The end

Of all the things I expected to find out in our first season in West Raleigh baseball, the one I absolutely, positively did not expect to learn is this: winning doesn't matter.

That's not how it was supposed to be. The reason we made the commitment to four practices/games per week was because winning does matter. We wanted real tryouts. We didn't want everyone to get a trophy. We wanted to keep score. We wanted to have a win-loss record at the end of the season.

We got all those things, and I am pleased to report that I don't believe anyone's growth was stunted from the emotional impact of having to accept losing a game or two. But we got something else that I don't think we expected: a real team.

At first, I thought the reason the Mudcats seemed to have such tremendous chemistry was because we were all thrown together four times per week. I thought maybe everyone who had to be together four times per week got along with each other. I thought all West Raleigh teams were like this, with shirt fairies and detailed practice plans and Google calendars.

But as we started seeing more teams, it became obvious that the fall 2010 Mudcats were unique. And around the midpoint of the season, it became clear that there's a difference between playing West Raleigh baseball and playing West Raleigh Mudcats baseball. The former is a crash course in serious baseball. The latter is a crash course in serious baseball...and how to be on a team.

It helped that the players genuinely seemed to like each other. I don't remember filling out a personality test during registration, but somehow the group that was assembled in the fall of 2010 fit perfectly.

Much of the credit has to go to the six returnees--Drew, Christopher, Anthony, Gabe, Smiley and Charley--who never seemed unwilling to help the new guys figure out what was going on. Making the jump from other rec baseball leagues to West Raleigh is like going from training wheels to riding a Harley. It would have been easy for the veterans to get frustrated. Outwardly, at least, they never did. As Coach Andrew said after the game, "At our first practice it was almost like we had two teams, and those two teams came together."

When our friends in Chapel Hill asked how the season was going, we gave glowing reviews. Knowing we went to West Raleigh seeking a certain level of competitiveness, their next question was almost always, "So, you're winning a lot of games?"

Well, no. And yes, the Mudcats lost on Saturday, falling 15-8 to the Riverdogs in the final game of the season for both squads. This time next week, I doubt I'm going to remember that score. But I know for sure I'll remember the scene 30 minutes after the final pitch, when a herd of Mudcats were still playing an impromptu football game near the concession stand. You couldn't help but look around, and when you did you noticed something: there was not a single Riverdog anywhere around...except for their head coach, who was sitting alone on a bench, watching the Mudcats play football, with the kids laughing and high-fiving as they decided who got to play quarterback.

Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Drew drove in Charley--who once again had two hits from the leadoff spot--with a fielder's choice.
Score after one-half inning: Mudcats 1, Riverdogs 0

Second inning
Anthony led off with a single, then moved all the way to third after the Riverdog infield had trouble handling a hard shot off the bat of J.J. Gabe's RBI single drove in Anthony.
Score after one and a half innings: Mudcats 2, Riverdogs 2

Fourth inning
Hayes singled leading off the inning, then motored all the way around to score on Smiley's hard-hit double. Smiley scored all the way from second, despite the protests of the splendidly-shod opposing coach, after an errant throw at first base.
Score after three and a half innings: Mudcats 4, Riverdogs 4

Fifth inning
Brenner started the rally by beating a close play at first. Tyler quickly gave the Mudcats two baserunners, and Charley drove home Brenner with a single to left. Three straight singles scored Tyler, and then Drew drove in a pair with another single.
Score after four and a half innings: Riverdogs 11, Mudcats 8


Saturday's Web Gems

• Christopher played a flawless first base, including three unassisted putouts.



• Anthony made a deceptively difficult play, backing up on a pop fly over his head and easily gathering it to end the first inning.



• Charley had a hand in all three outs in the second inning. He caught a pop-up for the first out, then threw to first twice in a row to retire the Riverdogs without a run.

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	1	1	0	2	4	0	8	11
Riverdogs	2	0	2	7	4	X	15	16

Postseason Game #2--Bats 10, Mudcats 9

Sometimes you have to watch a long, drawn-out stretch of over two months in order to see an entire season unfold. But sometimes you can watch the whole darn thing in 90 minutes.

That's essentially what happened on Friday night at Nowell Field, as the Mudcats' 10-9 loss to the Bats summed up virtually everything about a season that has consistently been right on the edge of significant success. Consider the things the Mudcats did well: some of the best defense of the season, including terrific inning-ending plays in the first, second and third that left five Bat runners stranded through three innings. At the plate, 11 different Mudcats collected at least one hit. On the bases, the Mudcats ran aggressively, efficiently turning those hits into runs.

And yet, it wasn't quite enough. There were some defensive hiccups in the hated fourth, and the Bats made several terrific plays in the field to limit the Mudcat offensive production. What could have very easily been a 16- or 17-run performance was instead limited to nine.

"The difference was how many catches they made in the outfield," Coach Andrew said, while also pointing out that one of the key culprits for the Bats was a former Mudcat, which obviously explains his solid fundamentals. "The most important position on the field is the one where the ball is hit. I want you guys to remember that. Taking fly balls is just as important as hitting or taking grounders."

The game also showed some continued progress in the area of mental toughness. An early 3-0 Mudcat lead was swept away by the four-run Bat fourth. At times this year, it's taken a couple innings to recover from a bad defensive inning. Not this time. The Mudcats immediately posted five runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead right back. A four-spot for the Bats in the bottom of the fifth proved decisive, as a sixth-inning Mudcat rally fell just one run short.

Fittingly, there were stickers galore. The entire team earned a sticker, as did Christopher, Charley, LB and Hayes for defense. JJ also picked up a sticker for his ringing clutch single in the sixth, one of the hardest-hit balls of the season.

