Practice thoughts

Tuesday night.   What a beautiful night for practice.  It was 65 degrees and perfectly still.  You can't ask for more...unless being outside could be a choice.  And when it comes to hitting, talk is cheap.  So we did the grading of their hits tonight against Macy, Sam, Bart, and Mr. Machine.  We will do the same thing again on Thursday.  These results will help us create our batting lineup for Friday. Our goal is to get everybody a couple of plate appearances on Friday night.  Heather and Cody have wonderful, beautiful, decorative new gloves.  They look and smell awesome.  Romo came cruising into practice a bit late tonight...something about playing in a rock band...  There will be a couple of things going on for Thursday.  First, the Leader is coming to take some pics...and at 7:00 there is a youth softball clinic.  And then Friday???? we get to see what we have.....I am excited.  It has been really strange practicing with only 14 players but it makes for a very efficient practice.  Three days to go....

Monday of Game Week.

Well we did it.  WE practiced outside in March.  There may be snow tomorrow but for today....we played outside.  The outfield was fine.  The infield was frozen but we got to see the ball in the air.  After a semi quick paced opening lap things warmed up.  We played warm up Em...then Warm up Mac.  Gretchen played catcher and all was well.  The temp at practice was 38 degrees...just right.  All of the smart players wore hats....  We reminded all of the players that having warm clothes in their bag is a good idea.  On Tuesday and Thursday we will hit off live pitching.  We will evaluate hitters by grading the results....3:  line drive or one hopper.  2:  fair ground ball or fly ball.  1:  fair.   They say that grading hits like this is a very close correlation to batting average.  I ran to PC to Lee's to pick up my new hat.  Cody also went...I think.  She was looking for an outfield glove.... So if anybody needs to buy a nice infielder's glove....ask Cody.  Also on Thursday night is the youth softball clinic for the young kids.  Everyone should drive by the field and see the completed windscreen.... and Lindy surfaced again.....that was fun.  The schedule for Friday night is..... 6:00 general warm-up.  6:10 infield   6:15 warm up in the outfield.  6:20 coin flip... 6:25 game.  8:00 Culvers  Anyway it is almost time to fire up the 2009 version of Grantsburg Fastpitch...I can't wait.

Saturday. March 28

Well we put up the choir risers last night.  It was a good thing Ingrid knew what she was doing.  On Monday, the gym is set up for the concert so we miss out on an early practice chance.  The plan is....... If it is 35 degrees or warmer...we will practice outside.  If not, we will call it off.  The text will go out at 3:00.  It has been a good second week of practice.  Starting on Tuesday, we will essentially set the infield and outfield and start practicing actual skills. So far we have not done any position specific skills...it has been general softball skills.  Also on Tuesday, we will be grading their swings against live pitching.  If you grade swings in the gym, it has a very close correlation to actual batting average.  We are still putting the emphasis on hitting the ball somewhere rather than just making contact.  I think the players are responding well.  We did the T drill again where one player attempts to hit line drives and two other players try and catch them.  It is a very competitive drill.  We also spent some time working on bunting...  I hope we get outside a couple of times this week for the benefit of the outfield.  Catching flies on the black top will be just fine.  We also hear rumors of White batting helmets.  As we prepare for Shell Lake and Spooner...remember  8:00 is the Culver's break.  Also remember it is usually quite cool in the Stillwater Dome...so dress warmly.

Wednesday, March 25. 

Thanks to the tracksters we were able to practice in the HS at 4:30 but only for a time.  Don and his two new knees (Betsy and Sally) actually picked up a bat and started hitting.  We were all worried but he assured us that his knees were like concrete.  Not that he ran so slowly, but that there was not danger of injury.  Ingrid blew a tire.....  The tracksters stood in awe as we hit shots to potential third base people.  We talked about interference and obstruction and ended with a quick round of circus drills.  On Thursday night we will bring in the young guns.....Sam and Macy...and JOJO to set up some live pitching stations.  At this point of the year, we will grade people on production....5 for a line drive....4 for a one hopper....3 for a grounder....2 for a fly ball...1 for a fair ball... and 0 for a swing and miss.  After all....We need to hit it somewhere...not just hit it fair.  The colleges found that grading in this format is a near perfect predictor of batting average....  So we will use these evaluations to see who hits...and who doesn't.  Nice to hear from Grandma Ryan...It sounds like she may attend some games. 

Tuesday, March 24

Tonight we will practice with only 5 players...the rest are at music.  It is a busy time of the year and schedules will conflict.  It seems odd that with two to three weeks off between athletic seasons that things get schedule now...oh well.  I took piano lessons for 8 years, too.  Annie is sick.  Tiff has a new bat....19.5 ounces.  It is like swinging air.  Sarah has the doc's ok to swing and her tomato paste lies in the past.  Lauren Finch is looking good.  Heather swings really well.  At the dome we will play Shell Lake first...then do the Culvers run at 8:00.  At 10 we come back and play Spooner.  In the morning some of the players may try and spell ACT....then again maybe not.  We still are unsure of Wednesday night's schedule...Expect a text... be flexible.

Monday, March 23.

We are now into our second week of practice.  We have only 14 players out for the team.  It is too bad that we don't have enough for a JV team, but it makes practicing for varsity very easy.  We never have to worry about infield #2 or #3.  Each player of the 13 will play an important roll.  Ingrid is the only senior.  We hope her foot holds out.  The juniors include Heather, Michelle, Sarah, Lauren, Cody and Annie.  The sophs are Emily, Jessica, MacKenzie, Lauren F and Tiffany.  The frosh are Gabbie and Nicole.

We had early practice the first week and are now entering the week of lateness......Hopefully, it will be nice enough so that this is our only week of 5:15 practice.  The arms look strong so far.  It could be the best set of guns that we have placed on the field.  They throw very well.  Hitting is always a question mark.  Until we hit lots of live pitching, we will have to wait and see.  We have been placing a big emphasis on actually hitting the ball somewhere....rather than just waving at it.  We played a slam drill where we discovered who could hit line drives.....and who could duck.  We learned much....

Jim McKenzie and I put up part of the new wind screen on the game field.  It looks grand..... There are still two more sections to go.  Thanks to the softball club for financing the project.  It makes our field look special and makes the players feel special.  People continue to come to our field and go...wow...nice place.

Think Fast.