Alaina Coletti Announces Retirement

Eight days ago, VBC Softballer Alaina Coletti hinted at an early retirement.  This afternoon at 1:44pm EST, she confirmed that she will in fact not be returning to play with the Unicorns of the Apocalypse in the fall.

"Not that I don't love you guys, but it's just not reasonable for me," Coletti told her skipper in a heartfelt e-mail.  She punctuated the sentence with a colon followed by an open parenthesis.

Coletti joined VBC Softball in 2010 as one of the founding members of The Legion of Fistpumping Turtles, even before the team had a name.  Though inexperienced in softball, her natural athletic abilities and soccer training made her a quick study, and she sped up the batting order in a hurry, procuring the #2 spot in the nightly lineup.

The Turtles' coach, the coach of the Unicorns, Greg Weaver, recollected, "We had a lot of confidence in her ability to get a base hit and aggressively speed around the basepaths.  Most of all, though, we will miss her competitive spirit and great attitude in the dugout.  She was a lot of fun both to cheer with and to have cheering for you."

When the veterans of VBC Softball were forming their team for the spring, Coletti was the first to start throwing and getting back into shape.  She was also an outspoken participant in the creation of a new team name.  In short, she was one of the most ready for the season to begin.  Unfortunately, though, Coletti's season with the Unicorns was short-lived.

In the beginning, Coletti found herself having to forgo games to manage and host receptions for her full-time job as Special Projects Coordinator with Virginia Arts Festival.  She played in the team's second series, facing against the Stunners and going 2 for 3.  It was exciting for fans of the Unicorns to see her pick up right where she left off.

Soon afterwards, however, a work-related incident found her having almost severed her big toe.  She was immediately put on the disabled list, and, a week or so later, Weaver found her trying to play in a game.  "Of course I refused," Weaver said, "We didn't want her injuring herself early just to have her out the full season."

Despite those intentions, Coletti was only able to return for two more games after her foot healed due to the Virginia Arts Festival uncharacteristically stretching into mid-June.  It was upon realizing that she had played so little that she started to think of retiring.

Fans of Coletti can catch her in her last game, the June 27th makeup on July 18th against ZDUB Softball.  The game will be played on Princess Anne Athletic Complex Field Red #3 at 6:45pm.  They also should watch for her possible return to co-ed rec soccer either this fall or next spring, as earlier in the year she had played on the Jiminy Kickits.

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