Maryland Softball's Hot Start Keyed By Big Wins And Team Bonding On Mexico Trip

Maryland softball kicked off its 2023 season by spending six days in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from Wednesday, Feb. 8 to Monday, Feb. 13. The team played five games in four days, going 4-1 with two ranked wins, including one top-three victory. The Terps had just as much fun off the diamond, participating in service opportunities and excursions in beautiful Mexico. 

umterps.com recapped the trip, providing a deeper look into each day and showing what the trip meant to the program.

Day 1

The long day of travel started with the bus departing from the XFINITY Center at 3:45 in the morning to catch the first flight out of DC. A 6 am flight took the travel party to Houston for a quick layover before boarding a second flight to Puerto Vallarta. The team landed in Mexico around 2 pm local time and arrived at the resort for the first time around 3 pm. They then dropped off luggage before heading to an afternoon practice at the tournament stadium site.

Day 2

The team spent the morning at a local school participating in recess with students. Then, the players spent all morning participating in different games, including soccer, volleyball, handball, basketball, and softball, which allowed them to interact with the students. The team then had some downtime by the pool and beach. Later that night, the team played their first game of the tournament against No. 22 Oregon and defeated the Ducks 7-3. 

"The day of the clinic was probably my favorite one out of all of them. It was really cool to grow the game and go international," junior infielder Taylor Liguori said. "To see all of these kids look at us like role models, little do they know but they are our role models too. This is why we want to play and be able to go international, to have moments like this."

Day 3

A day spent mostly at the softball field. The team had an afternoon game as they went on to defeat BYU, taking up most of the day. After the game, the players were given the night to spend with their families at the resort and got the opportunity to explore the local area with their parents.

"It was a great privilege to have all of our friends and family travel to Mexico with us," senior outfielder Campbell Kline said. "Singing the fight song with them after we won was very cool, especially doing it in Mexico."

Day 4

The day began with a game in the morning against California Baptist. Then, the team spent the afternoon on a team excursion, riding ATVs. They got to see a lot of sights of the local community on the way there, taking an approximately 30-minute trip from the resort. During the ATV ride, the group made two stops to see more nature sights on the course. 

"I have never seen views like that before in my life," Kline added. "Getting to whip around on the ATV was a lot of fun.

Day 5

Another day was primarily spent at the softball field. The team played two games today, the first against #3 Oklahoma State and the second against North Dakota State. Maryland came out victorious in both games, finishing the tournament with a 4-1 record. After spending about nine hours at the field that day, the team enjoyed their last night in Mexico at the resort hanging out with family and teammates. 

"Being able to play against teams like Oregon and Oklahoma State, those were amazing moments," Montgomery said. "To be able to put your best effort against teams of that caliber really allowed us to establish what we wanted to be this year. We always try to keep it about the process and not the outcome, but every once in a while, when you have an outcome like that, it's a special moment." 

Day 6

The team spent the morning at the pool and beach before departing around noon, beginning the 12 hours of travel back home. 

"The most memorable experience of the trip was watching our players and seeing the looks in their eyes, whether it was working with the students or winning a big game on the field, or riding on the back of an ATV," head coach Mark Montgomery said.