Considering their vastly-talented opponents, the Team Virginia baseball players and head coach Mark Gjormand never imagined completing their week-long summertime international goodwill trip to the Dominican Republic with an undefeated record.

But that’s what happened. 

BASEBALL

By using their secret weapons of good left-handed pitching and outdisciplining their undisciplined competition, the high school all-star squad of Northern Virginians finished with a surprising 6-0 record.

On the trip, the American team played local Dominican teams and experienced the Dominican culture. Teams from other parts of the United States have made similar baseball trips to the Dominican, with mixed results on the field.

More important than the games and competition, Gjormand said he and his players came away with greater appreciation for the opportunities and comforts of growing up in America.

“The players we played were unbelievable,” said Team Virginia left-handed pitcher Joey Zarella. “Every team we played definitely out matched us in terms of physical appearance, strength, and raw talent.”

Two of Team Virginia’s games were played on a plush field in a modern stadium in Santiago. Others, though, were held on poorly kept and rugged neighborhood fields, with housing projects in disrepair surrounding one diamond, which had carpet mats for bases and buildings serving as the outfield fences. Also, some fans stood on rooftops of houses to watch the action.

As the quality of the fields diminished, Gjormand talked about how the venues took on more character, the home fans became more animated and the atmosphere more crazy.

“Kids in Northern Virginia play on great fields compared to some of those,” Gjormand said. “The whole trip and experience was phenomenal. It’s awesome representing your country. It was like we were the Yankees, our players were signing autographs. We gave them bats and jerseys and other stuff.”

Some Virginia players even gave away their baseball shoes, gloves and batting gloves.

Team Virginia was led by area high school coaches Gjormand and Justin Counts of Madison and Centreville’s Morgan Spencer. The 15 players came from eight different schools. The players were Zarella, Ryan Ashooh, Connor Bach, Chris Campbell, Nick Amano-Dolan, Eli Facenda, Nate Favero, Jonny Graham, Matt Moore, Sean Murphy, Mike Norton, Kevin Pence, Daniel Shill, Nathan Slater and Josh Smith.

“It was ridiculous how talented their players were,” Gjormand said. “We were the more disciplined team, and that made a big difference in the games. On the field, every one of our players did something to contribute.”

In its opening game, Team Virginia won 2-0 behind a combined no-hitter from Bach and Ashooh. Norton drove in the game’s first run and Bach stole home for the second run. Bach and Campbell had two hits apiece.

In game two, Team Virginia won, 15-3, against the same team. Shill and Facenda combined on a four-hitter. Smith had three hits and Kevin Pence collected a pair of hits. Smith, Graham and Murphy drove in three runs apiece.

The third and fourth games were rain-shortened. Team Virginia was leading 3-1, when a downpour ended game three in the third inning. Zarella did the pitching. Zarella, Facenda and Slater each drove in a run.

Rather than resuming the game, the opposing coach opted for a rematch the next day. Again, Team Virginia was leading, 7-3, when rain ended the contest in the fourth. Facenda and Bach took care of the pitching. Scoring a pair of runs each were Bach and Slater.

The fifth game was played later that day with Team Virginia winning 7-1. Moore and Ashooh pitched three innings each and Shill closed the game. Ashooh struck out eight. Slater had two hits, including the only Team Virginia home run of the trip.

The final game of the trip was also the most thrilling. Team Virginia rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win, 4-3. Pence drove in the final two runs on a bad-hop single. Moore in right field threw out two runners at the plate and Amano-Dolan had an RBI single. Zarella started and pitched well, but Bach got the win in relief.

“It was pretty awesome the way it ended,” Gjormand said. “Coming back from a 3-1 deficit was like winning the state championship. Literally, giving them the shirts off our backs after the game was a terrific gesture by our players. They were a credit to their families, Northern Virginia and the USA.”

After its final game, Zarella explained how his favorite part of the trip occurred when Team Virginia traveled on a small river boat to a small island to share dinner, a bonfire and participate in a stickball game with Dominican players from that last game.

Zarella said the ball that was used was a tennis ball and the bat was a club that looked like something out of the Flintstones.

“I really got to see how big baseball is down there,” Zarella said. “For almost every kid, that’s what they do from sun up to sun down every day. The team and myself all got to experience a little bit of Dominican culture too.”

