Pirates Gobble up the Dragons and Tigers

So what makes an athlete good?  There are many parents that think that if their kid just plays the game starting at grade 3 that they will automatically end up good.  wrong!  There are some parents that think if they send their kid to sport clinics they will learn some magic truth...Wrong!  Let me give you my opinion!  as if you had a choice.  For starters genetics is one of the greatest predictors.  If you are not fast, strong, or have great reactions you will not be very good.  Assuming you are athletic the next greatest contributor is work ethic.  Great athletes are IN shape and they continue to improve their God given athletic gifts by hard work.  For example, did you know that Michelle goes home every night and continues her pitching skills...then she lifts weights or runs?  Her success comes first from solid genetics and then from hard work.  The next contributor to success is the person who has "heart."  Some people have it and some don't.  It is this "i am going to win" attitude and the "never give up" attitude that carries athletes through the periods of time when they are tested.  Another contributor is skills.  When you get to the higher level of performance, ALL the athletes have skills.  Again, performance will be precluded by genetic limitations and strength.  And lastly, luck plays a huge part in success.  Can you stay away from sprained ankles, the flu....... Can that bouncing ball miss the rock in its path?  Can you surround yourself by other successful people?  All reserach says that the greatest predictor of success is your past! 

It rained, it hailed...it didn't look good.  So why was the team singing to the sound of hail??

Sometimes in practice we hit different things just for eye coordination.  Some days we put on sunglasses and pitch yellow M&M's to each other.  If you can hit something small, you can certainly hit something as big as a softball.  On Monday nights we sometimes hit bigger things.  Here is a small clip of Emily hitting a shot put.  Now Romo has NO problem hitting shot puts.  We told her to take her best cut and then imitate Ing, Heather or Annie after hitting homeruns. We have also been talking a lot about sliding.  Sliding head first is quite dangerous.  There is a chance of getting hit in the head by the ball or your face bouncing off somebody's knee.  Miranda found how dangerous it was when she broke her thumb sliding into third base.  Often times runner will hold gloves in their hands to avoid breaking fingers.  The head first slide can also be effective when taught properly.   We looked hard to find a video that taught a safe deliberate way of sliding. 

I used to feel bad during rainouts.  Mud Wrestling never crossed my mind.

THE GAME

There was heat....then clouds...then thunder...then wind....then rain....then hail...It was great.  The players danced in the rain until Don yelled at them.  It all shortly after 4:30.  The hail seemed extra loud as we stood in the dugout.  Soon the sun popped out....both teams took the field and played in the puddles.  A grand time was had by all and all got just a bit muddy.  It was really a fun time.

Sarah goes 3 for 3 and played awesome

too bad half the family was chasing turkeys!!!! and a Jake was already in the car.

Grantsburg would score five runs in the first.  With one out, Sarah, michelle and Annie all collected consecutive hits.  Emily reached on an error and Ing sailed one of her top spin line drives to left.  The ball was really sailing in the first inning.  It was not again until the fourth that the bats busted loose.  To start things, Romo took one off the hat.  Tiff singled and Sarah ripped a double down the line.  The Pirates had picked up three more to make the score 8-0 after four innings.

The top of the fifth proved to be huge for Grantsburg.  During this inning Gabbie squeezed home a run, Romo walked.  Cody hit an awesome gap shot to right center.  Jessica highlighted the fifth with a great line drive to left. Mac followed with one of the same.  After EC's single, Ing unloaded a massive shot to left scoring three runs.  In Grantsburg, it was gone.  In Siren, it was a triple.

I like Mike a lot... but please don't make me wear those socks and stand in a laundry basket!!

But it does show that he cares deeply about HIS team, too.

At least we should buy Don some socks!

For the game Siren managed one hit and walked three times.  Michelle picked up the win by pitching the first four innings. During this time, she picked up 8 strikeouts.  Jess came in during the fifth and kept them from scoring.

Grantsburg picked up 15 hits.  Tiff had two hits.  Sarah had the hot night and went 3 for 3.  Michelle raised her average as she went 2 for 3.  Annie and Mac each picked up a hit.  EC and Ing each had two hits as Ing had a game high 5 rbi's.  The remaining hits were picked up by Gabbie and Cody.  For the game Grantsburg only walked two times.  The game was played at the Siren field.  They had placed a temp fence at 225 making it a nice fast pitch park.  They do much to keep the park nice.  Tonight, it survived quite a rain storm and was still ready to play.

They kept former Pirate Bob Rombach in the Smelt cage!

As we discussed the game, we felt that for starters Grantsburg had a good hitting night.  We also thought Webster made some GRAND plays in the field.  They looked very solid defensively.  The second baseman took a hit away from Annie by back handing a hard hit ground ball.  They have improved quite a bit.  If they can balance that with a better hitting attack they will win several ball games.  The Siren field was also a nice place to play.

TWIS:  Nicole said something the other night.  Cody's new gloves are too big.  We are still working on Romo's fake throws.  They are just awesome if you want a good chuckle.  SCC is now ranked.  The Thursday night game was moved to Friday to accommodate Frederic's music concert.  Now we have ours on that night...not sure how the scheduling happened.  We are still trying to have an earlier start.   Poor Mac had the flu.  Gabbie has a K-Mart sticker on her glove.  The hail was a hoot.  Romo called a mountain lion out of the pines.  I am glad that my socks match...even though the mice get to them...according to Romo.  Heather played some SS tonight.  We are thinking ahead to next year when Ing is gone.... We will try different players...and we also have some 8th grade candidates coming in.  Poor Nicole has a broken finger.  Did you know that out of the 15 games, we have played 10 at home... nice scheduling Mike.  The Frederic game is Friday...4:30.    Heather almost killed the ump...and me, too.  The Webster pitcher played some with Grantsburg when she was younger.  She gave us the flex...just like she did after a homerun when she played with us.  Nice to see Sirri Larson again.  She even gave us the old flex from when she was younger and played with Grantsburg.  If you shoot a 23 at trap is that good?  It was fun watching BOTH teams play in the rain. We sent GAbbie to the outfield during the rain delay to look for little fairies.  Tiffany had to float across a puddle to play second.  I hear Dairyland had some thunder....They also had quite the thunder another time.  We should have had a sliding party in the mud...but cleaning the uniforms may have been tough.  But... the grass is GREEN... the chocolate is under the seat...and now we wait..... for good things to come  Frederic is looming.  Cumberland is looming. I can't wait until Friday...then Saturday....this is a fun time of the year.

SYBTF

From Scott

and finally...they have located the original transfer of the swine flu virus!