For it’s One, Two, Three Strikes and your out at the old ball game!
Hello fastpitch folks!
There were games played today and I attended a good one. It was in Marshall where River Valley took on the host Marshall Cardinals. A pitchers’ duel throughout and the game wasn’t decided until a fine play by the Marshall catcher ended it in the top of the seventh. Marshall had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a Dany Gumz single just to the leftside of second base. Ally Utz then followed with a liner to rightcenter all the way to the fence scoring Gumz for the game’s only run. The final of course was 1-0. The Blackhawks rallied in the top of the seventh when the middle to bottom of the order gave them a chance. The game ended with a runner at third and dribbler out in front of the plate that rolled about 8 feet out there. The Cardinal’s catcher jumped on that thing like a robin after a worm and threw a bullet to first to just retire the #8 hitter for River Valley and end the game.
There were lots of colors and lots of numbers to be heard at that game today. Both teams are using arm bands loaded with secret codes like Red 31, Blue 4, Blue 24, 035, 054, 335, 454 and more. Times have surely changed. One assistant coach told me that the head coach and the girls seem to know them all already but he doesn’t. He is the same age as me so I told him that if my team used that system I’d have to wear my reading glasses throughout the game. By the time the games would end I’d hav such a headache and be so sick that I wouldn’t want to coach another game.
The umpire behind the plate had a generous outside corner strike but it went both ways most of the time so it should have been easy to make some adjustments. Maybe a number system to get the batter to crowd the plate a bit tighter isn’t on the arm band cheat sheet the girls wear.
I attended the game with my cousin Kirsten who many of you thought was my grandaughter when she led our team to back-to-back final fours in 2011 and 2012. It was great to just absorb the game with her as she knows it pretty well. We were picking pitches throughout the game and not picking coach’s signals for what pitch was going to be coming. I’m not adept at all those codes that are being used. Sign language I can interpret but all that mathematical stuff clouds my mind and creates too much fog for me during a game. Don’t forget, I’m a dinosaur.
Fox Valley Lutheran Head Coach Julie Detjen notched her 100th victory today when her team beat Ripon 17-0.
Here are a few other scores from today:
Portage over Sauk Prairire 8-5
Monona Grove over Waunakee 7-4
Thorp 7, Marathon 5
Whitnall 7, Cudahy 3
Beloit Memorial 8, Sun Prairie 3 - Sanchez with a HR and Swanson gets the win
Northwestern 15, Proctor, MN 5
Whitewater 4, Parkview 1
Beloit Turner 12, Edgerton 0 – Kelsie Packard nailed two home runs (Fastpitch Chronicle Award Certif.)
DeForest 4, Baraboo 1
Oregon 5, Edgewood 4
Gilman 11, Cadot 1
Johnson Creek 10, Dodgeland 1
Cochrane-Fountain City 15, Augusta 8
Gillett/Suring 6, Crandon 2
Elk Mound 8, Menomonie 6
Freedom 18, Little Chute 5. Brooke Kortz and Ashley Zimmerman drill 3 hits apiece. Taylor Hanus strikes out 10
Fox Valley Lutheran 17, Ripon 0. Olivia Eichhorst tosses 1-hiter with 13 Ks. Julie Detjen gets 100th win as FVL coach
Milton 4, Fort Atkinson 3
Cuba City 7, Boscobel 1
Fall Creek 6, Greenwood 5
Somerset 5, St. Croix Central 1
Hey, that’s it for tonight.
Keep it Rising!
Bob
Tag(s): Bulletins