Click here for a slide show of photos from Team Virginia's trip.

We were playing a team in Perugia and showed up at the complex to find about 150 people there to watch the games.  About half of them were from America and chanting U-S-A as we took the field.  The boys were so excited and felt untouchable at that moment.  Later in the game, one of our players, the catcher, loaned a bat to one of the Perugia players.  We were winning the game, but it was still close.  The Perugia player was very talented, but very raw in his skill set.  When he swung the bat, he did not get cheated.  After talking with our pitcher, the players had decided they wanted to see how far the player could hit it.  Our pitcher threw two fastballs that he just missed a fouled off.  At that point, both teams were standing outside of the dugout.  The pitcher threw the next pitch and the Perugia kid hit it about 450 to centerfield.  It was one of the best moments I ever had coaching or playing baseball.  The Perugia player was jumping up and down and our kids high-fived him going around the bases and as he went around third, all of our reserve players stood on the line and high-fived him as he jogged towards home.  When he got to home plate, he hugged our catcher and was mobbed by his teammates.  At that moment, I realized that our squad realized the meaning of the trip.  We realized that we were there to bond and experience the game of baseball as a whole, not win the game.  It will always be one of my greatest memories that baseball has brought to me

What is the Educational Value of Travel ?

Along with the obvious benefit of expanding our horizons, by meeting people from different cultures and visiting their museums and ruins, the most important lessons to be learned at any age through the experience of travel abroad are empathy and tolerance.  

We all have a tendency to view the world through eyes that are trained/programmed through our own cultural lens.  From birth we have  engrained in us the lessons and views of our immediate circle of family, teachers and peers. So, grow and develop into a comfortable insider in our own microcosm of the universe.

 International travel allows us a broader outsider’s view.  We begin to understand that we are all the product of our individual surroundings, wherever we live, and we come to realize and appreciate how a culture can influence our opinions, likes and dislikes and even our prejudices.
By experiencing how others live, we realize that their actions and behavior are a reaction to the culture that surrounds and nurtures them just as our culture forms and influences our behavior.

The definition of empathy from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary states that empathy is “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner”.

With empathy comes a state of tolerance and freedom from bigotry and prejudice, a receptive spirit that understands the differences in behavior around the world.


International travel confirms that our individual environments influence us all.  In new and unfamiliar settings we can choose to take the lessons we learn from these cultural differences and apply tolerance and empathy throughout the rest of our life experiences at home and abroad.

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Through international travel, we also begin to open up to the understanding that we are influenced by outside forces. We comprehend that, in this new, and unfamiliar setting, we are all subject to influence, or choose to be. Hopefully, we take the lessons learned and bring that tolerance and empathy back with us, and apply it to others throughout of life experiences.

influences help shape our opinions, likes no matter where we are, but it allows us also to see perhaps how external influences work toward forming others.  This may also allow us to see how our customary surroundings have worked to influence and form ourselves, our opinions, our likes and dislikes and even our prejudices.  By seeing how others live, we begin to understand how their actions and lives are expressed in a reaction to what is around them.

Q&A with Mark Gjormand
Madison High School

By Staff

Coaching Management, 11.1, February 2003, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/cm/cm1101/qagjormand.htm

Heading into his eighth season as Head Coach at Madison High School in Vienna, Va., Mark Gjormand has emphatically put his stamp on the program. Sporting a team batting average of .389, the Warhawks finished the 2002 season with a record of 29-0, outscoring their opponents 249-38 and taking the Virginia Class AAA championship for the first time in 30 years.

A runner-up for the National Federation Coaches Association s Baseball Coach of the Year, Gjormand has been coaching high school sports since 1992, when he left a job working as a Security Escort in the CIA s Office of Security. For the next nine years, he worked as a Health Awareness Assistant at nearby Marshall (Va.) High School, where he was an Assistant Coach in baseball, basketball, and football.

Since transferring to Madison, where he works as a Safety and Security Assistant, Gjormand has divided his school year as Head Coach of the baseball team and Assistant Coach of the football squad. Outside school, Gjormand runs the year-round MVP Baseball Camp and spends his summers directing the Greater Vienna Sports Camps.

In this interview, Gjormand talks about his coaching philosophy, the importance of building relationships with his players, and the challenges of achieving an undefeated season.

