RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
Earlier this week, we recounted the December trip taken by eight American players with Panamanian ties who visited the country to possibly consider competing for Panama’s national teams in the future.
Click HERE to read In Their Own Write: American Players Recap Their December “Softball Trip of a Lifetime” to Panama!
One of the eight who made the trip was 2023 pitcher/infielder Kayla Fekel from Ashburn, Virginia who plays for the Hanover Lady Hornets club team.
Kayla kept a day-by-day journal of her experiences… here’s what she recorded of her trip…
*****
Day 1~ Friday, Dec. 11, 2020 – Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020
Headed out on our way to Panama, we left our house around 11p.m., so we could get to the airport before our flight left at 1:30am. I sat in the seat closest to the window, thinking it would be nice to rest my head against, but it was very hard to fall asleep because it was so cold.
Around 3 in the morning we received our snack boxes, inside was a small apple juice along with a small turkey and cheese sandwich which was pretty good. The plane landed in Panama at 6:15 a.m. When we got off the plane we could tell that it was a lot warmer than it was back in Virginia. We took a picture and sent it to my Dad.
After picking up our luggage we headed through security and made our way to where we usually meet our Abuelos (grandfather) and my Tio (Uncle) Gollo, but due to COVID-19 they had to wait outside. I was so excited to see them, it had been almost three years since we last visited. We gave each other huge hugs and cried a little bit.
After loading our bags into the truck, we headed to my Tia (Aunt) Dalis‘ house. She lives pretty close to the airport in a town called Los Caobos. When we arrived at her house ,we saw my two primos (cousins), Viví and Anthony and my Tia (Aunt) Abuelos.
We went on a short walk to the corner store to get some empanadas and they tasted SO good. When we got back to the house, we watched a television show; my prima Viví is a dancer and she performed on the show (so cool).
After we finished watching her dance we headed over to the hotel. We ended up getting lost, my Tio said he knew how to get there, he was right it just took a little longer than we thought. We checked into our rooms, got cleaned up and hung out at the hotel.
Later that night we went back to my Tia’s house for dinner, she’s an awesome cook and made fried fish and rice. We headed back to the hotel when dinner was over and we got lost again, but we made it before curfew, which was at 9p.m..
*****
Day 2~ Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020
Sunday was a chill day, we relaxed and put all of our clothes away. We wanted to attend church so we watched an online Mass and, after we finished, we all went downstairs to the lobby to look around. The hotel was very big and beautiful, there was a casino connected to the side along with an outdoor pool, nail salon, barbershop, and a couple of restaurants.
My mom received a call from Mr. Danilo (Velasco) who is the VP of FEPASOFT (the Panamanian Softball Federation), he invited us to go over to the MVP facility later that day with another of the American players, Alex (Baquie), and her dad.
Later, we all loaded into the van and headed over to the MVP, which was about 20 minutes away from the hotel. Walking into the facility was pretty exciting, we couldn’t help but notice a huge baseball right as you entered that had been autographed. It was at that point when Mr. Danilo’s wife, Señora Maritza introduced herself and took us to meet Mr. Danilo.
The layout of the complex was really cool to see, it was massive and was spread out with so many different areas. Mr. Danilo introduced us to one of the announcers and he took a picture of Alex and me. After the picture he held out his phone and started speaking to us in Spanish, that’s when I realized we were being interviewed.
I was so nervous and anxious, that when he asked us a lot of questions, it was like all the Spanish I had learned flew out of my head! He was also talking pretty fast, but I was able to understand what he was asking and answered in Spanish. I was very proud of myself!
After the interview Mr. Danilo and his wife took us to the VIP section which was upstairs. They asked for our passports for verification and as we were heading to our table, everyone else in the VIP section was staring at us. We quickly realized it was because we were with Mr. Danilo. The waiters came out and asked what we would like to eat for lunch. I got a ginger ale and ribs, they were very yummy.
While we waited for our lunch, my mom and Alex‘s dad sat at a table with Mr. Danilo and his wife and talked. While Mr. Danilo and our parents talked, I had a chance to get to know Alex, she is super nice and sweet. We talked a lot about school and our thoughts on distance learning, our travel ball teams, and just life. I really enjoyed getting to know her and her little brother Dominic.
