Oh What A Day!
Oh What a two-day visit!
The Goodman Diamond produced some great games, great conversation and just plain great ball yard atmosphere.
I spent most of the day with Leo Kalinowksi, Head Softball coach at Madison College. We spend the entire day directly behind and above home plate. Other than the catchers and the umpires we really did have the catbird seats. We were able to watch pitcher tendencies, coaching tendenices, coaching choices, umpire strengths and weaknesses, and over course everything else that took place in front of us and behind us.
I was fortunate to talk with Yvette Healey, Badger Head Coach and Assistant Coach Randy Schneider and got a tour of the new Robert and Irwin Goodman Softball Training Facility. What a great addition that is to their program.
The new surfaces at Goodman are fantastic. They replaced the outfield sod last summer and reworked the infield with an artificial dirt material like all the other fields Badgers play on. The stuff looks good, plays fast and hard but is nice.
Spending a day with Leo was a treat. We watched, talked and lived fastpitch softball. We talked about situations, told stories and laughed a lot. Leo is working his tail off to build a Madison College softball program as he did the baseball program there.
The crowd for the Division 4 games were good and the crowd from Mineral Point was , well nobody was in Mineral Poin today because they were all at Goodman Diamond.
The Grantsburg vs Kenosha St. Joseph game was really interesting. St. Joe's prevailed today and will play Mineral Point tomorrow.
The bottom of the seventh inning of the Kenosha Bradfford vs SPASH game was thrilling. It ended with runners on first and third and a bunt attempt by Heather Woyak was popped up to a charging first sacker who threw to third and doubled off the runner there to end the game. Whew!
The game in progress is 1-1 knotted affair between the favorite Westosha Central and the team I chose as my sleeper before the event began, Menomonee Falls. Falls scored on in the first on a bunt back to the pitcher's box that Central pitcher Sarah Fonk misplayed (the official scorer ruled it a hit -- it was an error). A wild pitch moved her to seconed and a sacrifice bunt to third. A wild pitch scored Brittany Robinson. Falcon's phenomenal freshman, Kayla Konwent homered deep over the left centerfield fence. A bases loaded single Brittney Blazich scored the led run with two out. Fonk then got a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh. That error on her, scored and error upstairs cost her the no-hitter.
So the games are set for Championship Saturday. It will be Newman Catholic taking on Algoma in D-4. Mineral Point and Kenosha St. Joseph will battle for the D-3 title. Baldwin-Woodville will attempt to repeat in Division 2 when they take on New London. In D-2 it's Kenosha Bradford and Westosha Central in the season finale.
It will be high school fastpitch softball the way it ought to be!
Hold on to your seats.
See you at the ball yard!
Keep it Rising!
Bob
Tag(s): Bulletins
