Here's the radio replay as heard on Classic Hits 105.7 WXCX.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

State Semi-final replay

Today's loss in the state semi-final was a heartbreaker. Grantsburg was three outs away from playing in the championship game. But, after two crucial errors to start the bottom of the seventh, the game began to unravel and Pardeeville ultimately came away with the berth in the state championship game winning the game 7-6. In Grantsburg's four losses this year, three of them have been walk-offs.

How different it could've been. The worst part is that these players and coaches (and wives of coaches… and parents… and fans) now have to live with the "couldas" and "shouldas" and "what ifs" and "if onlys" and "why me"?

The Pirates had a two run lead after coming back after trailing early in the game (yet again… these guys have some masochistic tendencies). There were some timely hits, good base-running and very good pitching by Jimmy Nelson and Jacob Glover. Unfortunately, Grantsburg committed five errors in the field, left nine men on base and left men on second and third three separate times… including with one out in the seventh inning.

Like I said, wouldas and couldas.

But instead sports sometimes teach us bitter lessons. In this case it might turn out that the lesson taught is how to pick yourself up and dust yourself off after a major disappointment.

To those players who were out there today, do not allow an error, a loss, or a missed opportunity define you as an athlete or a person. Sure, it's going to be a painful memory, but there will be many more good ones in the future. Use it to motivate and overcome.

All the good stories are about overcoming obstacles. There is nothing great about having stuff come easily, but when you overcome the tough stuff… that's the start of something great.

We'll see how this group reacts as some of them head off to school, their final high school moment now in the past. Some have more playing to do. With the character of these young men and knowing a lot of their families, I'm sure they'll see this with correct perspective in the near future.

By any measure this was a spectacular year for the baseball team and for Grantsburg athletics overall. And the best thing about it was that they did it all with class and represented our town well everywhere they went.

Thank you, Pirate athletes, coaches and fans… what a year!

Post from: We are Grantsburg

A series of unfortunate events

Here's the link to the four D3 teams' info pages… the same pages you'll see in the program if you go to Appleton to watch them play on Wednesday and Thursday.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Division 3 rosters

The Coleman Cougars are 21-1 and champions of the Marinette & Oconto conference. They are ranked second in the D3 poll.

The Winnebago Lutheran Vikings are 20-5 and co-champions of the Flyway Conference. They are ranked sixth in the D3 poll.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Info on the other state teams

The pep rally is open to the public and will begin at 8:20.

Hope to see you there!

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Grantsburg baseball pep session

The Grantsburg Pirate baseball team is heading to the state championships next week (June 15th and 16th). They defeated Chequamegon 9-4 in the semi-final game and then destroyed Elk Mound (the team the football team blew out in the first level of the playoffs… just remembered that one… wish I had during the broadcast) 21-9. FINAL BRACKET

The games are in Appleton and you can learn more about the venue here (here's a map). The Pirates will be taking on Pardeeville in the semi-finals.

I always think that getting to state is the ultimate goal, now that they're there, maybe they could bring home another nice big trophy!

Here's the replay of the championship game. It starts off with a real DJ talking about Gordon Lightfoot. It's not me… I'm the one bumbling through the intro to the game.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

It never gets old

photo courtesy of Steve Johnson

Another regional championship is in the books for Grantsburg. They beat Cameron 9-3 on Thursday night to stay perfect on the season, 20-0.

Cameron was a spirited team with good fundamentals and they took advantage of a couple Grantsburg mistakes early in the game. Grantsburg trailed early in the game but eventually pulled away late to win it in seven innings. By the way… it was the first time all year that Grantsburg trailed in a game. It lasted half an inning.

This was only the second time all year Grantsburg was forced to go all seven (there's a ten run rule after five innings). Cameron fell to 19-2 on the season.

Grantsburg will be traveling to Hurley on Tuesday game time is 5pm. We're trying to figure out how to broadcast their game and also get the baseball games on the air as the Grantsburg baseball team has also advanced to Sectionals and plays in Osseo at 11am that Thursday and if they win they play again at 5pm.

Here's the audio replay of the game as heard on WXCX and streamed online at redrockonair.com.

Great job, Pirates!
 

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Grantsburg fast pitch regional champs again!

Overall it was a nice team win for the Pirates.

Early in the game it looked like it was going to be a struggle as the Pirates were just not getting that clutch hit, leaving several base runners in scoring position through the first four innings. But the fifth inning saw Gavin Meyer go WWWWWAAAAAYYY deep to left center for a two run home run and that was a huge lift to the Pirates and carried them on to a victory. They added two more in the bottom of the sixth on a two run error with two outs and runners on second and third. It was a routine pop-up to the pitcher who came off the mound and near the first base line, but saw the ball pop out of his glove and his throw home was too late to get the second runner. I felt bad for the kid who was pitching in relief in the sixth.
 

The Pirates play at 11am in Osseo for their sectional semifinal and if they win they'll stay there and play at five. As of this post, their opponent is unknown. [BRACKET]

A possible conflict… if the Pirate softball team wins tomorrow night they will also play the following Tuesday in Hurley, which is about seven miles south of the north pole, so it will be very difficult to get to both games. This has happened in the past, but not with so much ground to cover between the games.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Grantsburg baseball regional champions!

Game starts at 5pm.

Free video streaming by Ustream

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Grantsburg vs. Cameron Regional Final Live Stream

The number one ranked Pirates had many opportunities to blow the game open, none better than the top of the ninth when they had bases loaded with nobody out, but failed to get a run across.

There were some great moments in the game though. Jake Wald comes to mind immediately with a clutch pinch-hit in the top of the seventh. He drove in the game-tying run and then was pinch ran for once he reached first. It was pretty cool… and his dad's reaction was priceless… I thought he was going to leap over the eight foot tall chain-linked fence to celebrate the big hit.

Mostly, though, it was a game of wouldas and couldas as Grantsburg stranded a lot of men in scoring position and made some baserunning faux pas that may have cost them runs. In total there were five outs tallied between third base and home for the Pirates.

Here's a partial replay of the game as heard on Classic Hits 105.7 WXCX… it picks up in the bottom of the second inning of a scoreless game… and then cuts off uncerimoniously later in the game. Blurg.

Post from: We are Grantsburg

Pirates succumb in 9th