Pirates Edge Lakers. 10-0

    Everybody felt bad about missing the two games on Saturday.  When teams are rotten, they hope for rain outs.  But when teams are good, you hate to miss a chance to play ball.  The lost games will not be made up so tonight's game with Shell Lake ends the regular season.  We open the tournament at home on Thursday night (thanks scott) with the Turtle Lake/Clayton team.  If we win, we will play the following Tuesday in Grantsburg against the winner of the Unity and Saint Croix Central team.  We are hoping that Unity does well.  We would also like a chance to play SCC one more time this year.  If things still go as planned we will either play Cumberland or SCF in the regional championship on the Grantsburg field.  So there is a lot of softball left to play.  And...if we lose the first game...the season was still a success.  Tournaments are set up so almost everybody loses their last game.  The mentality has to be...give it your best shot and see what happens.

    A couple of years ago we had Harley night.  Last season we all came on a flatbed trailer.  Tonight,  we rode in on 4 wheelers and a mule thanks to Burnett Dairy.  It was raining but nobody really cared. It was fun.  Since I was one of the drivers it would be nice if somebody emailed me some pics of the players so that I can put them on the web page.

    Grantsburg started the game as usual with Katie reaching first base... this time with a walk.  Mollie sacrificed her to second base.  Whitney reached on an error.  When Miranda grounded to third, Katie got caught at third for their first double play.  Shelby started the second inning with a solid line drive single to left field.  Sarah sacrificed her to second  When Lindsey sent a rocket down the line Shelby scored to give Grantsburg a 1-0 lead.  Whitney singled in the third and scored when the shortstop booted Sarah's grounder.

    In the meantime, Jamie was mowing them down.  She struck out the first five batters of the game before giving up a single to left.  In the four innings she pitched she struck out nine batters and didn't walk anybody.  Mollie came on in the fifth and preserved the shut out.  Grantsburg loaded the bases in the fourth.  With one out, Whitney hit a line drive at short who doubled up Lindsey to end the inning.  But in the fifth, Grantsburg let loose.  Miranda walked as did Shelby.  Sarah hit a fly to left that was dropped.  Jamie singled driving in a run.  Lindsey followed with her second hit and another run.  Alyssa picked up hit number 3 for the night making it a perfect evening for her.  After a couple of wicked foul balls, Katie picked up a walk.  Mollie stepped to the plate and lined a triple to right clearing the bases.  When the next pitch was wild, she trotted in and the game was very quickly over.  Grantsburg had just scored eight runs in about 5 minutes.

    It was parent's night and senior night in Grantsburg.  Thanks to all the parents for their support.  Your athletes are some exceptional people.  Also thanks for eating the extra cake.  Grantsburg's four seniors this year are Whitney Johnson, Katie Kooiker, Sarah Evenson, and Shelby Durand.  These four girls have been a huge part of the Grantsburg success.    Good luck in the turnament.

TWIS:  Bart came back...no Ricky...we think his legs were still sore.  Tonight had the most foul balls in history.. we counted... I had the best 4-wheeler..thanks Holly for making this happen.  Every time we bring out the long pants, Russ Erickson grins from ear to ear...Looks like the Yankees, he says... Softball is meant to be played with long pants... katie asked..What is the purpose of the stirrups..and where do I get them?  Nice to have Judge Judy back tonight..she was in a good mood..  Jamie said the home plate ump got soooo low, that she couldn't see him.  Miranda likes playing in the mudd.  Can you see where the clay ends?  the sand starts 3 feet inside the first base line...  ohhhhhh the grill smelled sooooooo good.  Why did people still have their umbrellas up when it was sunny?  did you see the rainbow?  How many bricks!  It is really nice to see all of the fans... Invite people to the tourney..lets make it fun and filled.  I promise to get some good music.  Are you tired of the weather coming from the north and the east?  Last time SL was in Grantsburg, we had the cycles...  Melanie beat Turtle Lake tonight.  The awards banquet was very nice... We have a generous community.   Dollars for Scholars gave out 48 $500 scholarships to the students that were going on to school..WOW.  Would you guys like us to build a roof over the stands?  Not one person commented on the antelope!  boohoo.  Did you watch Gray's anatomy?  My guess is the vet.    I will proof read in the morning... time for bed.  A couple of the pics are tooo big. I will fix them in the morning.  The seniors are at VF today..

 It is tournament time.  Here is our plan.  We are using the Boa Theory.  We keep the pressure on.  We do what we do.  We wait.  When the other team takes a breath, we squeeze them until they give in.  It takes patience.  It takes confidence.  It is very, very effective.  Few high school teams can take the pressure.  We will start to apply in on Thursday.... Come watch the show.... then leave gasping for your breath.  We will place allllll our cards on the table and play until somebody beats us....