Tash And Aleshia Recalls Their Love Story And Time At Washington Mystics.
On August 16, at a softball diamond just north of O’Hare Airport, wedged between a highway entrance and an outlet mall, Aleshia Ocasio takes batting practice.
The Chicago Bandits pitcher and utility player is warming up for the team’s National Pro Fastpitch championship game against USSSA Pride. She stays loose, laughing with her teammates, but her gaze never leaves the ball.
About 400 miles away, Natasha Cloud dances through warm-ups with the Washington Mystics at Minnesota’s Target Center. Sporting AirPods in her ears and an orange, anti-gun violence shirt instead of her team-issued one, Cloud runs through the layup line, slapping hands with her teammates.
Her Mystics have the best record in the WNBA, and the team is expected to win this game against the Minnesota Lynx. In fact, they’re expected to win every game.
Ocasio and Cloud are two of the best in their respective sports. Cloud, 26, is the starting point guard for the Mystics, who have a 1-0 lead over the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA Finals.
Ocasio, 23, is a leader not just for the Bandits, but also the Puerto Rican national softball team. Right now, they’re fully dialed into their own games. But when Cloud goes to the locker room at halftime, the first thing she’ll do is check on Ocasio’s game. Ocasio will get updates on Cloud’s game from her trainer between innings.
This is a typical afternoon, balancing their duties as pro athletes and WAGs; living and playing their games hundreds of miles away from each other, but always staying connected.
Just two weeks prior, Cloud surprised Ocasio by proposing to her in Florida in front of their family and friends.
They don’t get to see each other often during their seasons, but Cloud took advantage of the All-Star break and a Bandits game in Florida to make it work. Cloud actively planned the proposal for a month. But she knew Ocasio was her future when they first started dating 11 months prior.
Right off the bat I was like, I’m gonna marry this girl,” Cloud said.
This summer, Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird redefined what it means to be an athlete power couple. The two superstars met at the 2016 Rio Olympics — after Bird won the gold medal with USA Basketball — went public with their relationship in 2017, and became fixtures on the national scene after Rapinoe won the World Cup with the U.S. women’s soccer team.
But Cloud and Ocasio’s is a more modern — and relatable — love story. Cloud first noticed Ocasio when she was watching her pitch for the University of Florida in the College World Series. She followed Ocasio on Instagram and liked a lot of her pictures. It took a while for Ocasio to notice, but once she did, the pitcher took charge.
“She slid into my DMs and said that she was trying to be on ‘Cloud Nine,’” Cloud said. “That’s a line, right? If you knew her dad and her brother, you would understand. They are some smooth talkers for sure.”
A week later, Cloud flew Ocasio to Atlanta for a Mystics-Dream game, and went full “Casanova,” bringing her coffee every morning and flowers before her game.
“I made sure to bring out all my tricks. I knew what I wanted,” Cloud said. “We’re both super similar in our personality and our goofiness. She was a lot more reserved, so she was super nervous. But I could see through it.”
Ocasio was a bit skeptical at first, but it didn’t take long for her to realize she’d met someone special.
“From the very first time I met her, I could tell that she not only has a huge impact on the court, but just in the person she is. She is infectious and inspires everybody who is contact with her,” Ocasio said. “She still inspires me. I feel like we’re so grounded in each other, bring each other back to earth. When we’re having bad days, we know we can come together and talk about it, go about our days and be confident in knowing that we can pick each other up.”
Since the WNBA and NPF seasons run concurrently, Cloud and Ocasio knew the offseason was the time to really give their relationship a chance.
After Ocasio graduated from Florida, she moved to Washington, D.C. and got a job as an assistant coach at Howard University. They moved in together and got a dog, Maya. For a few months, they lived like most couples live.