Newly 13-year-old Marlei Artigue spent her birthday weekend at Tiger Park. With a big sign to celebrate it, Marlei was grinning as big as the Cheshire Cat after the Tigers softball game on Sunday.
Her sign was big and bright with the number 13 glittered out. She was extremely excited to talk to the players after the game, even if it was just for a few seconds while getting things signed.
“They’re just, they’re just amazing,” Marlei said. “It’s like they’re not real people.”
Marlei and her family were not the only ones excited to get stuff signed on Sunday. Children were lined up shoulder to shoulder between the left field foul pole and the camera well in center field. Waves of purple and gold lined the green outfield wall, all watching the players with mixes of awe and excitement, waiting for their turn to get signatures.
The kids lined the fence, with red faces and dripping with sweat. A race from the bleachers down the berm left them breathing heavily, desperate to meet the players they’ve routinely emulated in their backyards.
The excitement of being at Tiger Park while meeting players is more than just a birthday wish for most kids.
Jennifer and Ryan Chaix are parents to three kids, each one of them softball enthusiasts. The Chaixs said their youngest daughter grew up at the softball field watching her big sisters play until she could.
Sunday was the first time the Chaix’s youngest daughter got to meet the players and get signatures after a game. But in addition to the Tigers, her two older sisters, who are 16 and 19, maintain a chain of idolization for the 12 year old.
“My oldest daughter still plays in high school,” Ryan Chaix said. “My youngest daughter and her friends look up to the high school players, and the high school players actually look up to the college players.”
To top off this fun-filled day at the ballpark, the Tigers walked off Southeastern 3-2 in the seventh inning. As if signatures weren’t enough, LSU gifted Marlei the best game of the weekend on her 13th birthday.
These girls want to become the next generation of LSU Tigers, even through the blood, sweat and tears that softball brings. They love it so much they spend their birthday at the softball field.
“[Marlei] wants to play for LSU someday, so she’s real excited to be here,” her grandmother said.
Marlei grins ear to ear because she got to spend her special day at her favorite place. The astonishment was written across her face, and amazement dripped in her voice. She didn’t care that it was 80 degrees, sunny and humid outside. All Marlei wanted was to meet her idols.