Friday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Drew drove in Charley--who had two hits and scored two runs from the leadoff spot--to provide an early 1-0 lead.
Score after one-half inning: Mudcats 1, Bats 0

Second inning
As they did all night, the bottom of the order generated some offense. This time, they did it with two outs. Gabe singled and scored on a line drive double down the left-field line by Big Ben. Brenner singled Ben to third, and then Tyler picked up an RBI with a single to the right side.
Score after one and a half innings: Mudcats 3, Bats 0

Fifth inning
Gabe got it started again when he reached leading off the inning. Big Ben continued to swing a hot bat with another hard shot to left field. Brenner loaded the bases, and after Tyler was robbed by a nice play in center field, Asher drove in a run with a grounder up the middle. Charley plated two with a hard single to left, and Smiley completed the scoring with an RBI single up the middle.
Score after four and a half innings: Mudcats 8, Bats 6

Sixth inning
Only some solid infield play from the Bats kept this from being a bigger inning. Big Ben drove in LB with the inning's only run, but without a couple solid plays on the left side of the infield that turned potential hits into fielder's choices, this frame had the makings of a rally.
Final score: Bats 10, Mudcats 9


Friday's Web Gems

• Christopher ended the first with a diving catch of a pop foul.



• Hayes snagged a line drive in left-center in the second, then fired to second base to complete the inning-ending double play.



• With two runners on and the Bats poised to break open the game in the third, LB knocked down a tough line drive up the middle, then recovered to make the inning-ending force out.



• In the fourth, Charley recorded the first out at home of the season, alertly grabbing a grounder at his pitcher position and stepping on the plate to pick up the bases-loaded force.

Friday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	1	2	0	0	5	1	9	15
Bats	0	0	2	4	4	X	10	15

Practice #21--Nope

See, this is what happens when you go against the blog. With four straight off days between tournament games, the Mudcats tried to hold practice on Thursday night. They should have known better. After all, the blog had already declared last week's practice to be the final practice of the season.

Lesson: don't mess with the blog.

At almost exactly the time Coach Andrew was within shouting distance of Method Road, the clouds dumped buckets of water on the field. Practice could have still been held, but the Mudcats would have had to wear water wings when running the bases. So the team decided to be flexible and reschedule practice for the cages at West Raleigh. And by "be flexible and reschedule practice" I mean, "Ask General Manager Jenn to send out a flurry of emails and reorganize everything."

So everyone rerouted and headed for West Raleigh. At approximately the moment Coach Andrew pulled into the parking lot, the clouds dumped buckets of water on the field. All games at West Raleigh were canceled, and the only game the Mudcats were able to play was a very muddy session of football.

Assuming weather allows (the blog decrees that Friday will be beautiful), the Mudcats will finally hit the field on Friday at 5:30 (pregame at 4:30).

EOS Tournament

To stay updated on the End of Season (EOS) Tournament check out the updated bracket. 

The seedings for the EOS tournament are:

#1 Scrappers

#2 Bees

#3 Thunder

#4 Bats

#5 Riverdogs

#6 Lookouts

#7 Bulls

#8 Mudcats

The Mudcats are in action Sunday, October 24th: Game at Noon, Thursday, October 28th: Practice at Method Road from 5-7 PM, Friday, October 29th: Game at 5:30PM, Saturday, October 30th: Game at 1:30PM, and Sunday, October 31st: Championship Game at 1:00PM and Closing Ceremonies following the Championship Game.

Postseason possibilities

As of this writing, the West Raleigh standings haven't yet been updated (they should reflect all teams having played 13 games). But the Bulls picked up a come-from-behind win over the Riverdogs tonight, giving them a one-game lead on the Mudcats with one game to play. However, the possibility of earning the seventh seed isn't quite over yet. Here's what we know with one game to play, starting with the Mudcat possibilities and then expanding out to take a look at the league at large.

The Mudcats will have either the seventh seed or the eighth seed. If the Mudcats earn the seventh seed, they will play Sunday (10/24) at 2 p.m., Thursday (10/28) at 5:30 p.m., and Saturday (10/30) at 9:30 a.m. If the Mudcats earn the eighth seed, they will play Sunday (10/24) at noon, Friday (10/29) at 5:30 p.m., and Saturday (10/30) at 1:30 p.m. Barring another bracket change, those are the only possible tournament game times, which means the Mudcats can't play on Tuesday (10/26) or Wednesday (10/27).

If the Bulls defeat the Mudcats on Saturday, the Bulls will be the seventh seed and the Mudcats will be the eighth seed.

If the Mudcats defeat the Bulls on Saturday...it will get complicated. The two teams will be tied, with identical 4-10 records. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition. The two teams split. The next tiebreaker is the record against the highest-finishing teams in the league. The best win for the Bulls is against the Thunder. The best win for the Mudcats is against the Lookouts. That means if the Thunder finishes higher than the Lookouts, the Bulls get the seventh seed. If the Lookouts finish higher than the Thunder, the Mudcats get the seventh seed.

The Thunder play the Bats on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. If the Thunder win that game, there is no mathematical way the Lookouts can catch them. That means the Mudcats get the eighth seed no matter what happens in the game against the Bulls on Saturday. But if the Bats beat the Thunder and the Mudcats beat the Bulls, attention will turn to the 3:30 Lookouts-Riverdogs matchup. If the Lookouts win that game, they finish higher than the Thunder and the Mudcats earn the seventh seed. If the Lookouts lose, they finish below the Thunder and the Mudcats earn the eighth seed.

So, to make it a little simpler:

Necessary outcomes in Saturday's games for the Mudcats to earn the seventh seed: Bats beat Thunder, Mudcats beat Bulls, Lookouts beat Riverdogs.

Any combination OTHER than all three of those outcomes: Mudcats earn the eighth seed.

Here's what we know about the rest of the league:

#1 seed: Scrappers
#2 seed: Bees
#3 seed: Thunder-Bats winner
#4 seed: Thunder-Bats loser or Lookouts
#5 seed: Thunder-Bats loser or Lookouts
#6 seed: Riverdogs
#7 seed: Bulls/Mudcats
#8 seed: Bulls/Mudcats

Game #13: Thunder 15, Mudcats 12

One of the best top-to-bottom offensive performances of the season wasn't quite enough to edge the Thunder, who got some terrific defensive plays to hold on for a 15-12 win on Wednesday night at Nowell Field.

