By the way........we won today!

Real food Means Sectional HOMER for Cody! WOW....

Cody shows textbook extension prior to launching her Sectional Finals homer...thanks Brenda!

ROMO HOMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

shhhhh! Don't tell anybody but this team is PD good.gg

computers are tired today...it may take two days to create this page. come back again. Game stuff and fun stuff comes later.

It was a long day...energy dissipated.

I even took a picture of myself.

Game 1:  The coaches didn't tell anybody but Park Falls scared us.  Last year they beat us 12-0 and then went on to state.  They had almost everyone coming back.  They had eight seniors and they were ready to rock.  They were a realllllllly good team.  They had beaten power house Hurley and conference winner Chetek.  They were good.  When we watched the pitcher warming up at 60+ I think even I was intimidated... BUT

On a blue sky day the Pirates came to bat in the top of the first.  Tiff hit the first pitch to right for out #1.  Park Falls then struck out the next two pirates for a very quick first inning. For Park Falls, Lamb hit one into the sun and reached second base.  Welciak followed with a solid single and Park Falls was on the board.  After one more single runners stood on second and third.  Engel grounded to Annie.

In the Grantsburg second, Heather hit a line drive to the gap in left center and reached second.  Emily walked. Cody walked.  The bases were now loaded.  The Park Falls pitcher was soo good that the catcher did not handle her well.  A pitch in the dirt got passed the catcher and Heather coasted in with the tying run...  On a GREAT piece of base running, Emily watched the ball roll passed the pitcher and flamed to the plate for the lead.  It is little things like this that make the difference for this team. (212)

This team appeals to all ages!

Grantsburg continued to make plays in the field. One of the highlights was when a pop fly went over Ing's head.  She caught it over her shoulder and fired a long strike to first for the double play.  Park Falls started to crumble.

The Pirates picked up another run in the third.  Tiff started with a single to right center.  Sarah walked and both advanced on another passed ball.  Michelle hit a rope to center allowing Tiff to tag and score.

The 4th inning was huge for Grantsburg.  At this point the Park Falls pitcher was begging to tire and show some frustration.  The sun was hot and things were not going her way. Emily walked.  Ing took a pitch on the bad foot.  Cody lined one off the pitcher to load the bases with nobody out. After a couple of missed throws and Pirate running the inning accounted for four runs.

And then came the 5th.  Emily once again walked to start the inning. With two outs Romo is at the plate with two strikes.  And then.......the birds quit singing....the children stopped playing.  The osprey left its nest.  All eyes were turned toward left center as the ball just kept going. Romo had taken the pitch to the cheap seats.  It was awesome.

At this point we knew we would be playing one more game so we made sure the athletes were drinking water.

For the game Grantsburg had 7 hits and picked up 5 walks. Sarah and Tiff each had two hits.  Sarah also picked up two of the walks.  Romo had 3 RBI's and played great behind the plate.  Park Falls had 4 hits and picked up 1 walk. It was the exact opposite of last year's game.  The momentum went one way....and NEVER came back.  The Pirates played an awesome game.

Make sure YOU ask Dan what he is going to do with this crow!!!!

Game 2:  Prescott.  We did get done in time to watch the finish of the Regis and Prescott game.  Prescott was ahead early but Regis fought back and made it a close game.  We had a slight preview of the game to come.  Prescott had finished second in their conference behind D2 Amery.  We knew it was our game to either win or lose.  It would be up to us!

We won the toss and were designated as the home team.  Nice call, Ing.  Prescott showed some fire in the first inning as Krings and Pryor each had very solid singles.  Lundy flexed her golden arm and struck out Johnson for out #3.  The Prescott team had talent in many directions, but the pitching could not match up to the Park Falls team.  The ball looked big!  Tiffany started with a line drive right at the left fielder for the first out.  Sarah lined the next ball right at the shortstop.  Mich knocked one off the pitcher but the shortstop picked it up in time.  Three smashes and nothing.

In the second, Prescott's first batter reached on an error.  Carlson followed with a single.  The number 8 batter bunted and we threw it over first and passed the back up as we watched two runs trot in and the lead belonged to Prescott. In our half, Annie slammed a one hopper stabbed by the shortstop.  Heather hit one deep to center but got nothing.  Finally, Emily reached on an error.  Ing and Cody followed with singles. But all three were left stranded.  Was this going to be one of the old cliche ATOM ball games??

