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Today I celebrate the one year anniversary of We Are Grantsburg!

Thank you to all the different people who have faithfully visited this site over the past year.

WAG has been "hit" nearly 200,000 times in this first full year of service! I am thankful for each one of you who has come to the site.

I hope to continue and improve the site. I already have many ideas of how to make the next year even better.

Here’s a link to my very first postings from last year. Go ahead and kill a few hours and read from the beginning! Or better yet, go outside and do something, then come back in and read (and maybe click on a couple Google Ads while you’re at it).

Thank you, again!

Bob Rombach

I’m still very impressed with the girls game last night. If they can capture whatever magic they had last night and apply it for the next four games, they will be coming home with a very nice trophy.

A couple things I want to point out then I would advise you to go to assistant coach Steve Johnson’s recap as he went pretty in depth with the game. I know he was very happy with the way the girls played as well.

1. The defense really sticks out in my mind. They showed they can handle it when the Michelle Lund doesn’t strike everyone out (I think SCC struck out only four times – they were very good hitters).

I recall one error by the team and that was a tough play where first baseman Annie Palmquist was stretched out trying to make a play and dropped the throw. That’s the only real miscue I can think of.

Grantsburg threw a runner out at the plate with a perfect relay from Cody Crawford (CF) to Ingrid Ames (SS) to Lauren Romanowski (C). The runner had no chance. It was a picture perfect relay.

In the top of the third inning third baseman Sarah Wald had some great plays. She had a hand in all three outs. The first was with runners on first and second. The batter bunted to her because Sarah seemed to be playing back, but with the pitch Wald moved in. The bunt was good but Wald was there quickly, turned 180 degrees, threw and forced the runner out at third. The next batter also bunted but in the air. Wald caught the ball, whirled and whipped the ball to second base to double off the runner, a double play. We also learned that Sarah Wald’s smile is infectious.

Tiff Meyer had some very good plays, catching line drives, tracking down pop-ups and making the difficult look routine.

2. Baserunning was agressive, but smart. During the Cumberland game (the regional semi-final) the girls made some very strange moves on the basepaths and it likely cost them a couple runs. This game it was different. I remember one play where it was first and third and the runner went to steal second, the catcher faked the throw to second then whipped it over the third baseman’s head and a run scored. The thing about that play that I was impressed with is that the runner stealing second didn’t even hesitate and took third easily on the overthrow.

3. Attitude. I don’t know if the lightbulb just happened to turn on for me last night, but I saw a bunch of girls out there that seemed to be having the times of their lives. That is such a great thing. This game is FUN and even though these games are important, they’re not THAT important. It seems the coaching staff has done a phenominal job getting the girls to a place where their fundamentals are outstanding and their attitudes are even better.

Good luck at Sectionals, girls. Keep smiling.

Photo courtesy of Scott Hoffman of Hoffman Photo

Now THAT’S Pirate fastpitch

After a couple very suspect outings to end the year and begin the playoffs, the Pirate gals put together one of the best games possible. They were hitting… aggressive and smart baserunning… great pitching… and the best defense I’ve seen out of a Pirate team.

So many things to talk about, but I don’t have time right now to recap.

The Pirates take on Park Falls (the team that beat them in the Sectional Finals last year) next Thursday at 1:00 at Eau Claire Regis.

IF the Pirates can keep playing at this level it will be difficult for anyone to hang with them. The St. Croix Central team was ranked #3 in Division 3, Grantsburg showed why they themselves were ranked as the top team.

The game will be broadcast on 105.7 WXCX.

Check back later for more details on a complete win (and maybe some pictures).

Congratulations, Pirates! REGIONAL CHAMPIONS!

I think you’ll get a kick out of my latest column in the Burnett County Sentinel. It chronicles my absurd ego and my wife’s ability to deflate it. Check it out.

It is a heavyweight battle scheduled for seven innings Thursday night in Grantsburg.

The Pirates (21-1) will play host to the Panthers (16-3) the winner will be crowned regional champion and be two wins away from the state tournament in Madison.

The Pirates are the best team in Division 3 softball according to the Wisconsin Coaches Association, St. Croix Central is the fifth best team. How the Panthers received a number three seed in the tournament is a bit perplexing.

The Panthers beat the number two seeded Glenwood City Hilltoppers 9-2 on Tuesday evening to advance. Grantsburg got by Cumberland 5-4 to get to the regional final game.

Make sure you’re tuned into the game on 105.7 WXCX for all the action.

It was a good night for the baseball and softball teams.