"That's one of those games," Coach Andrew said. "Sometimes you play your heart out and win, and sometimes you play your heart out and lose. They made some great plays, and there's nothing you can do but shake their hands."

The Mudcats pounded out 18 hits, the most since October 9, but were thwarted by a Thunder defense that made multiple terrific defensive plays, including a probable two-run-saving grab of Anthony's line drive in the third and a game-ending double play when the Mudcats had the tying run at the plate. The entire lineup contributed offensively, with nine different players scoring at least one run and eight different players driving in at least one run. In a juggled batting order, Christopher had a hot night in the three spot, picking up a single, double and three RBI. LB added his first career three-hit game, and Charley also had a three-hit game.

Coach Andrew also shuffled the defense, going with a frequently shifting strategy that kept everyone on their toes. Several players in new positions--including LB at second, Luke's Brother at third, Smiley in left-center and Brenner at pitcher--made key plays.

Even after the Thunder jumped to a 4-0 lead after one inning, the game was a seesaw affair. The Mudcats battled back to tie the score at seven after four innings. The two-run fourth was keyed by an RBI double from Charley, who had a three-hit day. The offense continued to pour it on in the fifth, plating three runs to take a 10-7 lead going into the bottom of the inning.

But after surviving the dreaded fourth, which had been a bugaboo over the last couple of games, this time it was the fifth that turned out to be an opposing explosion. On a night when the Thunder took advantage of several swinging bunts that turned into hits, that wasn't the case in the fifth--it was simply the Thunder placing some line drives out of the reach of the Mudcats. When the Thunder scored eight runs to move ahead 15-10, it marked the third straight game in which an opponent scored at least six runs in one inning.

Somehow, though, you still felt like a rally was coming. Big swings by the bottom of the order generated a couple of baserunners, and the Mudcats were just one batter away from getting back to the top of the order when the Thunder first baseman speared Luke's Brother's line drive and turned it into a game-ending double play.

"We preach teamwork, and that was a great team effort," Coach Andrew said. "Everybody contributed on defense and at the plate."

All the Mudcats earned one sticker for the solid effort. A three-sticker promise is still in the air for Saturday's game against the Bulls. The postseason implications of the defeat are minimal. With the Bulls set to play tomorrow night, the Mudcats are still alive for either the seventh or eighth seed in the tournament, which begins on Sunday. It is possible that the Mudcats may not know their seeding immediately after their game on Saturday, because the answer could hinge on Saturday's 3:30 game. For scheduling purposes, the blog will be updated after tomorrow night's Bulls game with all the various postseason possibilities.

Wednesday's Mudcat scoring plays
Second inning
Anthony and JJ combined to give the Mudcats two runners on with just one out. LB drove in the first Mudcat run of the game with a sharp RBI single to the left side.
Score after one and a half innings: Thunder 4, Mudcats 1

Third inning
With the offense picking up some momentum, Charley led off with a single and moved to second on the first of two hits from Toothless Tyler, who is generating more bat speed because of the new-found wind through his missing front tooth. Gabe, who hit the ball as consistently hard as he has all year, made it three straight singles with an RBI shot up the middle. After a fielder's choice, Hayes drove in a pair with a rocket to left-center, with Coach Jim somehow managing to hold him at second. A fielder's choice moved Hayes to third, and Christopher drove him in with a single up the middle.
Score after two and a half innings: Mudcats 5, Thunder 5

Fourth inning
JJ led off with a single and moved to second on a fielder's choice. LB, who had a three-hit day, pounded the ball through the left side, moving JJ to third. Asher's fielder's choice scored JJ, and Charley's line drive single scored LB.
Score after three and a half innings: Thunder 7, Mudcats 7

Fifth inning
Gabe led off with a single and was replaced by Brenner on a fielder's choice. Hayes, Smiley and Christopher strung together three straight singles, with Christopher's shot driving in a pair. Anthony scored Smiley on a fielder's choice to complete the rally.
Score after four and a half innings: Mudcats 10, Thunder 7

Sixth inning
LB picked up a one-out single, and Asher reached on some defensive adventures at second base. Charley hit a long single that scored LB, and Tyler's line drive up the middle scored Asher.
Final score: Thunder 15, Mudcats 12


Wednesday's Web Gems

• LB very nearly turned a double play largely on his own, fielding a ground ball at second base and narrowly missing the tag on a runner going from first to second, then still having the presence of mind to throw to first and get the force there.



• Brenner stifled a Thunder outburst in the first, grabbing a ground ball at pitcher and firing to second base for the inning-ending force.



• Anthony dove in the hole in the fifth, keeping the ball in the infield and potentially saving a run. Anthony also combined with Drew on a smooth 6-4 putout in the fourth.

Wednesday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	0	1	4	2	3	2	12	18
Thunder	4	0	3	0	8	X	15	21

Updated postseason possibilities

The bracket has been tweaked slightly, which means some changes to the previous post. Sorting out the top four seeds is fairly simple:

#1: Scrappers have already locked up the top seed
#2: Bees have already locked up the second seed
#3/#4: Bats and Lookouts will be in these two slots. Bats will be the third seed unless the Lookouts beat the Riverdogs AND the Bats lose to the Thunder (both games on Saturday).

The bottom half of the bracket is more complicated, partly because all four teams in the bottom half have two games remaining. The postseason picture will start to clarify tonight when the Mudcats take on the Thunder. Here's what we know about the Mudcats:

• The Mudcats could win out and finish with the same record as the Riverdogs in a tie for sixth, but they would lose the tiebreaker with the Riverdogs. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition; the two teams split this year. The next tiebreaker is the record against the top teams in the league, and the Riverdogs' win over the Scrappers would give them the edge in that tiebreaker. So, the Mudcats will either be seeded seventh or eighth.