BUT...then comes our third inning.  Tiff rips a single.  Sarah rips a single.  Mich rips a grounder but Prescott makes the play.  Annie rips a shot.  Heather rips a shot.  Things were starting to fall into place and the Grantsburg hits were finding green..AND THEN..

CODY!  She had strained her quad muscle.  She was hurt.  I asked her if we should bat for her...She blinked a couple of times and said No...I want to bat.  It was the sectionals so I said ok.  Cody is an athlete. She is strong. She is fast.  And then it happened. (make sure you go back and look at the picture of her swing sent in by Brenda from the Leader) 

Somewhere the birds are singing.  Somewhere the sky is blue.  When Cody's smash left the building, Prescotts push was through!!!

The crowd roared as Cody circled the bases.  With her verrrrrry sore leg, she barely made it around.  But the smile matched Romo's and all of the Grantsburg fans.  It was AWESOME.  Even though the game was not officially over, Madison was in everyone's mind.

This game saw some great plays by the fielders even though it was not perfect.  Michelle's fast glove snagged a liner headed for center and she threw to Annie for another double play.  And Annie....she is great at first.  We often talk in practice about how that extra effort catch can make the 212 difference.  She snagged balls, blocked balls and caught balls.  She made everyone look good.  And Michelle...what can you say????  What an athlete.  As we have said before, the pitcher allows you a chance to win the game.  This game, it was the bats....It was showtime at Carson park.  And for this one tournament, the best team of the four claimed the trophy.  That does NOT always happen.

The softball experience continued as we drove to Olive Garden.

The motel called Mike...said Congrats and said...."Do you want to stay here, again?"

This team of 2009 now has its own legacy.  They have made the extra degree of difference.

and Don, Callie, and I are Proud!

Pics from Scott

Pics from Greg

TWIS:  Ok..I finally am getting some time.  And what a week it was.  Rice Lake came to scrimmage.  Jake thought the heart looked wussy... so we added the bones...therefore, the creation of heart and cross-bones.  We love softball.  Scrimmage went well.  The pizza was good.  The black eye was beautiful..even the Harry Potter scar.  Mac's Unibrow took a trophy, too.  Dwight wiped the bumper of the bus and we were off.  First stop Perkins..easy on the sausage.  Did you know Callie is pregnant?  The school and WIAA gave 17 bucks per person.  We only ate once this year.  Off to Carson park...Not Carlson...come on Bob.  The infield was hard. The grass was green.  She threw reallllly hard.  Hit Ing in the foot.  ump wouldn't let her get water.  Regis took our ball..not sure who hit it.  Lost the first flip.  Won the second flip.  ROMO! Rested in the shade.  Drink Water.  Gabbie says what water?  Thanks for the donation.  Tiff got clobbered.  Michelle got run over.  Prescott thought Cody was on steroids...so did Mac.... and Cody could hardly walk.  The motel called us and asked us to stay.  Then the trip to Olive Garden.  It is part of the experience.  Tiff almost got into a hockey fight.  Did you know Callie is pregnant? If you actually read this page, YOU are part of the team.  This makes 4 times out of the last 6 years that we made the Mad trip south.  There is a pep session Tuesday morning.  Tuesday night the practice is at 5:00 allowing kids to go watch the baseball game.  Wednesday pm will be pictures.  We will leave Thursday morning.  We will have a practice in Madison and then go watch a game.  Friday morning we will have hitting practice and then play at 3:30.  WF is the same team that we played during our first trip to state. The tshirts have been ordered.  This will be limited edition shirts.. so if you want one...or 10 call Kathy Lund (NOW) There are two things for sure.

1)  This team will have tremendous fun.

2) When it is gametime, you will see some tenacious talent on display.

In this card game called fastpitch, we will place all of our trump on the table. Let's see if anybody else has a hand good enough to beat us!!!!!! One of the unique qualities of this team is the fact that EVERYONE contributes...each in her own time.  You just don't know who it will be...but it is ALWAYS somebody.  That makes us TOUGH to beat. It is a cohesive bunch.

212

sybtf.