PORTLAND, Ore. — A softball team from British Columbia came to Portland over the weekend to play in a tournament at North Portland's Delta Park.
"We had a lot of fun," said Kaitlyn Cameron, coach of the Fraser Valley Fusion 2006 girls' softball team. "We came in second which was awesome. We played in the finals against a really good team. They were nice and friendly to us, so we had a good time on the field."
It was a different story off the field.
"A series of unfortunate events," Cameron said.
Cameron said after her team, made up of 15 and 16-year-old girls from British Columbia, wrapped up play on Sunday, they returned to the team bus parked not far from the fields.
"The door was left ajar and they opened it up to find out there was a whole bunch of stuff stolen off the front of the bus," Cameron said.
Backpacks, cash, a laptop, headphones and clothes were missing. Some of the girls' passports were gone, too.
"The kids who lost stuff had a moment of panic, so then it was, don't worry about the stuff, let's console the girls and make sure everyone is okay," Cameron said.
The bus break-in at Delta Park was not the team's only misfortune. One day earlier, the catalytic converter was stolen off the team bus while it was parked outside a Holiday Inn Express near the airport.
The team from just outside of Vancouver, B.C. never could have imagined their trip to Portland getting any worse. Then it did when the team's personal belongings were taken from the bus.
"The team we played in the final game, they reached out after hearing what happened," Cameron said. "In that sense, it was nice to see everyone reach out and help us at the park after the game. Good people."
That explains why Cameron, despite what happened over the weekend, is not opposed to returning to Portland in the future.
"I'll definitely be back but probably not with a bus though," she said.
Anyone with information about the thefts is urged to contact the Portland Police Bureau.