• On Sunday, the Mudcats cannot play in the 4 p.m. game or the 6 p.m. game. This means they will play at either noon or 2 p.m.



• Barring another bracket change, the Mudcats will not play a game on Tuesday, Oct. 26, or Wednesday, Oct. 27.



• On Saturday, Oct. 30, the Mudcats will play at either 9:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m.

Practice #20--Last call

It seems like just the other day that we were all standing out in center field at West Raleigh at the season's first practice. We had a few questions: who was that really loud guy people kept calling Coach Mike, did that guy Coach Tom truly have every single piece of sports equipment known to mankind, and where the heck you were supposed to purchase sliders for a five-year-old.

As it turns out, I'm not sure we ever actually got the answers to any of those questions, although it was interesting to see that Coach Mike eventually went into the Secret Service, judging by his covert use of the earpiece at the last game. There is no truth to the rumor that his leg brace can actually be assembled into a high-powered sniper rifle.

Tuesday night marked the final practice--barring some weird rain event--of the fall season. It was an occasion to note how far we've come over the past two months. I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous about some of you on that first night. Several of you had on State shirts, which tends to make those of us from Chapel Hill a little jittery. Really, the only ones I weren't worried about were the ones who attended Apex High, since that school only turns out well-adjusted, positive, contributing members of society. But it's remarkable what a cohesive group the fall 2010 Mudcats turned out to be, from the parents to the kids to the coaches. There's not likely to be much time to be sentimental about that over the next five or (hopefully) six games, because game time is better spent wondering whether it is just unlucky or a true vendetta that the umpire and his seeing eye dog just missed yet another call at second base.

Coach Andrew began the final practice of fall 2010 with one of the team's newest hobbies: groundskeeping. It could be that they developed this love for dirt-smoothing by watching Coach Mike's passion for the water hose and internalizing the fact that doing something you love will always make you happy. Whatever the reason, they seemed delighted to be charged with the duty of gathering a bucket full of rocks before practice could begin. And, let it be said that the entire two hours probably could've been spent gathering rocks.

Instead, the first part of practice was divided into...say it together...stations. One group went to the outfield, where Coach Tom set up a mini-hitting amusement park. It was about as close as you can get to the Hitting Wonderland inside the city limits of Raleigh.

The outfield station enabled Coach Rob to show off his forehand. How high was he hitting them? At one point even Coach Andrew paused and said, "Whoa, that one is up there." Gum was on the line as the Mudcats tried to snag tennis balls. It took five straight catches to earn one piece, or ten straight catches to earn two.

In the infield, players continued to focus on hustling to the ball and getting set up to receive it in the triangle, rather than meandering to the ball and meeting it as it arrives or even fielding it off to the side. Gum was awarded for players who made accurate throws to the catcher.

The practice concluded with a four-part scrimmage, as players hit three balls fair and ran out the third hit. Remember way back in August when practice was scheduled until 7 p.m. but actually ran to at least 8 because it was still light outside? Those days are over, as dusk was falling when practice ended a good five minutes before 7:00.

The remaining events on the Mudcat calendar are all games, starting with Wednesday's 5:30 contest (4:30 pregame) against the Thunder.

Postseason possibilities

The regular season isn't especially meaningful in the West Raleigh Minor League fall season. That's not just because the Mudcats have occasionally struggled this fall. It's because no trophies are awarded to the regular season champion; only the postseason tournament winner gets the hardware.

As the season enters its final week, here's a look at where the Mudcats stand with tournament possibilities. The Fall Minor League uses a pool play tournament format. Every team is guaranteed to play at least three games in the postseason. The team in each pool (Pool A: Seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8; Pool B: Seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7) with the best record in pool play advances to the championship game, where they play the team with the best record from the opposing pool.

Based on the current Minor League standings, the Mudcats have been eliminated from seeds 1-5. With regard to your non-West Raleigh life, assuming you still have one, that gives us three important pieces of information:

• On Sunday, Oct. 24, the Mudcats can't play in the 4 p.m. game. That game matches the 4 and 5 seeds and that can't be the Mudcats.



• On Saturday, Oct. 30, the Mudcats will play in either the 1:30 or 3:30 game. Assuming the existing schedule doesn't change, the top four seeds play in the morning games that day, and that can't be the Mudcats.



• The Mudcats can't play on Tuesday, Oct. 26, because that game matches seeds 1 and 5.

In addition to the two Mudcat games this week, there is another key game to keep an eye on: Riverdogs vs. Bulls on Thursday night. A win by the Riverdogs would ensure that the Bulls and Mudcats would occupy the 7 and 8 seeds (in an order still to be determined) in the postseason. A win by the Bulls would keep open the possibility that one of those two teams could climb into sixth.

Because of the way the pools are set up, there's a significant difference between earning the 7th seed and the 8th seed. As the teams stand right now, the seventh seed would go into a pool with the Riverdogs, Lookouts and Bees. The Mudcats already have at least one win against two of those three teams and still control their own destiny with respect to staying out of the eighth seed--if they win out, they can finish no lower than 7th.

Because the Mudcats and Bulls face each other on Saturday, it's very possible that the final seedings won't be known until the conclusion of that game. The Bulls defeated the Mudcats earlier this season in one of the best-played games of the year.

Game #12: Bats 16, Mudcats 8

Tell you what: let's all just agree that the top of the fourth inning never happened, OK? Take that inning away and Saturday afternoon's performance would rank among the best of the Mudcats season.

Unfortunately, West Raleigh rules dictate that all innings must count, even when they're entirely uncharacteristic and really not much fun at all. And that means the Bats earned a regular-season sweep with a 16-8 decision at Nowell Field.