The Pirate girls won their opening playoff game against the Cumberland Beavers 5-4. The score was 5-1 heading into the top of the seventh, and final, inning.

A couple errors and good hitting by Cumberland led to some major excitement, but in the end, with a runner stranded at third base, Michelle Lund struck out the final batter of the night to preserve a regional championship opportunity.

The Pirates play again on Thursday evening and will take on either St. Croix Central or Glenwood City (surprisingly, their score wasn’t available at the time of this writing 9:45 p.m.). You can hear the game on 105.7 WXCX. Softball playoff bracket.

Congratulations to the Frederic Vikings, they knocked of #2 seeded Shell Lake tonight 4-1 which advances the Vikings to the regional championship game versus Birchwood, who ended Luck’s season. The final score there was 11-1.

The Grantsburg baseball team beat the conference champions tonight on a walk-off two run homerun by Trent Bonneville. Grantsburg won the game 6-4. It was Bonneville’s second dinger of the game. A lot of people were still around the softball field when the crowd erupted over at the baseball field and we could see a couple Pirates rounding the bases and a lot of St. Croix Falls Saints dejectedly walking back to their dugout. Kind of a neat perspective. Baseball playoff bracket.

Mollie Bjelland’s marathon season has come to an end.

After 62 games her Winona State Warriors fell out of the Division II College World Series.

It was a double elimination tournament. The Warriors lost thier first game 1-0 then won their second game 2-1, but dropped their third game 7-3.

Mollie had a great season statistically. She batted .326 with 10 homeruns. She led the team in RBI (54), walks (24) and hit by pitch (10 – ouch). She was in the top four of most other team categories for the 2009 season.

Congratulations to one of the best athletes to come from our area. The two-sport athlete is only a sophomore.

Despite losing their final game of the regular season the Grantsburg fastpitch team retained their number one status in division 3’s coaches’ poll. They are ahead of Deerfield, Lancaster, and Amherst.

The Grantsburg baseball team (11-8, 7-2) received a number one seed in their region and that also gives them a first round bye. The baseball playoffs start next Friday but Grantsburg won’t see playoff action until Tuesday, June 2nd when they face the winner of the #5 Glenwood City (5-9, 4-1 Dunn/St. Croix Small – not all game scores were available) vs. #4 Unity game (11-9, 6-4).

Here is an excerpt from a Grantsburg softball page run by Steve Johnson…

"May 20 WIAA ruling:  Unity, St. Croix, Luck and Grantsburg all appealed the early decision on eligibility of the players who participated in the Co-ed slowpitch tournament game.  All players from these schools are reinstated. 

In my opinion, it was a good decision from the WIAA.  If a person can be turned in for drinking and only sit one game…It hardly seems fair if a player is out for season is she plays in a CO-ED slowpitch game.   And as an example of patience, the WIAA took its time before making a decision.  It is in the best interest of the athletes."

The Grantsburg Pirates fastpitch team lost last night to the St. Croix Falls Saints, 2-0. That loss is their first in the regular season since 2006's opening game against Pine City. What a run.

I didn't post about the game last night because I wanted to make sure the sun came up this morning, and thankfully it did.

Maybe you've heard about the issue that took place before the game that registered a couple of Grantsburg starters inelligible for the game. Turns out a couple girls played in a SLOWPITCH softball tournament and that is allegedly illegal and results in a season suspension for those involved.  From what I've heard there was no prize money involved, either. Also, Grantsburg wasn't the only team to have players involved.

I won't name the players just to respect their privacy, not because they should be ashamed. I also believe that Grantsburg has a case to appeal as the rule reads:

I think Grantsburg athletic director Mike Amundson and head softball coach Don Bjelland can at least have an argument that slowpitch and fastpitch are two different games entirely. Hopefully the folks from the WIAA agree and the players can be eligible for the tournament.

The whole debacle is not an excuse for the Pirates, though as they were unable to touch Saints pitcher Amanda Larson. She was firing heat the whole night and Grantsburg had a difficult time catching up with the pitches. There were TONS of foul balls last night between the two pitchers (Michelle Lund for Grantsburg). Michelle registered 13 strikeouts, Larson whiffed 12 Grantsburg batters.

The runs were scored after some fielding problems. Lund had struck out a girl for the second out of the inning, but the catcher dropped the ball and was unable to throw the batter out at first base. That player would later come around to score and that would be all they needed to win the game.

Grantsburg received a first round bye and will host next Tuesday's game and take on the winner of the #4 Cumberland Beavers versus #5 St. Croix Falls Saints game. What do you want to bet that the Pirates would like to see the Saints come back up to Grantsburg?