Pine City comes to town...and they were good!

So you are the defending state champion in softball.  You are the defending state champion in volleyball.  You currently have the longest win streak for softball in Wisconsin.  The question becomes....How do you get other people to cheer for you?  How can you exude confidence without coming across as arrogant or cocky?   I am talking players, coaches, parents, and other Grantsburgers.  For starters, cheer like crazy when your team does good things. Be respectful and complimentary when the other team does things well.  And remember people interpret things differently!!!

From my perspective, these young athletes are some of the finest people that I have known.  They are balanced in their interests.  They are strong students. They are in forensics, music, church groups.... They are kind to each other.  They work hard. They are funny, clever... and I see them treat people well. And...they are LUCKY!  Congrats parents....  And for this weekend, softball is not too important....because it is Prom..... Enjoy the day!!  Take pictures!!

Time to pull out last year's Prom Pic! 2009

Tiff has just the thing for her Prom date!

I find it interesting to watch teams as they warm up.  I watch for several reasons.   Pine City has some strong skills.  They practice them before the game.  They practice the correct things.  Sometimes we watch teams warm up with no purpose.  You could tell Pine City was a class act. The coaching staff is very, very knowledgeable... I can see why they have had a successful season so far. 

    Let me tell you about one of Grantsburg's greatest strengths.  Quite often we play some teams that have 2 or 3 very good batters and some good fielders. Grantsburg can score from any spot in the line up.  There are no soft spots.  It doesn't matter where we are in the line-up we have players that come through.  Last night we had 8 different players get hits.  The nice thing is that it is different people each night.  No one or two players can produce EVERY night so it is nice to see who comes through. Lets talk about the game.

    The Pine city pitcher was good.  This would be the only game of the year where she will pitch from 43 feet.  Minnesota has stayed at 40.  When we play Rush City....it will be at 40 feet.  I think she did a tremendous job of pitching.  Her strength was that she changed speeds.  Hitting is all timing and balance.  In high school girl's softball your first pitch to master is a strike.  Your second pitch is a strike that is at a different speed. Our lead off batter is Tiff... From the above pic you can see that she is probably a pretty tough out. She drills the first pitch to the gap for a double.  Pine City was able to keep her from scoring.

    Emily AKA EC AKA Otto (auto) started off the second inning with a hit up the middle.  After a couple of wild pitches, she was able to score an unearned run when a throw went passed the first base player.  The battle was on.  Grantsburg made plays.  Pine City made plays.  Michelle was at her best tonight. She had a streak where she struck out 8 Dragons in a row.  She was changing speeds and she was HITTING her spots.  Michelle is very, very accurate.  She is one of the very few pitchers that can throw 2 balls and not worry about it.  Tonight she was right on.

    Grantsburg kept trying to break it open but Pine City kept making the plays.  In the third inning, Kylie and Mich had back to back singles.  Kylie is crazy fast.  It is our first legit slapper.  Pine City kept them from scoring so it was still a 1-0 game.

    Finally, it the 5th we scored another run.  Kylie walked and went to second on a passed ball.  Then in HD we saw a rocket to left and the score was 2-0.  Pine City attempted their move in the 5th.  Linzmeier and Weiss went back to back on singles.  But, Michelle slammed the door shut and kept them from scoring.

Heather forgot her pants....then she drilled two hits.....now she is practicing for Prom.

Her mom got them to the game in time....no problem!!

Let's talk terms:  Even though the Inter County Leader has a new term.....here is what we use. 

DRAG BUNT:  This can only be executed by a left handed batter.  As she runs up in the box she drags the bunt with her down the first base line.  So last night I am watching college softball.  The announcer talks about a right handed batter drag bunting..  Apparently, anybody who runs up in the box while bunting is called a drag bunter.  Typically, right handed batters don't do it.... if you take off too quickly, the pitch hits you.

SLAP:  When a left handed batter has convinced the infield to play close, she runs up in the box and then slaps it by the infield.  The key is the short stop.  If she plays back, it is tough to throw out a fast runner.

Satin came home from college to watch the 2010 Version.....Smoooottthhhhh.

    And then the show began.....  Annie comes to plate and rips one passed the third baseman for a single.  Romo struts to the plate, does her Babe Ruth imitation and rips another one passed the third base player.  We now have two runners on with nobody out.  Cody loads up and smashes a line drive to center that went all the way to the wall...Two runs comes in.  Sarah rips a rocket right at the pitcher, but she catches it..nice play!  Tiff, who had been robbed the previous at bat, collected a hit down the right field line.  Kylie showed off her track talent one more time and beat out another bunt.  Mich sac bunted placing runners at second and third.... and then HD one more time..... and they both scored.  The final score was 7-0.

The nice thing about this team is that they actually like each other.

    Pine City ended the game with 2 hits and 0 runs.  Michelle did not walk anybody... It was her best game of the year.  She had 12 strike outs...also the best of the year.

    For Grantsburg, Tiff had two hits and some sweet plays at second. Kylie also had two hits and some solid plays at short.  Keep asking her about her steps!  Along with exceptional pitching, Michelle also had a hit.  HD is on fire.  Tonight, she had 2 more hits with one blistering shot to left.  She also had 3 RBIS and a new plan to find her softball pants...thanks mom!  Otto was disappointed she didn't have 8 hits but she kept her hitting streak alive.  Annie started to find the groove and also had a hit.  Her play at first base is also very aggressive.  Romo has found the magic water.  Again tonight, she had two hits.  And not only did Cody get shot to center, but her center field talent amazes even Don and me.  She glides...she floats.....and when the ball finally comes down, she is there....  She is that good!

Scott captured the battle of the center fielders....  both great players.

    so what is coming up????  Today is Prom.  Next week we try and bat with left over fake nails.  WE have 3 away games next week.  At Rush City is the only JV game.  The season is going quickly...almost half done.  Moral of the story:  enjoy each practice.  Enjoy each game. 

So Lydia texts me from college.... We are talking about Henry the 8th>>>>  I didn't know there actually was a Henry....  Now she knows....

More shots from Scott THanks Scott...  your action shots are the best...

TWIS:  Heather was worried that she couldn't play in blue jeans!! she should be.  The umps were the state tournament umps from 2006.  Of course, when they enter our dugout, the players give them all kinds of grief... all in good taste.  They even got out the fake rocket-tech.   When you see Finchy on Tuesday, she may see you back.  Marshall said that Tracey has an unusal name for Cody.  The name tags are starting to arrive.  I saw 2 eagles this morning.  The JV won big... Jo had 2 homeruns and so did Sam.  Against New Richmond, the JV coach had played against Elise before.  Tonight the JV coach had played against Elise in college.  Last year we were lucky to have Callie.  This year we are lucky to have Elise.   Sounds like I may have a crowd in my tree.  Great job preparing the field Rich.  Did you see the foul ball hit the dog?  Did you buy a burger.... and one more time... the announcers "the Hawkins crew"  do a veryyyyy nice job!  I am co-owner of 13 prom dresses and my new ring seen below.... kind of weird what we collect...... and people want Cody to eat strange things again.

Have Fun at Prom. Don't text while you drive.  Hang out with SMART friends. Let your parents take pics!!!

and don't forget to THANK your parents for allllllll they do!!!

SYBTF