Does that sound familiar? It probably should, as coming unhinged in one inning proved to be the decisive blow. Prior to the fourth, the Mudcats had played a very solid first three innings. The Bats struck first and built an early 4-0 lead, but the 'Cats battled back. The middle and bottom portion of the order created a four-run second, and then the top of the order tied the score at five in the third.

Then things unraveled. The Bats sent 14 batters to the plate in the fourth on the way to scoring an incredible 10 runs with two outs. As you probably guessed if you sat through it, the inning was the biggest of the season against the Mudcats. Thirty of the 46 runs scored against the Mudcats in the past two games have come with two outs.

"The difference between playing five innings and six innings in this game is the difference between an 8-6 win and a 16-8 loss," Coach Andrew said after the game. "Which would you rather do? We have to learn to finish. That's three games in a row that we've played five innings instead of six in a game we could've won."

The miscues in one inning took some of the shine off some otherwise stellar defense, including a nice stop of a liner up the middle by Anthony and a leaping stab to take away a line drive double by Smiley (who also had a three-hit day offensively). The goal offensively continues to be taking the same production the Mudcats have in the cage onto the game field. "I saw balls tear through the cage during pregame," Coach Andrew said. "I know how hard you can hit the ball."

No stickers were awarded and a challenge was issued. "I want you to think about this," Coach Andrew said. "I need to know before the next game: do you want to play six innings?"

The afternoon was salvaged when the Mudcats got to participate in dragging the infield after the game, which for some reason they all seem to enjoy much more than cleaning their rooms.

Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
Second inning
Chris and J.J. led off with back-to-back singles and then moved up a base on a fielder's choice. LB drove home Chris with a single, and then Asher's RBI fielder's choice drove in J.J. Charley reached on a hard-hit line drive to shortstop, and then aggressive Mudcat baserunning allowed LB to score on an errant throw. Tyler completed the scoring with a two-out RBI single to right.
Score after two innings: Bats 5, Mudcats 4

Third inning
After reaching on a single, Smiley moved to second on a fielder's choice and then scored on Anthony's single to right.
Score after three innings: Mudcats 5, Bats 5

Fourth inning
Big Ben drove a single to left, then moved all the way around to third on a pair of fielder's choices. Charley drove him home with a two-out single.
Score after four innings: Bats 15, Mudcats 6

Fifth inning
The Mudcats added a pair of runs with two outs, as Hayes reached on a fielder's choice and then scored when Smiley smoked a double to left. Drew's single to left scored Smiley.
Score after five innings: Bats 15, Mudcats 8


Saturday's Web Gems

• In the second, Anthony made a sprawling grab on a line drive up the middle.
• Smiley used full extension to spear a line drive ticketed for left field in the third.
• After the fourth, the Mudcats settled down and played flawless defense over the final two innings, including some players in unfamiliar positions with the defense juggled in the fifth.

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Bats	4	0	1	10	0	1	16	21
Mudcats	0	4	1	1	2	0	8	14

Practice #19--Beecats and Mudbees

The Mudcats managed to pack quite a bit into Friday night's practice--cage work, stations on the field, a mixed-squad scrimmage with the Bees, and a helpful lesson for parents on how to use forest survival skills to chop down nearby foliage to create campfires for warmth.

The evening began at the cage, with the usual tee/soft toss/live pitching stations. By the way, for anyone who doubts the importance of the tee, here's a ringing endorsement from former Athens Drive star/current Texas Rangers star Josh Hamilton.

After a lightning-fast 25-minute round in the cage, the Mudcats moved to the field, where they broke into two groups. One group worked on fly balls and outfield grounders while the other group took grounders at shortstop.

Just before 6 p.m., it became clear why Coach Andrew had requested that all players wear their practice shirts. The Mudcats and Bees assembled near first base for the first mixed scrimmage of the fall. The slightly complicated drafting procedure eventually resulted in two teams filled with half Mudcats and half Bees, with the teams appropriately named the Beecats and Mudbees.

By this time, the temperature was starting to fall just a little at Nowell Field. Parents who missed the delightful evening will be invited to make up their absence on Saturday. As for the scrimmage, the teams squeezed in four innings in an hour, with Coach Andrew pitching for one side and Coach Jake (of Bees fame) pitching for the other side. The mixed teams seemed to provide a little spark, as players were able to try some different positions--Anthony at first base, or Big Ben at third, for example--and everyone got to hit at least twice.

The Mudcats hit the field again Saturday afternoon for a rare afternoon start with a 1:30 first pitch/12:30 pregame.

Game #11: Riverdogs 8, Mudcats 6

Tell you what: let's all just agree that the bottom of the third inning never happened, OK? Take that inning away and Monday night's performance would rank among the best of the Mudcats season.

Unfortunately, West Raleigh rules dictate that all innings must count, even when they're entirely uncharacteristic and really not much fun at all. And that means the Riverdogs earned a regular-season split with an 8-6 decision at Nowell Field.

The red-hot Riverdogs, who have now won three games in a row to climb within shouting distance of the top half of the Minor League, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second. The damage could have been much worse, but Drew and Anthony combined on an inning-ending double play (and earned a sticker apiece for their efforts) that got the Mudcats out of a two-on, one-out jam.

The next inning would prove to be the decisive one, however. What made it even more frustrating was that the Mudcats picked up two quick outs at the bottom of the Riverdogs order. But when that order turned over, seven straight Riverdogs batters reached base, and by the time the half-inning was complete, six runs had crossed the plate.

"In the field, we played five defensive innings," Coach Andrew said. "Four of those innings were as good as the best defense we've played this year. We lost focus in one inning, and defensively that was the difference in this game. On a school night, I know it's tough to play five complete innings."

The Riverdog rally seemed to spark the Mudcat offense, as they started at the top of the order in the top of the fourth and responded with five runs. With the top of the order setting the table, the rally included a two-run line drive single from J.J. (the second of his two hits on the day) and an RBI infield single from Big Ben.

