By FRANCIS FEDOR
We still may have some cold snaps to get through, but the sounds of spring are right around the corner. Teams will once again gather in Florida (and Arizona) for the annual spring ritual of baseball. Lakeland is one of those locations where Tiger fans gather to watch the team ready for the upcoming season. The Tigers complex also lends itself out to the USA Patriots (formally the Wounded Warriors) for a couple of weeks in January, and a group of Valencia Lake Softball players took advantage of an opportunity to take the field with those that gave much for the freedoms we enjoy.
FRANCIS FEDOR PHOTO
The USA Patriots pose for a pregame photo before taking the field at the Detroit Tigers Spring Training complex in Lakeland on Saturday, Jan. 10.
The game was the fourth meeting of the teams since the warriors played a game at the Valencia Lakes softball field in 2022, an event that saw over 500 in attendance for the game. The Valencia Lakes team took 14 players on the trip up to the Lakeland complex on Jan. 10. The game saw Valencia Lakes tied after the first inning, but it was all Patriots after that. While the Veterans cope with various challenges, they play the game as well as some of the most seasoned softball players, many with power, evidenced by the game’s being played on a regulation MLB field and a number of balls hit over the head of the VL outfielders. A number of softballs were spied over the fence, likely the result of batting practice home runs. The VL team did stage a seven-run seventh inning, the last of the game, to make the final a more respectable 22-13 loss to the Patriots.
The non-profit USA Patriots is set to embark on a nine-city tour, dubbed “The Tour of the States,” starting in Ft. Myers the first week of April, to raise awareness to its cause and, as the team’s motto states, to “serve beyond the uniform.” More information can be found on USA Patriots at https://usapatriotsathletics.org/.