The sun came up this morning

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?