But the Mudcats could never muster similar offense, and the seven hits in the fourth inning proved to be over half their total (13) for the game. The Riverdogs twice retired the side in order, and a sixth-inning rally was snuffed out by more solid Riverdog defense. The Mudcats actually out-hit the Riverdogs 13-12, but could never string the line drives together in the right order after the explosion in the fourth.

"Offensively, I think it comes back to that confidence part of the Mudcat Motto," Coach Andrew said. "We've been smoking the ball in pregame. I want us to get out on the field and hit the ball like we do in the cage. It's about confidence."

For the second straight game, Coach Andrew chose to hold over the team sticker, meaning three stickers are up for grabs in Saturday's 1:30 tilt.

"Next game, if you give me all five or six innings, I'm going to give you three stickers," he said.

Monday's Mudcat scoring plays
Fourth inning
The fourth inning was a great example of something Coach Mike pointed out after the game--aggressive baserunning that turned into runs. Hayes led off with a single, then went from first to third on Smiley's (who had a three-hit day) single. Drew singled straight back up the middle to drive in Hayes, then took advantage of a slow throw and took second. Meanwhile, Smiley scampered home to plate the inning's second run. After a groundout, Chris singled back up the middle, with Drew moving to third. Charley singled to center to drive in Drew, and then J.J. hit a two-run laser that scored Drew and Chris. Big Ben continued his hot hitting (four hits in his last five at-bats) with an RBI single to score Charley and complete the scoring.
Score after three and a half innings: Riverdogs 7, Mudcats 5

Sixth inning
Smiley led off by stretching a single into a double on one of those, "Hold on, don't go...great baserunning!" plays. Drew singled up the middle to drive him in, but the rally ended there.
Final score: Riverdogs 8, Mudcats 6


Monday's Web Gems

• The suddenly double-play happy Mudcats got another one, as Drew ended a threat in the second by spearing a liner and then alertly firing to Anthony at second to catch a napping runner.
• LB and Anthony owned the right side of the infield, with both players scooping up several tough plays.

Monday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	0	0	0	5	0	1	6	13
Riverdogs	0	1	6	0	1	X	8	12

Practice #18--A revelation

About halfway through Sunday afternoon's two-hour practice, I had a revelation. Now, as you have probably gathered by now, it does not take much for me to have a revelation. It can happen in many different ways. For example, last Saturday morning I had a revelation: when the temperature outside is 55 degrees, and you are originally from North Carolina (and not somewhere up north where they think it's warm when it's above freezing), don't wear shorts and a short-sleeve shirt.

This most recent revelation was a little more global, however. It started gnawing at me during the field portion of Sunday's practice. The Mudcats split into two groups, with half in the outfield and half in the infield. The outfielders concentrated on catching skyscraping tennis balls. A sliding scale was in place; those who met the minimum number of catches for their age group earned a pack of Big League Chew. Yes, this is bribery. Also, it is probably an NCAA violation (I am really up to date on my rule book these days) and all the Mudcats are probably ineligible to play Division I baseball at this point.

Meanwhile, in the infield the other half of the team split into two lines, one at second base and one at shortstop. They worked on fielding ground balls--establishing a wide base and especially setting up and fielding the ball rather than just lollygagging over and meeting the ball. What you might have seen if you watched them was unremarkable and very remarkable all at the same time. It was this: very, very few of the grounders were outright missed. Yes, a couple were bobbled and maybe a couple hit off the heel of a glove. But the vast majority were fielded cleanly and then fired accurately into the catcher. It's not as easy as it looked, especially considering these are 5-, 6- and 7-year olds (and 8-year-olds, as Hayes would want us to point out).

That was the beginning of the revelation. Then the Mudcats moved to the cage, with the usual tee/soft-toss/live pitching rotation. Hitting a baseball has been well established as the hardest thing to do in sports. It's almost become an accepted part of sports knowledge. Some organizations might try to drum up a debate, but really, considering that you can pull an average fan out of the stands and have them hit a free throw to win a prize at a basketball game or kick a field goal for a prize at a football game, you can't compare too many sporting acts to hitting a baseball.

So then you watch the Mudcats take batting practice and you realize something: these kids are pretty good, and there's been noticeable improvement from the first practice to the 18th practice. Back in August, it was mostly about just making contact. Now, as we're over halfway through the season, they're focusing on making good contact. Gum was the prize in the cage, and it was stingily awarded by Coach Andrew only for line drives and well-placed balls.

In the fall of 2008, we did a story at Carolina focusing on the basketball senior class. This was the senior class that included Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green. No matter what you think of the Tar Heels, it's fair to say that was a pretty athletic group. For the story, we took them to Frankie's and had them compete in several unusual events--putt-putt, go-karts and the batting cage among them. Danny Green might be a great dancer, but he was utterly hopeless in the batting cage. He missed the first 16 pitches in a row before foul tipping the 17th. When he did, he celebrated like he had just dunked one over Greg Paulus. Even Hansbrough, who I think we could all agree is a good athlete, swung wildly before he figured out how to make all the parts of the swing--arms, legs, wrists, eyes--work together. And he was a 22-year-old National Player of the Year and future professional athlete, not a six-year-old. Based on his performance in the cage that day, I don't think Coach Andrew would have awarded him a piece of gum. The moral of the story? Hitting a baseball is tough, no matter how easy the smaller members of our families might make it look.

After the cage session (during which everyone earned a piece of gum), the team capped their Sunday with cupcakes in honor of Hayes's eighth birthday. Assuming he can get out of his AARP meeting with the rest of the old guys tomorrow, he and the Mudcats have a 5:30 game against the Riverdogs, with pregame at 4:30.

Game #10: Bees 22, Mudcats 12

Saturday morning's 22-12 loss to the Bees lent itself to a very literary postgame discussion with Coach Andrew.

First, he channeled a little Dickens. "We saw the best and worst of what the Mudcats have to offer," he said. It was the best of times in the first inning, as the Mudcats posted an eight-hit inning for the second straight game, plating six two-out runs to take an early lead. Charley and Big Ben contributed two-out, two-run doubles to help build the lead.

