It was another perfect spring afternoon for baseball – 80 degrees, clear skies, no humidity and just a breath of wind as the Mudcats prepared to face the Bats. It was a strange sight to see the Mudcats line up for the Pledge of Allegiance first and wait for the other team’s pep talk to end as Vaughn usually corners the market in that area!The Mudcats set the tone early and it was clear that they came with their hitting shoes on as they sent 9 hitters to the plate and scored 4 runs in the first inning. Dane led off with a sharp line drive up the middle and then Ryan promptly went yard! His first of the year was a towering blast that the left fielder (who had been stationed with his back up against the fence!) had no option but to watch it sail over the fence and into the grove of trees behind the scoreboard. Joseph then reached on a hard-hit infield single that nearly took out the SS, Matt doubled down the 3rd base line scoring Joseph, Cade hit a soft liner to left moving the runners over and then Bags sacrifice fly scored Matt and recorded the first out of the inning. Luke picked it right back up again with a solid ground ball single past the 3rd basemen that almost took his head off! Then Adam hit a line drive so hard up the middle that the center fielder was able to field the ball and get the force at 2nd for the second out and then Tyler grounded out to the 2nd baseman to end the inning. The Bats came out swinging their bats in the bottom of the first but it was the All Adam Show with 2 great catches in center field – first was a shoe-string grab and the second was up against the center field fence. Next Bags almost made a snow-cone grab in left-center but it just slipped out of his glove. Ryan ended the inning on a 6-3 ground out. Mudcats led 4-1 after the first.
The Mudcats had another big inning in the second sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring 7 runs. Jacob led off with an infield hit, Leyton singled sharply to center while Jacob hustled into second to avoid the force out. Dane hit a Texas leaguer to center scoring Jacob, then Ryan hit a fly ball into short left field that the SS made an outstanding diving play on for the second out of the inning. Joseph singled to left scoring Leyton, Matt doubled down the line for a second time scoring Dane and Joseph, Cade reached on an infield fly, Bags sharply singled to right and then Luke hit a line shot to left scoring 2 runners and ending the inning on a run rule. Mudcats took an 11-1 lead. In the bottom of the second, the Bats went 3 up 3 down on some good defense by the Mudcats. Score was still 11-1 Mudcats.
In the top of the 3rd, Adam almost knocked the cover off the ball as he led off with a scorched line drive to right field for a double. Tyler almost legged out an infield hit, Jacob reached on a catcher’s interference, Leyton had an RBI ground out to second scoring Adam and then Jacob grounded to short ending the inning. The Mudcats demonstrated great defense again as they put the Bats down in order in the bottom of the 3rd. Ground outs to Cade and Ryan started the inning and then Dane made a nice catch in left to end the inning. After 3 the Mudcats led 12-1.
In the top of the 4th, the Mudcats exploded for another big inning only to be stopped again by the run rule. Dane had an infield hit, Ryan singled to left, Joseph singled to center, Matt singled to center scoring Dane, Cade one-hopped the fence in left scoring Ryan and Joseph, Bags singled down the line, Luke reached on an error by the SS scoring Matt and then Adam singled scoring Cade. Mudcats scored 5 runs to lead the Bats 17-1. In the bottom of the 4th, Leyton made a tremendous running catch in center to record the first out of the inning, and then a pop-up to Cade and a nice play by Ryan at short ended the inning to keep the score at 17-1 Mudcats.
The 5th inning was uneventful except for a nice double by Jacob M however he was stranded at second base to end the inning. In the bottom of the 5th, the Bats scrapped back with 4 runs to close the gap to 17-5 Mudcats.
In the 6th, Dane led off with a dinger into the tree grove, Ryan popped-up, Joseph singled to center, Matt had an infield hit, Cade singled to left, Bags singled, Luke hit a hard smash that the 3rd baseman made a very nice play on and then Adam grounded out to second to end the inning. The Mudcats made short order of the Bats in the bottom of the 6th as Ryan recorded the first out on a ground ball to second base, Dane ranged to his left making a nice play for the second out and then Ryan made a nice catch in center to end the game. Final score was 20-5 and boys played a gem of a game both offensively and defensively!! Way to go Mudcats!!!
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