Amery

OHs MY>>>> Typically when you are down by five, the fat lady is at least starting to humm....But not in the Pirate Dugout.

GAME 1: It was a bit chilly before the first game. I got to the field and saw the baseball team standing by the high school with some players on cell phones. I assumed the bus did not show for their road trip. As I lined the field, the bus finally arrived and they were off. Rich Olson (ump) had prepared our field the night before... It was perhaps the first time that we have had to water the field in April. The big A on the side line was in preparation for two wins. It did not stand for Amery...It stood for ARRIVED. If this team could win twice today, they have arrived...they are begging to build their own legacy. Old stories are not their stories... Those stories are history. It is the team of 2009 that is most important. They don't want to be compared..they just want to be themselves.

Michelle came out smokin'. The first Amery batters when down in a breeze. Big Mama Tiff came to the plate and as she has done so often singled to start the game. What a great boost this is when the lead off batter gets on base. Sarah is one of our best bunters and sacrificed her to second base. And using two passed balls, Tiff was back in the dugout with our first run (YOU CANT WIN GAMES IF YOU HAVE PASSED BALLS) And that was it for a longggggg time. Against Superior, we scored early and then battled. Now we scored one and then battled. Michelle was controlling the game but we wanted more. In the bottom of the 6th Michelle walked with one out. ( YOU CANT WIN GAMES IF YOU WALK BATTERS) And then.....Annie stepped to the plate. Greg and Scott were ready with cameras... I was eyeing the grill behind the dugout... and then SMACK. Even over the sound of the wind howling from the scoreboard towards home plate, the SMACK made the earth stand still. In total harmony everyone stood with their mouth open as Annie's shot, along with Elvis...LEFT THE BUILDING. Then the thud came as the line drive hit the scoreboard. The board swayed...and then snapped back into position. I would have bet HUGE money that nobody would have hit a homerun into that gale. I had not seen a ball hit that hard since Miranda hit one out of Fall Creek in the sectional final in 2006. We stood in awe as Annie trotted the bases. The score was now 3-0 and essentially the game was over. Grantsburg ended the game with five hits. Amery had only two. Michelle again had pitched very well giving up only 1 walk... and had 14 strikeouts.... (you can win with that)

So the question comes up...can we drink this water? Many had an opinion...some said that the sign meant it was not good enough for a toilet. Others felt the line was filled with anti-freeze... others did not see the sign... and a few can't read. So everyone filled their bottles...watched the strange colors and bubbles and then proceeded to drink it. They should have asked first. Or was that the reason that they played soooo well on Saturday???? Or is that why Mac has two extra fingers growing out of her head?

Thanks to the youth softball program for everything they do. They had prepared food for both teams. It was much appreciated by all. The Amery coach said that now their girls want music...AND brats. They want a rubber matt in the dugout...they want wind screen.. they want the smoke of brats filling the air... and they want Lydia to Open Enroll so she can keep the scoreboard, announce, sing the anthem, and participate in school plays. LYDIA you are AWESOME>>>> Please come back often... Do you want a hat?????

The youth softball team had a special treat for Cody..besides, somebody else had to try it before I ordered it.

GAME 2: Games are 7 innings long. We sometimes forget that. 1 out of 7 is more than 14%. 14% is a substantially big percentage and yet we sometimes think that the 7th inning is just a formality to end a game. It is a special treat...It is a special boost.....It is just plain special when you can score runs in the 7th to win a game. This team has now done it twice in 8 games. I think that is 25% which is more than 14%. They did it against Barron and now they have done it against Amery. (sorry Deb..I know that numbers less than 10 should be written out...but it is a more effective format this way) Out of 20 games, you should win three in the 7th inning...so WE have one more in us....or two???

Give Don lots of credit. Against a very good Amery team he gave Jessica the start as well as Nicole at catcher and mac as the DP. Amery did pickup one run in the first on a hit batter, walk and two singles. But with the bases still loaded Jess struck out two batters in a row. For the next three innings she would shut them out. Amery did have base runners but after four innings, Jessica and the Pirates had only given up just the one run. In the Amery fifth, Jones tripled over Heather's head to start the inning. After a couple more hits and walk, the Warriors had plated four runs. To end the inning, their coach yelled go...to a different runner... The runner on third thought she was talking to her and ran right into out #3. At this point things looked bleak...even to me. We now went to the 6th inning behind by five runs. We DID NOT even have a hit at this point. We had been making contact...but nobody was hitting the sweet spot.

In the Grantsburg 6th, Nicole walked to start the inning. And finally...and Amery error allowed Jess to reach first base. Sarah walked to load the bases and up comes our hottest batter...Mich. BAM a rip to center field. Heather picks up a very strange hit...Mich is now at third and scores on a passed ball giving the Pirates three runs for the inning. And by the way....The ump is part of the field. Anytime it hits the ump keep playing. Mich has a saying...Umpires are DIRT. (part of the field) At this point we are still behind 5-3. Some people were thinking....Oh good 5-3 makes the score look better... but wait!!!!

So we go to the 7th inning. We are the visitors in game 2. Grounder to short...1 out. Little piddly peep to pitcher...2 outs. They start putting equipment away in the dugouts....People start gathering their children and planning the day. BUT....Jessica walks. People are still stirring in the stands. Sarah rips one. People stop looking for their dogs. Michelle rips her second in a row. The non dog people quit looking where they walk...And up comes Annie.... the one who had dented the scoreboard in game 1. Low outside pitch and WHACK...screaming liner to the gap in right center...... THE SCORE IS TIED... people start coming back from the warmth of their cars. They put more brats on the grill. People start talking about the Barron game. Our best baserunner, Michelle stands on third...looking for one little slip. AND then it happens....the ball rolls a few feet from the catcher. Michelle, poised like a cat watching a mouse, streaks to the plate. We are ahead. It was 212 vs 211 that made the difference. Giving or taking just one base sometimes makes allllll the difference. It may be a good stat to start keeping.