But it was the worst of times in the third inning, as the Bees batted around and turned in their own eight-hit inning. This time, though, the eight hits came with a couple of defensive misplays, leading to eight runs and giving the Bees a lead they would not relinquish.

Coach Andrew turned to Longfellow to sum up the very different innings: "When we were playing defense well, we were really good," he said. "And when we were bad, we were really bad."

There really was a tremendous difference in the first two innings and the subsequent frames. In the first two innings alone, the Mudcats got the following outstanding plays:

1. An outfield assist from Charley

2. A gritty play by LB at pitcher when he took a line drive off his cheek and returned to make several plays defensively while also contributing two hits and a run on offense.

3. Perhaps the season's finest double play so far on a 6-3-5 ground ball. Drew scooped it up and threw to Christopher to get the initial force. Then, with the Bee runner getting too adventurous, Christopher fired across the diamond to Smiley, who applied the tag to end the inning.

The stingy Mudcat defense limited the Bees to just nine at-bats in the first two innings. Unfortunately, they would send 38 batters to the plate over the next four innings.

"We saw the best of our toughness today," Coach Andrew said as he awarded LB two stickers--one for toughness and another for extraordinary toughness in re-entering the game and contributing to the team.

"We saw the best of our focus today," he said as he awarded Christopher and Smiley stickers for their participation in the double play. "We saw the best of our offense, the best of our sportsmanship and the best of our hustle." For personifying all those things and for his usual standout defensive game, Anthony was also awarded a sticker.

"You can be that good all the time," Coach Andrew said. "All six parts of the Mudcat Motto have to be equal. There are three reasons why we play sports."

Here, he decided to quote from Taylor Zarzour, who has sold slightly fewer books than Dickens or Longfellow.

"The reasons we play sports are fellowship, fun, and getting away from the daily grind."

All involved agreed that the daily grind of cleaning rooms and toilets (hey, that's what Coach Andrew said. I think it may be a very tight ship at their house) is very stressful. The only reason it wasn't unanimous is that Coach Mike was nowhere to be found. The last time anyone saw him, he was mumbling something about a noon kickoff and shedding his knee brace in full stride (think Keyser Soze at the end of The Usual Suspects) as Gabe ran frantically behind him shouting, "Dad, I can't keep up!"

Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
For the second straight game, the Mudcats exploded for six runs in the first inning. Smiley started it with a double, then scored on Anthony's single. Chris singled and took second on an errant throw, and then Charley drove in two with a double to left-center. J.J. had the first of his two hits with a single, setting up Big Ben to drive in a pair with a line drive double down the third-base line. After a single from LB moved Big Ben to third, Gabe finished the scoring with an RBI single to right.
Score after one inning: Mudcats 6, Bees 2

Third inning
Drew led off with an infield single, then advanced to second on an errant throw. He moved to third on Anthony's single up the middle. Chris drove in the first of his two runs on the day, and then Charley reached on a fielder's choice. J.J. singled to right, and then the pair of Bens contributed back-to-back RBI.
Score after three innings: Bees 10, Mudcats 9

Fifth inning
Hayes somehow turned a single into a run, staying one base ahead of the Bee throws all the way around the bases. It also enabled Coach Jim to use an innovative new "go" sign in the third-base coaching box, in which he appears to hold up the "stop" sign but secretly gives Hayes a wink and tells him to use his athleticism and sprint past the defense. With the Bees still wondering what hit them, Drew smacked an opposite-field double and moved to third on Anthony's fielder's choice before scoring on Christopher's single up the middle.
Score after five innings: Bees 17, Mudcats 11

Sixth inning
With one out, Big Ben singled up the middle. LB reached on a fielder's choice, then moved to second on Gabe's single. Brenner's shot up the middle was too hot to handle, scoring LB.
Final score: Bees 22, Mudcats 12


Saturday's Web Gems

• Charley fired in his third outfield assist in two games.



• Drew, Christopher and Smiley teamed up on a terrific 6-3-5 double play.



• Anthony made two excellent plays to his right and one standout play to his left, smothering a ball up the middle.



• LB and Brenner both saved bases with a backup.

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Bees	2	0	8	6	1	5	22	27
Mudcats	6	0	3	0	2	1	12	20

Team Outing

It is time for another team outing...and it is right up Coach Proctor's alley. A trip to the Fall World Series at the Bosh. The Diamond Heels will be playing in an inter squad series Oct. 11-13 and Oct. 15-17. We will go as a team and watch another team play ball, who knows we might see Brenner's cousin play and learn something new about baseball. 

Everyone (players, parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.) is welcome to attend on October 17th at 1PM. Let's plan on meeting at the front gate at 12:45PM so we can get to our seats before the first pitch.

Game #9: Mudcats 11, Lookouts 8

Behind a rejuvenated offense and heads-up defense all over the field, the Mudcats claimed a regular-season sweep of the Lookouts with an 11-8 victory Wednesday night at Nowell Field. The game featured hits by 11 different Mudcats, four outfield assists, postgame cupcakes and wall ball, and pretty much had everything except Coach Andrew being shot out of a cannon (although it arguably looked like that might be happening in the fourth inning).

"We've been talking about teamwork," Coach Andrew told the team in a shortened postgame meeting intended to allow plenty of time for all the festivities. "That game was the epitome of teamwork."

A juggled batting order produced right away, as hot-hitting Hayes (the real Triple H) led off with one of his three hits and ignited a six-run first inning. The six-spot marked the second-biggest inning of the season, eclipsed only by seven runs in the third in the previous meeting with the Lookouts. The Mudcats would never trail in the game, breaking it open in the top of the fifth when Hayes once again led off and sparked a four-run outburst. The team's 21 hits tied a season high set previously in the 13-3 win over the Riverdogs.

