The Hawthorne Bears Varsity softball team had gone to Lodi for what was supposed to be just another game on Monday April 15. Little did everyone know there was going to be something shifted their focus. Would this distraction be too much for the Lady Bears?

It was a chilly, windy, sunny day in Lodi. The game was going accordingly. Both teams played through the wind, making it so whatever team dealt with the wind better, would win. Both teams were scoring, making errors, and making plays.

What happened next, no one had expected.

It was the top of the 5th inning and the Bears had been up to bat. One baserunner was standing on first, and there was a batter at the plate. There had been a slight odor that seemed to linger around the field, but no one thought anything of it. All of a sudden a gust of wind came and blew all of the smoke onto the field. The smell had intensified. What was it? We all looked around for answers, not knowing if we would get one, or even knowing if we were safe.

The outfield flooded with smoke, very thick smoke.

It was hard to see through and for some, it was hard to breath. Across the street, you witnessed a house going up into flames. Since the smoke was covering the lines of view to the house, no one had known what was going on. That was until the umpires had pulled Lodi out of the field, and told the Bears to go into their dugout. Everyone had a lot of questions. What was happening? Could we still play? Was everyone okay?

After twenty minutes, the smoke had cleared up from the outfield, for the most part. Coach Oliva had told the Lady Bears to keep their composer and stay tough. Everyone knew in the back of their minds it was heartbreaking for the people who had lost the place they called home. After it was declared safe to play, Lodi had taken the field again, because the Bears were still batting.

The rest of the game played out and the wind was a big factor in the game. At first the wind had pushed batted balls around in the air. However, now the wind had pushed the smoke around. As the Bears took the field the smoke had cleared up for the most part. For the remainder of the game, as you looked into the outfield, all that was seen was flashing red and blue lights. It was truly a heart breaking scene.

The Varsity Bears Softball team had overcome these obstacles and won the game 19-7. As the ladies left the field, the firefighters were still trying to tame the smoke and were going into the house to recover anything that could be recovered. The Varsity Boys baseball team who had also been playing in Lodi, had won their game 7-2. The boys had finished before the girls, leaving them to wait at their field until Ish was able to pack the bus up with the girls, coaches, and their equipment to get the boys.