How these Buffalo Tri-City softball players befriended North Mac’s Ines Ortigosa
BUFFALO — It was a complete and utter home run.
Ines Ortigosa was already ecstatic to be able to play against her club teammates on her 17th birthday.
The North Mac softball infielder and foreign exchange student scored three runs on a hit and two walks in a 13-10 loss to Buffalo Tri-City/Sangamon Valley in a nonconference road game on Wednesday.
What ensued was the icing on the cake.
Tri-City sophomores Lily Woodworth and Lexie Patton turned up in the dugout afterward and feted the unwitting Ortigosa with a couple of birthday cakes.
These were not ordinary cakes, but Dairy Queen ice cream cakes that Ortigosa wouldn’t be able to find in her native Spain.
They hit it out of the ballpark without question.
“That was amazing,” Ortigosa said emphatically. “I was not expecting this. I was excited to come and play with them on my birthday, and it was amazing.”
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Ortigosa arrived at North Mac in August and befriended Woodworth, Patton and other Tri-City players over the fall through Premier Fastpitch.
“I just love them,” Ortigosa said, when asked about Woodworth and Patton. “They are nice girls, great teammates, great players, great friends — everything.”
Their road trips together turned out to be a learning experience for everyone. Ortigosa was especially struck by the vast pool of talent in the area.
“There are much more players, like every single town has its own team,” Ortigosa said. “That’s crazy for me. I live in a big city (in Valencia) and there’s only three teams in the whole city and here, every single small town has a team.
“It’s insane for me. It’s so different.”
Ortigosa is quite competitive herself. She picked up softball at a young age and has played abroad in Europe.
Through 17 games, she is among North Mac’s top hitters. That group also includes seniors Abby Hendricks and Karleigh Prose. Ortigosa, a junior, sports a .400 batting average with 20 hits and four home runs this season.
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Ortigosa additionally participated on the North Mac volleyball and girls basketball teams. She is currently living with her second host family, the Sansons, and will return to Spain after the school year.
“We’re definitely a sports family, so she fit right in,” said Ortigosa’s host mom, Dawn. “That was kind of the thing that I asked her, ‘You can work out great here as long as you’re used to being on the go and you can keep up.’ She’s just that way.”
Dawn said she ultimately lucked out with Ortigosa and wouldn’t mind being a host family again if more were like her.
Everyone indeed described Ortigosa not only as a positive spirit but also sharp.
“She’s just such a good person and teammate,” Woodworth said. “She’s encouraging and has helped me on the mound and staying up when things are down.”
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Patton said she spread the word about Ortigosa.
“It was such a new experience coming in when she came to the team for the fall,” Patton said. “We kind of got to learn what Spain was about and how softball was there versus here.
“She’s a very good teammate. When I hit my home run over there (in left field), she was so excited.
“I love softball because it brings so many different people together and you get to know so many different people. I’m going to miss her when she’s gone.”
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: North Mac’s Ines Ortigosa makes new friends through softball
