Grantsburg 12 - Luck 2

   Wednesday practice:  We celebrated Don's 60th birthday party. Ing brought cake.  And much thanks to Janice Olson who brought cookies.  If you ever decide to have more kids they can pitch and bat first.  Thank you very much.  A card had been prepared with extra large FONT so that Don could read it.  And...after hiding behind the outhouse, the team marched down and wished Don a very happy birthday.  I think it was at this point where Don declared that the team was out of shape...They ran laps while Don, Callie and I ate the warm cookies.  Soon the cookies were gone so Don declared it was time to start practice.  On sunny nights we do our diving drills... We also practiced runners on third.  Cody's thumb was much better but we hit her on the elbow with a throw...After trying to hit the scoreboard like Annie we had some hitting practice.  The high tech fast, slow, medium machine works well.  I guess I am outdated.  Annie wanted some extra practice catching pop ups...Now that she goes after the ball we are concerned that she will cut in front of others just to catch it.  In other news....Brian Lund updates the Fastpitch Chronicle.  Now that other teams have seen that we are 10-0, they have ranked us #6 in the state.  Park Falls is rated #1.

Where all the potable water was spilled we found some interesting little creatures...now there is one less.

We have a couple of gymnasts on our team....Emily and Michelle.  We have been looking for a way to combine the hard hits of softball with the sport of gymnastics.  We finally found a way to combine the skills.

Big night ahead...all new Grey's Anatomy plus  OKNO ONYO OKNOY is BACK!

Game time:  Don had heard that Luck had beaten SCF.  At this point it is unconfirmed, but Luck placed a pretty solid team on the field.  And once again, they had a pretty good pitcher.  The pitching is far superior to what it was a few years ago for all teams in the area.    Nobody is a push over any more.  The game was a shutout for both teams until the bottom of the third inning.  Tiffany singled by placing a perfect bunt down the line.  Sarah picked up a single and hobbled to first.  Mich took one right on the butt and grinned all the way to first.  With the bases loaded, Annie picked up her second walk of the night as Tiff walked in with the first run.  Heather and Emily were both swinging the new Zephyr tonight.  We made them put away their little league bats...and it paid off.  For the night Heather picked up two hits and three RBI's.  EC also picked up two hits with two RBI's. In the third inning Grantsburg would score seven times.  They would add four more in the fourth.  Luck hung in tough and picked up one run in the top of the fifth forcing Grantsburg to bat one more time.  Tiff reached on an error, moved to second on a passed ball and eventually scored on another passed ball...as Annie again... stood in the on deck circle waiting for her chance to end the game.  For Grantsburg Michelle pitched the first four innings giving up two hits and walking one. In the four innings she fanned nine.  Jess came in and pitched the fifth inning.  Nicole came in to catch...mac to play third...finchy went to short and DP EC played second for a few innings.    Grantsburg collected only six hits for the night. One of the highlights was that Grantsburg had ZERO strikeouts...that is HUGE.  The Pirates will travel to Pine City Friday for a 4:30 game....yes....4:30....so for those of you that roll in at 5:00 we may be in the third inning.

Injury report:  cody's hand is much better and may bat Friday.  Romo's thumb is better.  Tiffany's thumb is better and her ear lobe doesn't hurt.  EC has a sore hip flexor.  Sarah's BB knee is quite sore.  Don cut himself shaving but it is ok now.  I stubbed my toe on the potable water faucet.  Finchy is done with the flu. Heather's leg is healed....wow..we sound sick.

TWIS:  Still looking for the vibration resistant batting gloves.  Lydia was reading this in class and she blushed...this was according to Nathan.  We didn't have a knife for the BD cake so we cut it with my comb... First, we washed the comb with non-potable water. ANd...right in the middle of a swing Emily questioned the pronunciation of potable. And of course she was correct.  One "t" means the O has a long sound.... The players still drink it. WE have this special play.  When you see me come out of the dugout...wearing a blaze orange rain coat with a propeller hat....something special is about to happen.  Dave T did win money that night.  Ask him what he is going to do for the softball team!!  Finchy is better.  Good thing softball is an outside sport. Yes, it was you Mikey. Research has now proven that chocolate makes you smarter.  Stacey brought chocolate for the entire Algebra class.  I brought chocolate for the ump.  Did you know that every now and then...when Romo is catching....she lets one go by?????  She claims it keeps the ump awake.  During practice a GIANT Whippoorwill attacked our field. AT first we thought it was a long ways away but it was quite close.  We think it had been drinking the Potable water and became a mutant.   It is sooo nice to hear PERDY NEAR.  Buddy and Sena used to come to games when it was only the two of them and the parents....What great fans...and OKNO.  PC has a dairy queen.  A couple of years ago they had a pitcher that holds the state record for strikeouts.  Also in Minnesota, 8th graders can play varsity.  The cake fight pictures below came from my Algebra class.    It was the first night that the smell of the brats headed north...I almost forgot to buy.  Romo wants to flip the coin next game.  Gretchen got soooo fired up that she almost ran on the field tonight. Whoever stole my truck, I want it back.  Congrats to Thane Larsen. Everyone had black eyes tonight.... I think we need visors.  Once upon a time happens every 20 years....  Lydia likes Henry the 8th... Tiff passed on the fish string. Ing played BB without breaking her foot again.  Thanks Brian and Scott for all you do.  Go Bakeberg. We stilll work on base running...It may be the hardest part to coach...  I would say we have about 4 great baserunners  and most of the rest are improving.  See you at the DQ....

SYBTF

Question 2      I was recently told that on a tag out the ball can be in the opposite hand of the tag/glove and still count as an out.  I thought you had to tag the runner with the ball in order for it to be an out?    
Answer           Runner is not out.  Rule 8-8-7; “A runner is touched while off a base; b) with a hand or glove of a defensive player and the ball is in the other hand.”

Question 3      Isn’t it true that you have to pull your pitcher if you call two timeouts in the same half inning?
Answer           Rule 3-7-1 PENALTY; “After three charged conferences in a seven inning game, or for any charged conference in excess of one in each extra inning, the pitcher shall be removed as pitcher for the duration of
                      the game.”


Question 9      The batter hits a ground ball down first base line and the ball bounces in play then angles into foul territory, F3 tries to make a play on the ball and hits F3’s glove while in foul territory.  Is that a fair or foul  
                     ball?
Answer           Rule 2-25-1a; “a foul ball is a batted ball that:  settles or is touched on or over foul territory between home and first base, or between home and third base.”



Question 13     We recently had a player ejected for throwing her bat.  Could you please address the two rules pertaining to this issue.
Answer            The umpire must determine whether the bat was thrown “carelessly” (Rule 3-6-3) or “deliberately” (Rule 3-6-16).  If Rule 3-6-3 applies, a team warning shall be issued to the coach and the next offender
                       shall be restricted to the bench/dugout.  If it was deliberate, the umpire shall eject the offender unless the offense is judged to be of a minor nature.  If minor, then warn the player and eject if repeated.
                       Rule 7-4-14 may also apply; the batter is out if she throws her whole bat and interferes with a defensive player attempting a play.

Question 14     At a recent game our player was called out for leaving the base too early on a caught fly ball.  Isn’t the defensive team supposed to appeal?
Answer            You are correct.  Rule 8-6-6; “The runner leaves a base to advance to another base before a caught fly ball has touched a fielder, provided the ball is returned to the infield and properly appealed.”  If no
                       appeal was made, the umpire does not have the authority to call the runner out.

From Scott Hoffman...