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As I was researching stuff for tomorrow’s Sectional broadcast(s) I saw that Grantsburg was listed as an undefeated 23-0, which is odd because, well, I saw them lose 2-0 against the Saints on the last game of the regular season.

I checked the scores and the game has been changed to a 7-0 win in favor of the Grantsburg Pirates (which is significant because that’s the automatic score that is recorded due to a forfeit). Here’s the link. I KNOW I saw the same site listing the Pirates with one loss. I’ll try to get to the bottom of this soon. That would be a very interesting turn of events.

The thing that comes to my mind immediately is the whole slow-pitch CO-ED softball tournament that many area players participated in and were subsequently disqualified for the season. The season long suspension was later reversed, but all the girls were to sit out the next game (they had just found out about the suspensions that morning and for all they knew, their seasons were over). Maybe St. Croix had an inelligible player play, thus the forfiet?

Or it could be a mistake at wissports.net.

Undefeated? Maybe… tune in to tomorrow’s broadcast at 1pm on 105.7, WXCX for the sectional semifinals. I should have some answers by then.

Photo stolen from Steve Johnson's site

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

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 Pirate fastpitch team remains undefeated as they dispatch of the Luck Cardinals, 12-2 in five innings. The girls had an opportunity to win in the top of the fifth but a couple walks and missteps allowed Luck to get one run making it 11-2.

It only took two batters in the bottom of the fifth inning to get the winning run across the plate as Tiff Meyer reached on error, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and then scored on a passed ball.

Luck held Grantsburg scoreless for two innings, exactly once around the batting order, but the bottom of the third saw Grantsburg get the first seven batters on base and having all of them score. At that point the game was all over but the final score.

I would encourage you to check out assistant coach, Steve Johnson’s recap because it’s funnier, he has some great pictures, and you might learn something!

(photo courtesy of Steve Johnson)

I wish I could’ve been there on Saturday when the lady Pirates were able to take a pair from Amery. The first game was a 3-0 shutout the second was a seventh inning come from behind win.

This is exciting to me because Grantsburg is being tested this year… and winning. How can they help but grow together through things like that. I believe that playing these tough games early and pulling them out will do nothing but great things for this team.

The Pirates are now 8-0 on the season. Read more about each game at assistant coach, Steve Johnson’s awesome site.

The baseball team is still struggling in the W/L columns but they are playing some very good teams. The team is now 2-4 after this past weekend’s Prescott tournament. Ben Larson and Jimmy Nelson were honored as all-tournament players.

I will be broadcasting the fastpitch game versus Luck on Thursday and the following week I will be broadcasting the Pirate baseball game against Frederic on the 27th. Tune into 105.7 WXCX to hear the play-by-play!

The lady Pirates already have a lot of people thinking about Goodman Diamond in Madison. The girls are ranked third in the division three coaches poll. I have a feeling this isn’t a big deal to the girls and a lot of that is because head coach Don Bjelland and assistant coach Steve Johnson are so good at prioritizing what is and is not important. Rankings are nice for a fan like me, but for a team it usually does nothing but distract.

You can be sure that when the Pirates take the field this year you’ll get what you have in the past… quality defense, aggressive hitting and unbelievable pitching.

Interesting note: Grantsburg not lost a regular season game since the first game in 2006… the year they won state. To find out all you’e ever want to about Grantsburg Fastpitch go to their homepage which is maintained by assistant coach Steve Johnson.