By the Hair of our Chinny, Chin Chin!
On a clear day you can see forever. At Clear Lake, a ball can roll forever.... and it did. Playing on a baseball field was a factor on Friday as a single by Caroline played croquet with the leftfielder and rolled forever. It would be the final nail in the coffin as Grantsburg went to extra innings to edge Clear Lake by a score of 7-6.
Jocelyn started the game with a bunt that Clear Lake botched, placing her at first. Heather promptly sacrificed her to second. And soon Jocelyn would score as Kelcy singled to right. Jocelyn would score just in time to beat the third out at second as Kelcy tried to advance on the throw to the plate. The Pirates led 1-0. It didn't take Clear Lake long to answer as the first two batters singled. After the third batter singled, Doni settled down and retired the Lakers but only after Clear Lake took the lead with two runs of its own. That Northwood feeling was starting to come back.
During the next four innings, Grantsburg's ship was starting to sink. Heather and Caroline picked up the only hits for Grantsburg with Jocelyn and Jamie drawing walks. The scorebook remained empty. Then Clear Lake started to put Grantsburg away. Their clean-up batter tripled. After a couple of walks and a couple of Grantsburg errors, three runs crossed the plate. Things were not looking good for Grantsburg. Clear Lake was ahead 5-1 going into the 6th inning.
The saying goes, "Good teams win games in the 6th inning" Grantsburg would give it a shot. Callie started the inning with pressure mounting. She lined a shot to center. Kelcy stepped to the plate next and ripped another shot to center. At this point, we were requiring batters to have the ump call a strike before we would swing. Susan stepped to the plate and was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Momentum started to swing as the Clear Lake pitcher also hit the next batter to score Callie. Doni then delivered a single to center to score two more runners. Liz, Heather and Callie would all receive walks and the Pirates put five runners across the plate to take the lead.
Clear Lake geared up again in the bottom of the 7th inning. Doni walked three batters in a row to load the bases. Callie came in for relief and retired the next two batters, but only after Clear Lake had scored the tying run. The Pirates would go to extra innings for the first time.
Caroline started the top of the 8th with a single to left. The grounder rolled between short and third and then rolled through the outfielder's legs and then kept on rolling. The game was on a baseball field and nothing stopped the ball as Caroline, too kept on rolling. She crossed the plate with the go ahead run thanks to a three base error. The Pirates were pumped. Callie struck out the first batter in the 8th on a beautiful change up. Jocelyn jumped so high against the second batter, that it took her three pitches to land. When she landed, it was out number two. The last batter popped to Callie and the game had ended. Final score Grantsburg 7 - Clear Lake 6.
Offensive highlights:
Caroline and Kelcy each had two hits for the Pirates. The remaining hits were picked up by Heather, Callie and Doni. Heather, Callie, Jamie, Doni, and Liz picked up walks. Jamie and Susan reached the hard way as they took one for the team.Defensive highlights:
Callie picked up the win. The Pirates gave up 6 hits and a season high seven walks. Jocelyn made two HUGE plays in the field.TWIS:
Cookies and milk are a nice start to the bus ride.... except everyone has to go to the bathroom after 10 minutes. Jocelyn jumped as high as Elise fell. Thanks Cris for the cookies and milk... I wish other parents could see how happy it makes everyone. The fat lady wasn't singing, but she was warming up at Clear Lake. Clear Lake played very well. Parent's night for Shell Lake. Tomorrow, we are back on highway 8. The Northwood newsletter is not ready, yet. It is no fun writing it. Would anyone like to meet fawn? Up close and in person? Tell it like it is Willy! Playing on a baseball field seems really weird. If we win our first tournament game, we play Northwood on our field. After 8 games, we finally get to have a practice. I think we will practice not hitting pop ups.... Sometimes, you need to get back to the basics that allowed you to score 13 runs against Bloomer, 22 against Shell Lake, 400 against Luck....(Tom's team that he never mentions) So... It is time to get ready for Turtle Lake and then finish the regular season at home against Shell Lake. We have a chance to be a conference champion this year. We must play our best in the next two games.... Each game starts 0-0. I have to be careful, or the groundhog will see his shadow.Here is what Heather looks like to Jocelyn......
Here is what the coaches felt like after the game....
