Cameron Glazewski of Santa Maria has been playing baseball since he was 5 years old, which segued into softball at 17, when he was finally old enough to play on the adult softball league with his parents.
“Baseball kind of led into softball for me, and my parents played softball pretty much my whole life growing up,” Glazewski said. “So the first chance I got to play on a team with them, I took it!”
Now 25, he works as a substitute teacher and is currently enrolled in the online credential program at Western Governors University.
Between work, school, and taking care of his 1-year-old German shepherd, Glazewski still manages to make time for softball. The sport is much more than just a fun way to stay fit, he said.
“My favorite part of softball is the camaraderie. It’s a great outlet to hang out with friends and meet new people,” he said. “My least favorite thing though is when people take it too seriously and can’t just get out there and have fun.”
On May 26, Cameron and his softball teammates took home the gold after winning the final Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Spring 2017 League game.
“It was quite the Cinderella story for us to win the championship, it was definitely a huge team effort,” Glazewski said. “We were all just praying we’d have enough players for the playoffs. Every week, we battled with trying to make sure we had enough people to even play most nights.”
His league team, called “Travis is a hosier,” struggled to keep a full lineup throughout the season, which forced them to forfeit four games, he said. But the stars must have been aligned the night of the final showdown, which was a triple-header, Glazewski added.
“Our guys’ bats were just alive that night, and our defense was pretty impenetrable,” he said. “It was a really great group, we had everything you could wish for: A home run hitter, good gloves in the outfield, and an ace pitcher.”
But far more important than winning is simply enjoying the game, he added. For Glazewski, none of it matters if he’s not having a good time.
“The best advice I can give to anyone interested in joining a softball team is to just have fun. Cliche, I know, but it’s absolutely the most important thing out on the field,” he said. “Even if you are a beginner, don’t be afraid to play. They’re a lot of first-timers out in the field every year.”
This article appears in Jun 8-15, 2017.
