He was our Buddy, too.

For many years we have all watched Buddy and Sena Christopherson support and cheer on our teams.  Buddy passed away Sunday from an extended illness.  Over the years he has cheered for players in the most positive of ways.  Rain or snow, wind or sleet Buddy was always there.  Home games, games away, graduation parties, special occasions.... Everyone looked for Buddy.  Buddy made us feel good.  Buddy made players get excited. Buddy made our team a little bit better. The bugs could be bad...the weather could be cold....the wind could bite at our cheeks.  Buddy's voice and support was always there and  warmed our hearts.  He had the tone of voice that could be heard above all other sounds.  Everyone recognized Buddy's cheers.... He was a classic.  I have NEVER seen such a positive man and a supporter of athletes from all towns. Our softball team, and others involved in athletics, were lucky to know Buddy.

He was "perdenear" the greatest fan we had.  He was definitely a GREAT man.

Thank you Buddy..... You were awesome!     

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sena and the family.

Now for the game.....

Jessica Hoffman throws a shutout!

Another member of the Anderson Family....(bat co)

4 hits vs. Barron

Time to clear up a few terms.....

Fiedler's Choice:  With a runner on first, you hit a ground ball to short.   The shortstop throws to second for an out while you are safe at first.  It is called a fiedler's choice.  In your batting record, it counts as an out.

Sacrifice:  If you bunt the ball and a runner advances it is called a sacrifice.  If you hit a fly ball and somebody advances to home, it is called a sacrifice.  If you earn a sacrafice it does NOT count against your batting average.  A sacrifice is a good thing.

Error:  If a person should have put you out but messed up, it is called an error.  An error counts as an out against your batting average.

Designated Player:  This is a player who is in the starting lineup as a batter for the flex player.  The DP has the opportunity to play in the field without counting it as a substitution.  The DP and the flex player share the same batting position and can never be subbed anywhere else.

Mac Attack!   3 hits tonight!

Flex:  The flex player plays in the field but does not bat.

Courtesy runner:  You may run for the pitcher or the catcher without having to make a substitution.  The purpose is to speed up the game.

Every player may be taken out of the game one time and then put back in.  The purpose is to get more players to play.

Don reacts to a NO tag at third!

Interference:  If the team batting interferes with the defense making a play the batter or runner are out because of interference.

Obstruction:  If the team on defense obstructs you from reaching the next base it is obstruction.  The minimum award is one base.

Base path:  You can run anywhere you wish unless somebody is trying to tag you.  If that is the case then you only have three feet on each side of the base path or you are out.

Romo at the plate......and Romo at the plate!!!

Pitching Circle:  When the pitcher has the ball in the circle, ALL runners must go directly to a base.  If the runner just stands there, she is out.

Blocking the plate:  If a catcher does NOT have the ball and blocks the plate, the runner is automatically safe.  For example, if you slide into a catcher who has not caught the ball but is blocking the plate....automatically safe.

Slugging Percentage:  A normal batting average is calculated by taking the number of hits and dividing by the number of batting attempts.  Triples are better than doubles.  Doubles are better than singles.  Quite often we use a slugging percentage rather than a batting average.  To calculate your slugging percentage take the number of bases and divide by the batting attemps.  For example.  If you hit a homerun every time you bat your slugging percentage will be 4000.  The highest batting average is only 1000.

On base Percentage:  This is very, very valuable.  You have all heard the saying a walk is almost as good as a hit....A combination of everything is called your on base percentage...walk, hit, get hit by a pitch...it is ALL good.... It makes your onbase percentage go up.

Cody swings a Demarnini.... (Here is a perfect swing when she homered in last year's sectional final!!)

Ok weird stuff happened tonight.... Let me cover a few things.

There was a ground rule double by Tiff.  When she batted there were runners on first and second base.  Finchy had to go back to third because she was also given only two bases on the award.  When we were in the field, a runner ran into Emily.  She was automatically out for interference.  Romo struck out with runners on first and second.  Since first base was occupied, she was already out.....but we teach hitters to run anyway....it confuses people.  The catcher threw at first base and missed.  The ball went all the way to the fence scoring two runs.  Rightfully so, Romo was declared out.  Then Jessica ran to third so she could stand next to Gabbie.  Gabbie took off toward home.  The catcher tagged her with her glove...but the ball was in her bare hand...Safe!  There was also a groundball to Tiffany who threw to Mich for a force out.  Michelle was then going to throw to first for a double play attempt.  The runner did NOT slide.  If Michelle had thrown the ball it would have hit the runner. It would have been an automatic double play... But, we teach our players to NOT hit the runner...even though they DID NOT SLIDE.... moral of the story:  SLIDE

Niccola gets her first at bat in America ballgame!

For the game Jessica picked up the win.  She allowed 3 hits, walked 5 and struck out 3 batters.  Grantsburg picked up 14 runs on 14 hits and 4 walks.  Kylie had two hits as did Romo and Gab.  Mac had the hot bat with 3 hits. Tiff, Sarah, Emily, and Jess also had hits.  Romo topped the charts with 3 RBI's.

A Siren/Webster player makes a Great catch on Finchy's LONG fly.

TWIS:  Cassie Lien played hockey last weekend.  She proved she is one of the MOST athletic hockey players in a multi-state aread...Way to go Cass...Did you wear your softball uniform?  Barron beat Amery.  Annie and Romo will probably miss the New Richmond game on Friday.  Jo drags the infield with her legs.  Last year, EVERY freshmen broke a finger.  DONT teach your players to catch with TWO hands.  That technique went out in the dinosaur league. I broke Jenn's finger. I broke GAb's finger.  I broke Danyel's finger.  I broke Lori's finger.  Nicole broke her own.  Have you seen the dog box on the back of Don's truck?  We just heard that Web/Sir had a JV team...also rumors of SCF. By the way... Elise does NOT get paid for coaching JV.  The school only pays for 2 coaches. So thanks for all your extra time and effort.  She played college softball at Carleton and was team captain. How many does track have?  We need the water turned on so we can water the field for Frederic.  Heather and Cody use the same bat.  Cody doesn't eat dumb stuff this year.  Hi Lindy.  Our AD was in an earthquake in Arizona.  Rich and Gerald take care of our fields. This year we have Webster/Siren.  Next year we MAY have Frederic/Luck...it depends on who gets their way.  Northwood beat Frederic. Tiffany has developed some new thing called cross sniffing or something like that.  Romo ran away between innings.  We are happy she came back and remembered everything.  Niccola batted... She heard the catcher say....I want the ball right here in the glove... Niccola decided NO WAY and drilled the ball towards second base.  Finchy launched another one....she needs to hit them in our park.  We all went to DQ because Romo wanted to.  Heather is nice to her sister.  We think Jo's hair is orange brown.  Stacey had a grand slam.  I am locking my camera next game.  Heather was on a roll tonight...Look out Grantsburg.  We are not sure...but we think Emily has germs from another town....I will look into it Wednesday...Here eyes were spinning............... I'm coming to AP English...with brownies for the boss!  So what have I learned about girl's athletics?  When people take pictures they do one of 2 things....either they all put their heads together....or they stick out their tongues!!!  weird.  JV had a good game.  Grace looked gooood!  Thanks Dan Thill for umping.  Dan Thill still is one of the greatest men's fastpitch players around.

SYBTFK

Ok I made the mistake of leaving my camera unattended...so all of these pics are compliments of........not sure??

But it looks like fun was had in the dugout...when i was GONE.