After awhile, Mr. Danilo and I had a chance to talk. We discussed all things pitching, the pitches I like to throw and how I grip the ball for each pitch. Alex and I shared that we had some equipment that we wanted to donate and he was very happy. When I showed him the balls that SF3 (SixFour3) donated he was in awe.
We were at the complex for quite a while when Mr. Danilo decided we should head back to the hotel for the press conference that we were having later that night. When we headed downstairs we saw the men playing softball, it was cool to see them playing. Something I found funny was that some of the men were drinking beers in the dugout, that’s different. We loaded into the van and Mr. Danilo drove us back to the hotel, he put on some Spanish music and we had fun driving back.
When we got back we met up with my brother Marvin, my Abuelos and my Tío. We had an hour before the press conference and passed the time by playing some games. My mom and I headed down to the lobby and met Mr. Armando Moreno (Gabby Moreno’s father).
A little bit after the Tuñón family, Alex’s family, and the rest of Mr. Armando’s family arrived. The press conference was in Spanish, so I was only able to pick up on some things during the conference. As the conference was going on, there was a man, Mr. Pablo Bustamante, with a camera who was taking pictures and videotaping everyone in the room.
I later found out he is a Presentador for Deportes NEXTV Canal 21 Panama. Turned out he was doing a story on our journey, how exciting!
After the conference was over we got our jerseys and got the names of the team we were assigned to. I had a chance to meet Gabby, she plays for Texas A&M, SO COOL, WOW!
I talked to her about college, she was super nice. After everything finished up, we all went to the restaurant inside of the hotel since it was too late to go out to eat because of the curfew.
*****
Day 3~ Monday, Dec. 14, 2020
I got to sleep in and, when I woke up, I looked at my phone and saw that my brother and mom were downstairs eating breakfast with my grandparents and uncle so I headed downstairs and ate breakfast with them. I had a waffle (so good) with some fruit and juice.
After breakfast Marvin and I played Dominos with my grandparents. Marvin won the first round and I won the round two “DOMINO.” Then Victoria Tuñón and I checked out the gym and had some time to just hang out. It was getting hot out so we decided that we wanted to go to the pool. We had a blast at the pool, it was great connecting with Victoria. She is a lot of fun and is super sweet!
Dinner time, my family and I headed back to my Tia’s house and ate pork chops, lentils and rice. After dinner was over ,I spent some time drawing with my cousin Viví and we listened to music. Before it got too late, we headed back to the hotel to get some much needed rest.
Day 4~ Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2020
The alarm went off around 6:15 am: time to get ready for the day. We headed to the field, got lost (again) on the way there so I was a little late.
I was so excited to meet my team for the first time, FEPASOFT. When we arrived, I quickly noticed that I was wearing the wrong-colored socks, but it was all right; luckily, I had brought the other ones as well.
The game started at 8:30, but before we started, we did a team “warm up,” which was throwing (no stretching). I was able to get a good stretch in and do some other stuff on my own.
The game started and I hadn’t really met the coaches or had a chance to talk with them to go over my pitches or get the signs. I got the call in the 3rd inning and let me tell you it started off a little rough!
I was ALL over the place during warm-ups, there were quiet a few things that were different than what I am used to.
The mound wasn’t the correct distance, this has happened once or twice before, but add to that the fact that the ball was much different than any ball I had used before (that’s why Mr. Danilo liked the SF3 donated balls so much). The ball was solid white with seams drawn on it.
Then, the mound wasn’t nailed into the ground and moved like crazy every time I tried to push off! The “dirt” was also different, it was gray and seemed like some kind of sand and gravel mixed together.
I walked the first batter, Gabby Moreno from Texas A&M, but I quickly settled down and got into my groove. I pitched well and didn’t allow any runs and had a chance to face Gabby again, which I enjoyed.
My team end up losing 2-1, but I had so much fun, it all happened so fast. Alex pitched a great game!
In the second game of the day, we played against Team MVP and won 3-1. The pitcher on the other team was 52 years old. Yeah, that’s right… 52! However, she was good and fun to watch.
I pitched the entire game and felt good about hitting my spots and working with Victoria behind the plate (she is really good). We hit better in this game than we did in the first one but had some base running errors. We were able to get it under control and score runs.
Great way to end the day!