CM: When did you think your team had the chance to go undefeated?

Gjormand: From the start, I knew we were going to be good. So we didn t waste any time we went to work right away. We had a lot of kids returning from the year before, and when they came back from the summer, I said to the seniors,  Tell me where we re going this year.  And they had only one goal:  Win every game.

Honestly, when I first saw that posted on the wall, I was a little skeptical, because baseball is not a sport where you go undefeated. But it wasn t just cockiness. It was something they really believed in. So I told them,  If that s what you want, then you re going to have do everything the coaches tell you.  And that s what they did.

We chose to stay focused, and no matter who we were playing, we approached it the same way every night. It sounds kind of corny, but we stayed with that one-game-at-a-time, one-practice-at-a-time mentality. The greatest compliment I can give my kids is that they treated every day like game day, whether it was a practice or just a conditioning session. That s why it all fell into place.

How did you deal with the pressure of winning game after game?

We ve got a saying here that there are two things you can do with pressure you can apply it, or you can feel it. And we didn t want to feel it. Most seasons, you re always looking for a new way to motivate your kids. But last year, it was different. We d find time to meet and talk about the next game not about how to stop this player or that player, but about how to play baseball. We don t try to play against these other teams; we just try to play the game.

We know that we work hard, and that s something to be proud of. Before every game, I tell the kids that if somebody beats us, that s all right. Just make sure we don t beat ourselves; that was the thing we focused on.

I remember one day, when we d just cracked the Top 25 in USA Today, and I was worried it might make the players unfocused. One of the kids in school said to my assistant coach,  I see you re ranked number 23. That means there are 22 teams that are better than you. You guys had better get busy.  That s the story I told the players that night, and that s the way we started approaching it from that point on. Instead of feeling cocky about being in the Top 25, we started looking at those other 22 teams, and realized we had to keep earning our place with every game.

What s your philosophy of coaching?

Relationships. I m big on relationships. We have one big rule in our program trust each other. Nobody lies to each other, no matter the subject. It s important to communicate honestly, and to listen. High school kids are very smart. They don t always make the best decisions, but they re very smart, and you have to listen to them. The wins will take care of themselves.

What s one time this season that trust made the difference between winning and losing?

There are so many of them. Here s one: We were playing Hickory in the first round of the state playoffs, in front of 4,000 people. J.J. Hollenbeck, who ended up as the Player of the Year in Virginia, had just given up a home run in the sixth inning, and we were down for one of the few times all year, in game 27. The kids came back into the dugout, we huddled up, and instead of feeling sorry for himself, J.J. looked around and said,  Guys, don t worry about me. Let s just win this game.

So we turned it right around, came back in the bottom half of the sixth and took the lead again. Our leadoff hitter, B.T. Good, gets on first, steals second. Then Matt Foley triples off the wall, and Alan Wimmer drives in the go-ahead run. And instead of going with the bullpen, I stuck with J.J., because I asked him how he felt, and he wanted to go back and finish it.

That's one of those situations where if I didn't trust my instincts, if I didn't trust my pitching coach, if I didn't trust J.J., we could have been in trouble. We had four tremendous pitchers and a full, fresh bullpen. But I've watched J.J. since he was 10 years old, I knew what he was made of, and in my world, he is the baddest man on the planet. I stayed with J.J., and he ended up striking out the tying run with a man on third base, and we went on to Richmond for game 28. That's where trust comes in.

What's the best part of your job?

I just love teaching baseball. I'm not a teacher in the school'I work security, so I deal with the kids who have a lot of issues, and I enjoy the heck out of that. People tease us about the country-club atmosphere here, since we don't have a whole lot of problems at Madison. But the kids who need you, those are the ones you can really make a difference with, and they let you know it.

For the past seven years, every kid who has graduated from my baseball program has gone on to college. That's something I'm really proud of. And over 15 years, I've had the opportunity to work with two guys who've gone on to play professional sports, and I'm still very close with them. Keith Lyle used to be with the St. Louis Rams, and now he plays with the San Diego Chargers. And Nick Sorensen, who plays with the Rams, spoke at our preseason banquet. He's made the NFL, after hearing people tell him he wouldn't play much in college. The kids here know exactly who these guys are, because they're Vienna guys, and that's a big deal.

