The Fastpitch Chronicle

Say Hey, Willie! Tell Ty Cobb and Joe Dimaggio.

Yes, I know that's a baseball song but it sounded good for an opening.

I am here to tell all of you that sometimes strange things take place. On Tuesday afternoon up in Grantsburg the Pirates were hosting Turtle Lake/Clayton in a Lakeland Conference game. 

Grantsburg took a 1-0 lead into the top of the fourth inning. With a runner at second and one out pitcher Ellie Tebow delivered a no balls and one strike pitch to the TL/C batter. That batter hit a hard grounder just to the right of Tebowso she bent down to field the ball. Just about the time the ball got to her glove the barrel end of the bat hit her in the face and part of the bat made it through the mask and opended a nasty gash on her left check right under her eye. The ball made it into centerfield. The runner at second stopped when she saw what happened then scampered back to second. Tebow was attended to quickly and made a trip to see somebody who could sew her up. Grantsburg went on to win 8-2. The bat was a Lousiville slugger Xeno. Pirate assistant coach Troy Olson told me that the Xeno that broke in half was the third Xeno he has seen do that in the past year. The bat looked like a helicopter blade as it neared Tebow who did not see it coming. Here is a link to the video where you can see the play -- go to the 40 minute mark of the video to watch it. I have included a picture of Ellie's cheek at the top of this Bulletin and on the home page where it can be viewed in a larger size. 

There are some interesting scores being posted tonight from many of the games I highlighted in last night's Bulletin. I got an email last night from a reader who asked me, "Do you really look at every score in the state on a daily basis? I actually scroll through the statewide scores several times a day to make sure I see key games and scores to talk to the rankers about. 

Here is a partial list from the scores posted as of 9 pm tonight from games earlier today that I highlighted last night plus a few that I left off but are notable because ranked teams got beat by unranked teams. 

Chippewa Falls and Marshfield split a twinbill with CHI Hi wining 6-4 and Marshfield winning 7-3. 

Athens upset Phillios 7-6
Waterford upset Elkhorn 4-3
Tomahawk beat Antigo 6-3
Jefferson handled Evansville 6-0
Laona-Wabeno beat Pembine/Goodman Creek 10-0
Mayville beat Random Lake 7-3
Hortonville beat Oshkosh North 4-0
Cambridge upended Waterloo 4-3
Wautoma nipped Wisconsin Dells 4-3

Here is a question for all head coaches. If you were coaching a game against a team who had a power-hitting girl on it that is dating your son would you walk her intentionally with the bases loaded and a two run lead in the bottom of the 8th?

Here is a similar story except for the fact that the opponent in this game did not have a player dating my son. Back in 2007 our Poynette team was playing a good Luther Prep team in Watertown. It was the final conference game of the season and we needed to win it to win the Capitol North title. Prep had a great hitting shortstop who had tripled twice in the game and had a great night when we played them earlier in the season. On the night I am typing about Prep had the bases loaded with two outs and we were up by two. I chose to walk that shortstop and force a run in. We coaxed an infield pop up out of the next batter and won the game and the conference title. 

The story the question for the head coaches is a true story that happened this season. 

Have a great day Friday!
Keep it Rising!

Bob