Europe-Middle-East-Africa All-Star team is... all American??

It is rare that a person travels for nearly an entire day, including eight hours on a transatlantic flight and still ends up in his or her own country.

Last week, however, 11 Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) Senior League Softball All-Stars, as well as their manager Lt. Col. Phil Byrd and coach Don Colbert – a Master Sgt. - and fans, did just that.

Reason being is the Senior League Softball World Series team representing EMEA this year, from Germany, is comprised solely of Americans, all of whom live in the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC).

KMC, which houses around 53,000 people, according to Wikipedia, consists of the Ramstein Air Base, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Kapaun Air Station, Vogelweh Housing Area, Pulaski Barracks, Kleber Kaserne, Daenner Kaserne, Panzer Kaserne and Sembach Air Station.

It is the largest U.S. military community outside the country.

“The girls are really excited to get a chance to come and play and see some things in America,” said Byrd, who has a few All-Stars who had previously never been to the United States. “One of the biggest things they really want to do is go shopping.”

Shortstop/third baseman Bianca Lopez is one of the EMEA All-Stars who had never been to the United States prior to making the trip to the Series.

For her, it is the little differences that are astounding.

“Over here there is good shopping and good food,” Lopez said with a laugh. “We have McDonalds [at home] but it’s not the same.

“Basically [the United-States-based McDonalds] have better fries and more choices.”

It’s not only the state side McDonalds that has more choices either, according to Lopez and her manager.

“They all want to go shopping at Wal-Mart, it’s amazing to them,” Byrd said with a laugh. “There is a lot more variety here.”

Variety, it seems, even appeals to the team’s fans, as Bianca’s mother Donno Lopez, a sergeant who was in the States last year to attend a wedding, explained.

Being able to see what you are purchasing rather than simply ordering it online is a welcome change for her.

“So many things are different, like the 24-hour stores, and walking into a [health and beauty] department and seeing like 100 different kinds of shampoo,” said the elder Lopez, a South Carolina native. “Really, the best way to describe it is shock and awe.”

Along with the stores, there are some other differences between KMC and Roxana, especially the weather.

While technically summer in Germany, the heat and humidity in the area – temperatures in Roxana are forecasted to reach the 90s with higher heat indices during the week – is nowhere near the level it is during August in Roxana.

“Usually [in Germany] it rains a lot and is pretty cool,” Sgt. Lopez said. “Here it is really hot, but we can deal with it.”

And as for how the EMEA fans beat the heat.

“Just don’t go out in it,” Sgt. Lopez said with a laugh. “Over there most places don’t have air conditioning, but here it’s easy to find, so we manage.”

All of the All-Stars and their two coaches had commercial flights to Philadelphia, where they landed and were transported to the Series in Roxana by bus.

Parents and fans like Sgt. Lopez and Capt. Rudy Pletzer, however, used a different method of travel called “hopping.”

Basically, if empty cargo, transport or other types of planes are returning state side with room available, traveling military personnel can catch a ride for close to, if not, nothing.

There are some drawbacks, however, as Pletzer pointed out.

“Yes we got [to the U.S.] for around 12 bucks, but there are some drawbacks,” he explained. “You don’t know exactly where you are going to end up and when you will get there, so you can’t make reservations or anything like that.”

Luckily for Lopez and Pletzer, they were taken to McGuire Air Force Base in southern New Jersey, about 45 minutes away from Philadelphia.

EMEA fell 3-1 to the Asia-Pacific team in its pool play opener on Monday, but Byrd said afterwards that he was proud of the way his club played.

Due to the lack of Little League play in Germany, the EMEA All-Stars only had to play three games in their regional to qualify for the Series, and that little bit of playing time coupled with nerves could have led to a few mistakes the team made, according to the manager.

Regardless, Byrd said he expects the club to rebound from the defeat and come back hard in its next game.

“They played with a lot of heart,” Byrd said. “It was a tough game to lose, but I think we’ll put it behind us, get back out here and hopefully surprise some people.”