Michelle came in to pitch the 7th. And again...she was in the groove...three batters three strikeouts..and it was time to fire up the Chicken Dance in left field. It really was awesome....It was fun to be there....Great job team. You have Arrived. All five of Grantsburg's hits came in the last two innings. The four walks by Amery were huge. (YOU CANT WALK BATTERS AND WIN) Amery had seven hits, four walks and two hit batters....Amery's record at the beginning of the day was 4-1 and now it was 4-3. Another day??? the outcome may have been different.. But, for this day.....the Pirates won the game. Amery is a very good team and we really appreciate their coach. She has done awesome things with this team in the last couple of years.

UMPING THINGS: Holy cow Michelle is probably better than Judge Judy. She just gets the game...213 vs. 210. so a couple of clarifications. When two runners are standing on the base at the same time, only the back runner is out if you tag her. When there is a runner on third and a walk. The Circle or "Look Back" rule does not apply until the walked runner reaches first. In other words, the runner on third can jump around...fake stuff..listen to music and do anything she wants until the walked runner gets to first. And..... on a bunted ball when the batter drops her bat. If the bat has landed and stopped rolling and the ball hits it in fair territory, it is legal and you should just keep playing. If the bat is moving as it hits the ball the batter is out. And now for the biggie. I have not found any documentation but this is what I think. Nobody can touch a runner....especially not the base coaches (during a play) So when somebody hits a homerun...can you congratulate them before she touches the plate????? it is a four base award and the ball is dead! I am not sure. but from now on we should not congratulate them until they touch the plate. SOME ump may just call her out...and then we will sick all of the 20 dogs that attend our game... on the ump.

The ump said...turn in your back foot, keep your elbow down...and it will hurt more next time.

Mike

It was my pleasure to go there and do that game for you i dont know if you have contact with there ad or not but wanted to let both of you know that both of your programs have very classy and respectful players of all the games i've done over the past few years that was the best group of teams i've ever had the pleasure to work with and hope to do more games with you in the future

thank you

Tom

From the Superior coach after our game.....She stood by Sarah for 7 innings and Sarah left an impression.

Steve-
Thanks again for getting yesterday's game worked out. You have a nice team, I'd take 9 kids like your 3rd base with the attitude and excitement she has for the game! Along with the rest of your girls-great communication.

Good luck with the rest of your season, maybe we can do it again next year!
Amy
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TWIS: Wasn't this an amazing day? Tiff and Cody each took game 2 off because of sore thumbs. Romo now gets the fact that we don't flip the coin before home games. She thought we won all the time...ongoing fun story. Nice to see such a big crowd. Bring your dog... come and eat some dogs.. or burgers. Lydia is still awesome....The umps were the Olson brothers.... which originally played for the famous Grantsburg lumber softball team. For many years they were the best around. The team consisted of 7 Olson brothers, a cousin, and a neighbor. The smallest foot was size 13. (jim, i think) They were all legends....Don, Rich, Gus, Chris, Jerry, Jimmy....and all the rest. Did you see Mac smack the ump. It was practice swing right off of Rich's arm. it realllly hurt. Mac felt badly.... I told her to back out there and say....Are you going to call that low pitch a strike again? but she didn't go. It is nothing that a few warm cookies won't heal. Oh Satin...nice to see you again. Gretchen made it back for story time. WOW are we lost with out her. Brian skipped the Jamie run to watch the locals. The game of softball is really hard and complicated...especially if you want to win. The 212 thing is the difference. How do you take a round bat and a round ball and then hit it square? How does Dave Thoreson keep winning at cards? The thump with Tim Nelson was just as loud as Annie's homer. Be easy on him Mike. At Stillwater, I ate squid last night...and I was having lemonade. I expect everyone in the stands to JUMP AROUND when we play JUMP AROUND. And...Lydia...quit skipping the Green Bay Packer song. Lola now almost knows the difference between long grass and our carpet. How do you like 6 home games in a row? this is Prom week? or would that be Frederic week? I should say Luck week? but maybe Pine City week. It takes a lot of people to make youth softball work. It was fun to see all the young athletes and all the coaches... I think most of the coaches were in my class at one point. Don's knees have healed to the point where he can not only pitch, but hunt. Fast and Slow...Emily added medium. Doesn't Ing have a great arm? so does Heather. What is with all the sore thumbs? Elise is in New Zealand touring the south Island. Mich hit 56! Annie hit a couple of screamers today. Cody is really fast. We now own 6 rakes. Gabbie has caught up on all the missed 8th grade practices. Three games this week. Did you tell Lunch lady Lara about the Tuesdays and Thursdays? Hey Lindy....do have a website to sell stuff? Oh Jocelyn! During the Grantsburg Fastpitch initial season they only had seven games. That was back when I would saw notes in the sand. and Jolene hit me!

Now remember...Softball is a great game. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. It is fun and grand and all of that when things go our way. So take time to enjoy these first 8 games. Take time to enjoy practice. Enjoy each other. And if and when we lose again, that will be the true measure of character.... Because sometimes you and win and sometimes you don't win. Yogi Berra claims he never really lost a game...He just ran out of time.