Pirate Matrix TOO strong..TOO fast...

Unity believes now....

    Take every opponent seriously.  If you don't they will jump up and bite you.  Last year Unity jumped up and bit Grantsburg.  That bite resulted in a loss of the Conference Championship.  Now that the bite has healed...Now that we shut them out in a perfect game last year,then again in the tournament, now that we beat them by 10 runs the first time, and now that we beat them again by 16...what did/do we learn...???? Answer:  Take every opponent seriously.  In the game of softball you get more strange bounces than in any basketball or football game.  In softball, you take a round bat and a round ball and you teach the players to hit it square.  There is no letting up... Play the entire game.. and...wear steel underwear if you think you may get bit!  And if it remains cold, line them with rabbit fur!

    We always see the Unity coaches at the fastpitch clinic in Minneapolis.  They are a fun bunch.  Have you seen their head coach pitch in the lady's league at Cushing?  She is a good ball player and is good for the game.  Unity will always have a huge vote in who wins the conference.  They will also have their own turn, but it is not this year.  Grantsburg's number has risen to the top.... and it is the air we breathe.  It is OUR time.

    By the way, the Matrix is one of the best movies of all time..  Are you starting to believe?

OK..back from the game now... A very interesting start to the night.  Unity has decided that they want to be like Grantsburg.  So they start their warm-ups with our circus drill...Then they take infield just like we do.  Then as we are getting ready to do "Game Time"  We here Unity do the same cheer...  We found this very unusual.  I understand that imitation is the best form of flattery...but this was a bit much!!!!   But if they are going to try and mimic the best, why is it that in the LAST 28 INNINGS>>>THEY HAVEN'T SCORED ANY RUNS!!!!  Oh wait..maybe it is not quite 28 innings..often the game ends early.  At least they didn't wear our colors...on the surface.

This game was very similar to the Rush City game.  The game started out close with Grantsburg getting a single run in the first and another in the second.  In the first inning, Mollie took advantage of slow returns to the pitcher and used a delayed steal to take home.  In the second inning, Jamie walked and scored when Shelby singled.

It wasn't until the top of the 5th when things fell apart for Unity.  Grantsburg would score 9 runs in the top of the fifth on 5 hits and 5 walks and a couple of Unity errors.  The highlight of the inning is when Miranda hit a homerun.  She got all of it as she sent a monster shot to left.  The ball went through gale force winds and two geese before finding some grass on the other side of the fence.  We kept the ball for her.  She asked why we put a big W on it....  But we explained that it was really an M and she had the ball upside down.  WHAT a shot!!!

Shelby, Miranda, and Mollie each hat two hits for the night.  Jamie came in and pitched the 5th inning and looked very sharp.  She fanned two of the three batters to end the game.  Mollie pitched the first four innings and only allowed two hits and once again...NO WALKS...  Grantsburg now prepares for Webster.  And nobody really knows if it starts at 4:30 or 5:00 so...good luck.

TWIS:  Did we just play ourselves?  Will Miranda's picture get into the paper again?  did that truck scare everybody or just the two kids sitting behind it?  Nice to have dugouts with  a sun roof.  We don't always swing when it is 3-0 or even bunt for that matter..Sometimes the bugs get to bat and we all have to swat at them..Katie has such a small head that she wears a chin strap..When she runs...which is very fast...sometimes the helmet leaves her head like a big parachute..when she stops, it hits her in the back of the head and knocks her over.  Good base running Lauren. Nice to see the sun again.  Today is supposed to be 67.  We will practice base running tonight now that we can finally practice outside... JV game Friday..  Cumberland first on Saturday...big game...they have done very well.  Nice to see fans at the games..Thanks for coming.  Do you think Unity will use our school song? And Rich and the crew make our field look great...everyday when we come to practice the field is perfect... By the way Leader....Frederic is still the only Wisconsin school to score against us... Does that make them #4 in the state?  This will be the only year where all of the graduation actitivies don't mess up our practices or games...very nice.  Enjoy the sunshine today....See you all Thursday at Webtser where we hope to clinch the conference championship ALL BY OURSELVES..  Play the Game.  Alyssa's ankle is healing.  Swing Choir is the only thing to beat us so far.  Seven will be gone on Saturday.  Coffee and doughnuts available at 9:00.  With all the soccer on the same day, the parking lot will be filled.  Osceola plays Spooner on the east field.  Winners play later.  It is our tournament, we are the home team.  Win or lose we play both games on the game field.  The batter's box was wrong at Unity.  The coaches box was wrong, too.  And....by the way...the umpire thought that pitchers had to have both feet in contact with the rubber prior to the pitch...They were wrong...  The rule says....(page 46)  "Prior to starting the pitch, the pitcher shall take a position with the pivot foot on or partially on the top surface of the pitcher's plate and the non-pivot foot in contact with or behind the pitcher's plate.  The confusion is that in summer ball they play ASA rules which state that both feet must be in contact with the rubber... At least they were thinking the same sport.   Look at it this way...when the umps are done with us, they have a better understanding of the rules... They promised to look it up...and I am sure they did.

From the Matrix:   ONE.