Although none of Carey's players lost their homes, one needed a teammate's father to use his Bobcat tractor to pry the family free after they were left trapped in their garage. The storm was the strongest of a dozen tornadoes that, killing 25 people, injuring more than 300 and causing an estimated $1.5 billion in damage.
"You just want to give the girls a sense of normalcy," Carey said."Softball matters to them. And the sooner we could get them out there, the sooner they could realize that everything was going to be OK. And that this community loves them and is going to take care of them. We wanted them to see humanity function as it's supposed to. People caring for you with no regard for what's in it for them.
"We were like, 'What is happening?'" Hood said."But they were like, 'We want to give you this. For you guys. To enjoy your spring break. To get your mind off everything going on back home. It was just like, 'Wow.' People we don't even know, helping us." The Donelson Christian softball team was hoping to return to its home field following a three-game trip to Florida. DCA lost the last game of its trip 11-0 to Walton High School. Carey and a handful of his players and their families stayed behind to enjoy the rest of their spring break at the beach. Carey gave the team Thursday, Friday and Saturday off before they were to meet for practice on Sunday back at school, where their home field was waiting for them.