Temple Softball Students Describe Being Stuck In Midwest Storm
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – It was a long ride home for the Temple softball team, as they were forced to evacuate from the St. Louis Airport Friday when Tornadoes struck the area. But the girls were in good spirits during their ride home.
While a pair of back to back to wins may have given the Temple softball team first place in the A-10, not everything went according to plan on the team's trip to St. Louis. Junior Melissa Robbins describes the minutes leading up to evacuation.
"It was so surreal, we were all sitting there waiting and they made an announcement that they were delaying our flight because of the lightening at first. And then, everything just broke loose. There was water flying everywhere, it looked like the plans were moving a little bit off the ramp."
Despite that, Robbins says the girls remain in high spirits, "It's a long truck home, but we actually just found out that Fordham lost, so now we own sole possession of first place so it's kind of an ok ride right now."
"We were really excited just to have a chance to get home," said rightfielder Samantha Schoell. She thought she might be spending the holiday in an airport or on a bus, after a tornado struck the Lambert-St. Louis International airport as the team was waiting to board their flight back to Philadelphia Friday.
"And then we just hear someone scream get out, get out and we were evacuated down to the lower level."
It was scary and briefly disappointing when it looked like they'd be stuck there but coach Joe DiPietro got them on a bus Saturday night that took them to Ohio, where, in the middle of the night, their regular driver met them.
"He drove out from New Jersey and he was waiting for us when we got there." DiPietro says the driver, Clarence Jones, drove through the night and got the team home by 9 a.m.
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Reported By Pat Loeb, Dan Wing, KYW Newsradio; Jericka Duncan, CBS 3