One of the things I tell my kids is, Don't be afraid to dream. Because that's what I used to tell Nick: I believe in you, I know what you can do, and I know you can make it. A lot of these kids, that's all they need, to know that somebody out there believes in them.

When did you know you wanted to be a baseball coach?

I was in high school. I was 15 years old, and my brother's Little League team lost its coach. So I agreed to step in, and it was unbelievable. We ended up going to the town championships. From that point on, I was hooked. So instead of going away after high school, I went to Northern Virginia Community College and started studying the game like crazy, because I knew I wanted to be a head coach. I met up with a coach, Chuck Welch at Langley (Va.) High School, who took me on as a j.v. assistant, and ended up coaching softball, and I just loved it. It's in my blood.

My older brother told me, This is what you can do. You've got a way with kids. When I walked away from the CIA, I had no idea if I was going to make a living. I just knew that I had a passion to teach, to make a difference with kids. And my wife has been a really big influence on me. She's an athletic trainer down the road at Flint Hill School, and she understands the commitment you need, because if you're going to do this job right, you've got to put the time in.

Is it hard to juggle her time constraints with yours?

It gets a little crazy at times. We're fortunate because both of our parents live right here in town, so they take turns watching our children after school. There are days when I don't get home until 7:30 or 8 o'clock, and there are nights in the basketball season when she doesn't get home until 9 o'clock. But it works, because we coordinate our schedules, and it gives each of us quality time alone with our kids.

When do you start preparing for the next season, and how?

People think we're crazy, but we've been working since September 1. We started with two days a week in the weight room, and now we're putting in between six and eight hours a week, in the weight room and on the track. We've got a tremendous off-season program, and you don't have to ask the kids to do anything they know exactly what it takes. We're not a one-year wonder. We know that everybody wants to get a piece of us, and we want to be ready.

What challenges do you have left?

If I coached for wins, it would be hard to top last year. But I coach for relationships, for making a difference in kids' lives. You know, I may have just seen the greatest season I'll ever have as a coach, but I'm okay with that. We don't have to go 29-0 ever again. What's more important is that we keep developing great student-athletes.

I love where I'm at. I think it's the best school in the country. A minority of the people here will play professionally, but the majority of my players will be successful in life, whatever they decide to do. They're going to make a difference, either in the work force or in the community, and when you sum it up, that's what this is all about. It's about committing yourself to excellence and being successful in life.

America's Team is Looking for Coaches

At America’s Team (AT), we believe that sports and travel change lives. It’s not just a
slogan. Each of us has been inspired to greater understanding— of ourselves, of the
world, of other people and cultures—through sports and travel. The opportunity to leave
home and learn about the world first-hand is the most important gift we’ve ever been
given. The opportunity to use sports to experience a different culture at the grass roots
level is truly amazing. What a better way to learn about the world, than through sports.
That’s why we feel that teachers, coaches and mentors who give their athletes this gift are
the most important people around. We commend you for what you do. We are
continually inspired by your commitment and creativity.

At America’s Team, we are only as good as our coaches. We recruit our coaches based on
two criteria; the love of kids and sports, and a passion for education. Education is vital,
since not only will you be making these kids better players, but you will be molding them
into better people, as they represent their schools, communities, and of course our great
country overseas as both competitors and ambassadors.

For nearly 30 years ACIS (our travel partner) has striven to match your dedication to
changing lives with the highest quality sports and educational tours. America’s Team
realizes their success and has chosen them to make your experience one that you will
never forget.

As a coach for America’s Team, the benefits are numerous, and I will highlight a few.
Build your resume using international instruction and education. See the amazement in
your kids’ eyes, as they first step onto a completely foreign piece of earth. Watch your
kids grow up right in front of your eyes. Gain a better understanding of a foreign country
and help promote tolerance among different groups of people. See the world the most
efficient way possible – coaches travel at no cost.

It is my hope you will take this opportunity to not only change your life forever, but you
will also change the lives of countless kids too. Please take some time and read through
this brief manual. We’ve designed this booklet to prepare you for your role as coach or
assistant group leader. It is our pleasure to work closely with you in preparation for an
outstanding and memorable trip.

To changing lives through sports,
Brigham Joy
Founder and President
www.AmTeamSport.com

At America's Team we are your Sports Team Tour Specialists.  We love what we do, and it shows.  Check out the stories below about some baseball and softball teams that traveled with us overseas.  It is rewarding to see the effects of international travel on the teen players who travel with us.

