CHICO – The season doesn’t start until February, but the Chico State softball team is not sitting idly by during the fall months. Head Coach Angel Shamblin’s 2012 squad has begun workouts in earnest and will play its first games of the fall Saturday at a tournament in Roseville, but earlier this month the Wildcats briefly put their bats and gloves aside to give back to the community by participating in the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Chico’s Bidwell Park.

Shamblin participated in last year’s walk, and this time enlisted several of her players to participate in the Oct. 1 event that serves as the main fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association’s North Valley office. The ’Cats even designed special t-shirts for the walk and were part of a group of  over 1,000 participants that helped raise over $110,000 for Alzheimer’s research.

The Chico State softball team will continue its community involvement by taking part in the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk Sunday, Oct. 23 at Bidwell Park.