Aronin plays in Spain for Team USA
Former Greyhound Jackie Aronin concluded her first collegiate softball season with an eight-day trip to Spain to play four games with the Connecticut-based Team USA.
Aronin, the 2016 All-NVL and All-State centerfielder for Naugatuck High, made a solid first impression playing for Utica College, starting in 25 games and batting .293 for the Pioneers who went 17-21.
Team USA consisted of players from Meriden, Southington, Cheshire, Naugatuck and Massachusetts. The team was coach by Scott Aresco, the head coach at Maloney High School and the All State Chairman of the Connecticut High School Coaches Association.
Eleven players made the team, including Jackie’s older sister Jessica, who played at Sacred Heart High School. Ten parents also made the trip from July 10 through July 18, traveling to Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.
“This was my first time traveling overseas, and this trip really opened my eyes to the possibilities of where life can take me,” Aronin said. “It was definitely an adjustment playing in Europe where the umpires barely speak your language and you can’t understand anything coming from the other dugout. But softball is softball no matter where you play. I just played the game the way I know how to play.
“The trip definitely will give me an edge going into my second year of collegiate softball. I had the opportunity to bat against a professional European pitcher and I did get a hit off her.”
Aronin not only got a hit off a 29-year-old professional pitcher from Valencia who once pitched for Texas-El Paso University, she began the trip with a bang belting a grand slam in her first at bat to lead the team to a 5-3 win over Madrid.
“One of my most cherished memories from the trip was the opportunity my team and I received to spend time with our opponents after games,” Aronin said. “We had dinner together and sat around and really got to know them and see what life is like in Spain. I was fortunate enough to come away from that trip having made some new great friends in my life.”
Team USA got to show off the talent they brought to Spain when they gutted out an 11-10 win over Madrid in the second game of the trip. The following game they traveled to Valencia to face the 29-year-old professional pitcher, and the team battled to a seven inning 3-3 tie.
“Besides softball we did have some time to explore our new surroundings,” Aronin said. “We saw the sights such as La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Plaza Mayor in Madrid and so many more cathedrals, beaches and markets.”
The trip concluded with the team’s only loss, an 11-4 setback to Barcelona. Overall the 2-1-1 record marked the success on the field, but the memories and life lessons learned along the way will certainly last a lifetime.
“There has been talk about another trip with Team USA to Germany, but I have not committed just yet to another journey overseas,” Aronin said. “If there is one thing I can take away from this trip, it’s the fact that if I can get a hit off a professional pitcher, then I can definitely be successful at the collegiate level.”