America's Team In The News: Team Virginia Sweeps Series in Dominican Republic Area team wins all six games. Wednesday, August 19, 2009 A team of Northern Virginia high school baseball players recently visited the Dominican Republic on a goodwill tour playing local teams and experiencing the Dominican culture. Teams from other parts of the U.S. have made similar trips with mixed results on the field. Team Virginia swept all six of its games but more importantly came away with a greater appreciation for the opportunities and comforts of growing up in America. The squad was led by area high school coaches Mark "Pudge" Gjormand, Morgan Spencer and Justin Counts and included 15 players who played for eight Washington area public and private high schools last Spring. The players were: Ryan Ashooh, Connor Bach, Chris Campbell, Nick Amano-Dolan, Eli Facenda, Nate Favero, Jonny Graham, Matt Moore, Sean Murphy, Mike Norton, Kevin Pence, Daniel Shill, Nathan Slater, Josh Smith and Joey Zarella. THE TEAM opened the trip with two games in Santiago at a modern stadium that is home to the premier team in the Dominican winter professional league. Then, they traveled to Santo Domingo for three games at Centro Olimpico, a once grand multi-sport facility that has fallen into disrepair. The tour concluded with a game on a neighborhood field in the small town of Cabarete that was Norman Rockwell in the Caribbean. As the quality of the fields diminished, the venue itself took on more character and the home fans became more animated. Team Virginia won its opening game 2-0 behind a combined no hitter from Connor Bach and Ryan Ashooh. Mike Norton drove in the game's first run and Bach stole home for the second run. Bach and Chris Campbell had two hits apiece. In a rematch the next day, the U.S. romped to a 15-3 victory. Daniel Shill and Eli Facenda combined on a four hitter. Josh Smith had three hits and Kevin Pence collected a pair. Smith, Jonny Graham and Sean Murphy drove in three runs apiece. Games 3 and 4 were rain-shortened. Team Virginia was leading 3-1 when a downpour ended Game 3 in the third inning. Joey Zarella did the pitching. Zarella, Eli Facenda and Nathan Slater each drove in a run. Rather than resuming the game, the opposing coach opted for a rematch the next day. Once again the U.S. was ahead 7-3 when rain ended the contest in the fourth inning. Facenda and Bach took care of the pitching. Bach and Slater both scored a pair of runs. Game 5 was played later that day with Team Virginia winning 7-1. Matt Moore and Ashooh pitched three innings apiece and Shill closed the game. Ashooh recorded 8 of 9 outs on strikeouts. Slater had two hits including the only USA home run of the trip. THE CLIMACTIC GAME of the trip was also the most thrilling. Nick Amano-Dolan singled home a run in the sixth to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead. Zarella pitched brilliantly, but defensive lapses allowed the home team to score three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth. Bach came in to finish the sixth which ended dramatically when right fielder Moore gunned down a runner at the plate for the second time in the game. Zarella started the seventh with a single and after three walks and two outs produced one run, Pence drove in the tying and go ahead runs with a bad hop single over the second baseman's head. Bach closed the game out picking a runner off first and striking out the last two hitters. The confident Dominicans were stunned as Team Virginia snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. After the game, the victors gave their USA hats and jerseys to the Dominican players. Some Americans even gave away their spikes, bats and gloves. All were received gratefully by the home team. "The Dominican Republic is one of the top baseball countries in the world," said Gjormand. "We didn't know what to expect, and when we took the field in a pro stadium in Santiago, there were a lot of nerves. We knew it was still the same game though, and we played with discipline and fundamentals throughout the trip. In Santo Domingo, we entered the arena, the heart of Dominican baseball. The finale in Cabarete was the craziest, coolest environment I've ever coached in. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit was like winning the state championship. Literally giving them the shirts off our backs after the game was a terrific gesture by our players. I'm real proud of the effort our guys gave and the way they carried themselves. They were a credit to their families, Northern Virginia and the USA."    Photo by Joe Facenda Game 6 on Aug. 5 at Cabarete Field in Cabarete. Josh Smith, head coach Mark ‘Pudge’ Gjormand and Jonny Graham watch the action from between the visitors dugout and the backstop.   