introduced a “spark player” recognition and assigned each inning to a different class to lead cheers and dugout energy, pushing quieter players out of their comfort zones. Cauthorn said that structure helped freshmen and sophomores find their voices, showing that “positive energy creates more positive energy” and helping the team keep its intensity more consistent as the week went on.
Late Wednesday night, the Eagles were back where the trip had started, loading their bags once again, this time under the bright lights of LAX instead of the quiet darkness of Bridgewater. Uniforms were swapped for sweatpants, and the same neck pillows that had made the early morning departure a little easier were pulled out again as players settled in for the red-eye flight home.
The energy had changed. It was stronger and more connected after five days of competition, long travel and shared experiences. By the time the sun began to rise on the East Coast, the Eagles returned to Bridgewater not just as a team that had traveled across the country, but as one that had grown closer together along the way.