*****
Day 5~ Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2020
We woke up at 5:45 and rode in the van with the Tuñóns and Alex’s family. We got to the fields at 7:30 and warmed up. Still excited from all the fun from the day before, my team went out and played a great game and we won 5-0… and I pitched a perfect game!!!
It was my first perfect game internationally and I was super stoked! After the game we had a 20-minute break and Mr. Pablo asked to interview me. I was super excited! We did the interview and I did much better with my Spanish.
In the second game of the day, we won 7-1 and we all hit really well. I had a single, double and triple. I sat out, and cheered my team on, it was really fun learning the cheers in Spanish!
We did really well in the field as well, it was a strong day and I also met and talked to some of the other ladies on the team that I didn’t get a chance to talk to Day 1.
*****
Day 6~ Thursday, Dec. 16, 2020
Today, our last day, all of the American players played against the Panamanian players. After warm-ups they played the Panamanian National Anthem; it was really cool, I have never heard it before and everyone was singing very passionately.
We ended up winning the game 11-0. I pitched the first two innings and did well. In the 1st inning I gave up a hit and had two strikeouts. In the 2nd inning, I was feeling good, in a rhythm, and had three more strikeouts.
My hitting was decent, I made good contact, had a hard ground ball to the pitcher and advanced the runner and my second at bat was a hard ground ball to shortstop, resulting in a fielder’s choice.
In the championship game, we played against the Gabby and Alex’s team which beat us on the first day. We ended up losing 4-2, Gabby and Alex were awesome!
I was happy I was able to help my team stay in the game and give ourselves a chance to win. We were so close and had a rally going but didn’t get the outcome we had hoped for. The sadness of losing was quickly wiped away seeing my teammates so happy to have had a chance to play in the championship. I was so amazing to see their passion for the game!
After the game we all got lunch and Mr. Danilo asked us to hang on because there was going to be a ceremony. Mr. Danilo, Mr. Armando and Mr. Tuñón all gave inspiring stories about how much they had looked forward to this week and were so excited to have had this opportunity.
Trophies were awarded for each position; it was really cool to see all the smiles on the ladies faces. The last position trophy they gave out was for pitcher. When I heard my name, I was surprised and in shock. The woman who gave me the trophy was one of the best Panamanian softball players to have ever competed for the country, which was super cool.
Our team was awarded the 2nd place trophy and we took lots of pictures and there was lots of smiles and laughter!
I had a blast playing with the everyone, it was truly an incredible experience and something that I will NEVER forget. It was very humbling to watch the teams share the equipment throughout the games. They never complained once and you could see how much they loved this game.
*****
Day 7~Friday, Dec. 17, 2020
We woke up around 7 am, finished packing our bags and ate some breakfast. After breakfast we went downstairs to the lobby to meet my grandparents and uncle. We decided to head over to Colon, one of the Provincia. My mother grew up in Colon and always loves taking us to visit.
While we were in Colon we went to the hospital to see my Tio Celso, he works at the same hospital my Abuelo’s worked at. It was great seeing Tio Celso, he is doing a lot to help people who are fighting COVID.
Before we went to my grandparents’ house, we went to PriceSmart to buy all the groceries they needed. There aren’t any grocery stores where they live in Platano. When we got to their house in Platano, I saw this cute puppy, it was so small and adorable. They had a couple new dogs and their house was different than what I remembered. The chickens and ducks were all roaming around. I hung out with the dogs and the puppy and went to see the piglets. Dinner from my Abuela was amazing, Carne Guisada with white rice.
The next morning we woke up super early due to roosters signing so loud… really loud! On the final day of our stay, we heard the howler monkeys and they were also very loud. It was a fun weekend at the farm, which I really enjoyed.
Marvin, Abuela, Mamí, and Tío Gollo went fishing although they didn’t have fishing poles; Marvin said he had to hand reel and had a lot of fun. He ended up catching two big fish, a Peacock Bass and a Snook on Lake Gatun.
I went horseback riding with Abuelo while they were gone, it was fun spending time with him. Unfortunately, our time was cut short and we had to leave early due to COVID-19 restrictions.
It was sad to say goodbye to my grandparents and uncle because we didn’t get to spend much time with them because of the pandemic but I am thankful to God that I enjoyed every moment with them!
All in all, it was the BEST SOFTBALL TRIP EVER! PANAMA❤️💙
—Kayla Fekel