Photo by Kathleen Bach Game 5 on Aug. 2 at Fedobe Field in Centro Olimpico, Santo Domingo. Connor Bach chases a ball during warm ups down the right field line.   Photo by Kathleen Bach Game 2 on July 31 at Estadio Cibao in Santiago. Connor Bach, Nate Favero, Nick Amano-Dolan, Nate Slater and Sean Murphy (holding the Dominican flag) greet the Dominican players before the game.   Photo by Kathleen Bach Game 6 on Aug. 5 at Cabarete Field in Cabarete. Connor Bach about to throw to Joey Zarella to pick a runner off first in the bottom of the seventh.   Photo by Kathleen Bach Game 6 on Aug. 5 at Cabarete Field in Cabarete. Team Virginia surrounded by the Cabarete team after the game. The Americans later gave their hats and jerseys to their Dominican opponents. Team Virginia Team Virginia players who participated in a trip include: Madison High School students Nate Favero, Eli Facenda, Jonny Graham and Matt Moore; Centerville High School’s Ryan Ashooh, Connor Bach and Chris Campbell; Langley High School’s Nick Amano-Dolan and Joey Zarella, both of Great Falls; Herndon High School’s Kevin Pence and Daniel Shill, both of Reston; as well as Nate Slater, Robert E Lee High, of Springfield; Sean Murphy, Gonzaga High, of Vienna; Mike Norton, Georgetown Prep, of Great Falls, and Josh Smith, St. Stephens/St. Agnes High, of Great Falls. This Article taken from The Reston Connection News paper writen by  Dave Graham Fairfield Citizen News (CT) August 28, 2009 Section: Sports Gina Treglia enjoys softball trip of a lifetime    Pat Pickens For Gina Treglia, softball is one of the greatest things in her life. The senior-to-be has had the luxury of playing and pitching for Fairfield Warde High School for each of the last two seasons. Warde has been one of the best teams in the FCIAC in that time frame, and Treglia has been a major cause of that. But pitching in the FCIAC should be considered relatively tame compared to Treglia's offseason playing regimen. Treglia recently made a trek to Italy with girls from across the state, and some from beyond, to play softball against professionals. Two teams with members from Connecticut took the trip abroad. Treglia was approached by Masuk High School assistant coach Jacqui Sheftz, who coached the team of girls from Weston, Pomperaug, New Fairfield and Monroe. Treglia was hesitant to play abroad, but then had an epiphany. "I thought about it and realized, 'when am I going to get the chance to go to Italy and play softball?'" Treglia said. Two squads with girls from Connecticut went overseas to play against some of the best softball players that both Italy and beyond had to offer. "We played against a professional team and they had girls from the Australian Olympic team," Treglia said. Playing against the 16 and under national team was good for the players, as it allowed them to compete with girls their age, and skill level. But playing all of the games wasn't necessarily normal. While playing against a club team, the girls took on girls and women that ranged in age from 12 to 50, they also learned Italian customs and how friendly the people there are. "We played them, and we ate dinner with them and then they cooked for us," Treglia said. For Treglia, playing in Italy was rewarding enough. But, the story goes beyond competition. Treglia's family is Italian, and while her teammates had an off-day in Florence, Treglia and her father went to rediscover roots. The Treglia's had made arrangements to see family members that still live in Italy. The pair made a three-hour trek to Madrano to visit Gina's cousins and more specifically her grandfather's aunt, who will turn 100 in October. This eldest family member did not speak any English, but through another cousin that did, the relation was able to be portrayed. "She was so cute," Treglia said. "When my cousins were able to explain that we were related, she started to cry." Compounding all of the goodwill that Treglia had passed along to the Italian girls was also the goodwill that was given and received from Treglia's out-of-state teammates. Four girls on her team hopped along on the trip from Iowa. Treglia admitted moments of trepidation while adapting to her new teammates, but those quickly went away. "We had only met once and I was nervous about how we would all get along and play together," Treglia said. "We got on the plane and became best friends, and we really played well together." In all, it was the opportunity for Treglia, the lone Fairfielder on the trip, to see the world and play ball at the same time, and it was an opportunity that she didn't take for granted. "I've barely ever been off of the east coast," Treglia said. "This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I have memories for a lifetime. I'm so glad that I decided to go." (c) 2009 Fairfield Citizen-News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.