Kate Robinson was gracious enough to cover for me yesterday by writing this daily article. I'm afraid I caught some sort of stomach "bug" while traveling the last couple of days and I spent some intimate time in the bathroom last night.

She sent me a text message this morning on my phone asking me to read her article to see if she had done a good job.

"Alana, read article, tell me it's good."

Please, do not let her quiet ways fool you, she has quite a sense of humor but I have to say, she was a bit nervous as to how well her writing would be received. She would like you to know that she's still sleeping with her bat, and it says "goodnight."

So we left off yesterday with the joy of not waking up to a noisy hotel room, and this morning was no different — a pleasant morning which led us to a practice on the University of Tennessee's field.

Gatorade has become a necessity for us — it is keeping us hydrated more than water here in the south. The heat here is almost uncomfortable at times —feeling as if your insides are being heated, rather than just your skin like back home.

If the girls on this team didn't play softball so well, I'm 100 percent sure most of them would have very successful careers in the beauty salon business. Between Jessica Morton doing everyone's makeup, Courtney Baughman accessorizing everyone's hair with beautiful ribbons, or Kanani Warren's talent for cutting hair, this team never needs to go farther than each others' hotel rooms for an up-do or a makeover.

Some of the girls have also gotten into dying each other's hair. It's something that started on our second road trip this season and has perpetuated itself down the months to where almost the entire team has gotten their hair done at some point. So in between practices, sleeping, eating and games, we're keeping quite busy with primping. For goodness sakes, we're going to be on TV! Like my Aunty Patty always told me growing up, "Look like a girl, play like a boy." This is surely the team to be on to uphold her views.

We miss you all at home and are so thankful for all the support you have given us this past year. You have no idea how much your love helps us throughout our games.

We'll do our best to make you proud.

CORRECTION

A wrong photo accompanied yesterday's softball diary by Kate Robinson in The Advertiser's print edition. It was a picture of her sister, Sarah. Above is a picture of Kate.