The Chico State softball team didn't lose a game at home in 2018. The Wildcats weren't about to stand by while the area around them was lost.
As the Camp Fire grew to be the state's most destructive wildfire in history, players and coaches worked together to help those affected.
They split off into four groups of five to seven people at one of four locations: the Oroville Animal Hospital, the Chico Municipal Airport animal shelter, the Butte Humane Society Pet Food and Pantry, and Italian Guy Catering.
The Wildcats got started thanks to Head Coach Angel Shamblin, a Las Plumas High (Oroville) graduate.
Members of Chico State's softball program volunteer during Camp Fire
relief efforts.
"All of us were asking her, bombarding her with where could we help," said sophomore first baseman Reilani Peleti. "Because she's a Chico local, we just figured she knows more people. She has connections with Butte Humane Society. All of our team wanted to do something."
It didn't take long.
"Once we talked about it, 'This is what we're going to do.' Then we all just worked together to get out in the community to do whatever we could do to help out," Shamblin said. "We spread out in the community and did as much as we could while we could volunteer."
That meant a lot of hours in a short amount of time.
"We prepped a bunch of food," said senior infielder Wendy Cardinali, who was a previous employee at Italian Guy Catering before the Camp Fire and volunteered there to help make meals for those who were displaced after the disaster. "Thousands of meals a day, lunch and dinner."
Cardinali went 3-4 times a week, spending an estimated 40 hours to help, as did Rachael Atkins, Karli Dugger, Claire Wayne, Annie Weiss, and Kristin Worley.
"Some girls were even writing on lunch bags, 'Chico State loves Paradise,'" Cardinali said. "It was so cute. It felt good we were doing this for people in our community and how close we are."
The rest of the team splintered off to help the other three locations.
"I'm so proud of them," Shamblin said. "As a student-athlete, their time is so limited. To see them know what is important and value our community that much that they're willing to get out and in their free time help out, I think that speaks to what we're trying to do with our program's culture. One of our core values is be selfless."
The team wanted to help each other as much as Chico's neighbors to the east. The fire forced Cardinali and teammate Ana Hayes to evacuate their apartment near Bruce Road and 20th Street. Teammates rushed over to help get anything the two might want to save in case the fire's flames reached their home.
Chico State softball players (left to right) Ari Marsh, Bailey Akins,
Courtney Springman, Angel Lopez, Megan Krause, and Brooke Larsen
volunteer during Camp Fire relief efforts.
Being evacuated made the feeling to volunteer even greater, Cardinali said.
Peleti knows the devastation a fire can bring all too well. Hailing from Santa Rosa, she had family members who lost homes in that community's fire in 2017.
That experience inspired Peleti and her mother to drive up from Santa Rosa over Thanksgiving break to volunteer at Italian Guy Catering.
When players weren't volunteering over break, they were still finding ways to help. They collected their old softball gear and also gathered donations for new gear so they could donate to Paradise softball players.
"These girls can't play softball for a while. We just can't imagine getting that taken away from us," Peleti said. "I think that's something that drives us."
The Wildcats realized through the ordeal, they got something out of the experience as well.
"We got a little closer. Times like this, everyone comes together," Peleti said. "This is the community we live in. I think we fell more in love with Chico, too. This area, even though it was tragic, it was really awesome to see how people could pull together."
That helped bring into focus a different mindset.
"It brought up a lot of conversations on being grateful. We saw how things changed in just one day," Peleti said. "We take a lot of things for granted for each day. We're lucky to have two homes, one in Chico and one back home.
"Never take a day for granted. These little things that we care about so much every day don't matter. We just want to be safe," she said.
With their season starting February 1 with a tournament in Las Vegas, Peleti said the Wildcats' focus remains the same but their appreciation and relentless determination, if anything, has grown.
"We have no excuse. We should always be working hard because we're grateful to be out here on the field," Peleti said. "The biggest thing is we're very grateful."