The big offensive fifth followed a pivotal defensive bottom of the fourth. After the Lookouts opened the frame with back-to-back singles, Big Ben came up firing in right-center on a third straight single and zipped the ball to Drew for an outfield assist at second base. That play turned what would have been a bases-loaded, no-outs situation into just a two-on, one-out spot. One batter after a nice snag by Gabe at pitcher on an infield pop, the Mudcats picked up another outfield assist to end the inning as Charley nipped a Lookout runner at second for an inning-ended force.

The inning illustrated the difference between most of the Mudcat victories and losses this season. In the losses, two- or three-run innings from the opposition have sometimes snowballed into five- or six-run innings. In the wins--like Wednesday--timely team-wide defense has cut down those potential extra runs to save the victory.

"I'm going to take this game ball," Coach Andrew told the team as he held up the ball that made the final out of the night. "I'm going to write, 'Teamwork,' across it and I'm going to have the entire team sign it at the next practice." And I'm going to put it on my mantel so I can remember this win when we played very much like a team."

Around the same time that Roy Halladay was nailing down the second-ever no-hitter in major league postseason history, the Mudcats were celebrating their win with an off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday" and very on-key cupcakes for Chris's birthday. It was the perfect intersection of real life and our life. In that moment, the sports world was staggered by something that had only happened once before. All most of us gathered around the Mudcats knew was that those cupcakes were really, really good. Besides, a postseason no-hitter had already happened in history. A 2010 fall Mudcat weeknight victory? This was the first time for that. Let the other guys celebrate with a dogpile on the field or celebratory bear hugs. There was wall ball to be played.

Wednesday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Hayes led off with a single and scored on Smiley's double. After a fielder's choice, Anthony picked up an RBI double to make it 2-0. Chris followed with an RBI single, then moved to third on Charley's single. J.J. notched the inning's big blow with a two-run rocket that scored Chris and Charley. LB completed the scoring with a single that scored J.J.
Score after one-half inning: Mudcats 6, Lookouts 0

Second inning
With one out, the Mudcats got four straight singles from Tyler, Asher, Hayes and Smiley to push across another run, with Tyler--who had just celebrated scoring a run at practice the previous night--crossing the plate.
Score after one and a half innings: Mudcats 7, Lookouts 3

Fifth inning
Once again, it was Hayes starting the offense with a line-drive single. Smiley doubled, then Drew scored Hayes with an RBI single. Anthony and Chris ripped back-to-back singles, and then LB earned an RBI with a fielder's choice that scored Anthony.
Score after four and a half innings: Mudcats 11, Lookouts 4


Wednesday's Web Gems

• The Mudcats picked up four outfield assists, with two from Charley, one from Gabe and one from Hayes.
• Gabe made a tough play on an infield popup at pitcher.
• Anthony alertly covered second base even when it wasn't necessarily his play, helping out his teammate and helping get an important force out.
• Christopher made a diving play on a popup just in front of first base.

Wednesday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	6	1	0	0	4	0	11	21
Doesn't Matter/Lookouts	3	0	0	1	0	4	8	18

Practice #17--Return of the Mike

Some of you are thinking it already. For those who aren't, your enjoyment of this blog entry will be greatly enhanced by letting this play in the background...while picturing Coach Mike taking over lead vocals and changing the words to "Return of the Mike."

Yes, it's true--Coach Mike came off the disabled list for Tuesday night's practice. Although he might have looked a little different, his spirit was still the same, and the Mudcat chemistry finally seemed to be back where it needed to be. "That was an awesome practice," Coach Andrew told the team afterwards, as everyone enjoyed their hard-earned piece of gum. "That was one of our best practices all season."

The theme for the day was teamwork. That started right from the beginning of practice, as all players took a lap around the pristine Method Road field. They didn't just take any lap--they took a lap with at least one other teammate.

The first chunk of practice saw the squad split into two groups. The outfield group focused on charging ground balls and getting the ball aggressively back into the infield, possibly even getting a force at second base. One player at a time was designated as the base runner and ran in a game situation format, advancing on a ground ball and using good judgment on a fly ball.

Meanwhile, in the infield the Mudcats concentrated on fielding grounders with good form and making smooth throws to first. After a couple successful trips around the horn, Coach Andrew mixed in some game situations, requiring everyone to be heads-up about locating the appropriate base at which they should get an out.

Practice concluded with a four-part scrimmage, which featured live baserunning and the Mudcats smacking the ball all over Method Road. At the conclusion of practice, three helmet stickers were awarded:

1. To Coach Mike, who showed toughness in overcoming his injury to come out to practice. It felt much more like a "real" Mudcats practice with him there. Let's just hope he doesn't read the blog so he doesn't get overconfident.

2. To Gabe, for having to live with Coach Mike over the last two weeks. Oh, what? Sorry, couldn't read my notes. It actually says Gabe was awarded a sticker because Coach Rob was looking for hustle, and Gabe was the perfect illustration of that piece of the Mudcat Motto.

3. To Christopher, also by Coach Rob for his hustle. There is a rumor that Christopher may be celebrating his birthday after tomorrow's game and that cookie cake may be involved. Hey, where's everybody going? Why are all those cars lining up at West Raleigh? Doesn't anyone want to read the rest of the blog?

Hitting shoes go on at 4:29, pregame at 4:30, game (against "It Doesn't Matter") at 5:30.

Practice #16--Extra mustard

There may be someone who knows what actually happened at Sunday's practice at the Hitting Wonderland. I am not that person. The reason why will become apparent shortly.

Coach Andrew began practice by demanding that the Mudcats exhibit some mustard. Not because it was lunch time (although it was), but because he felt that little extra feistiness had been missing at Saturday's game. He divided the practice into multiple stations: basketball, tee, Hurricane, soft toss, live pitching, and hit-a-way.

A coach and/or parent was assigned to each station based on the one their skills best matched. The tallest, highest-jumping, sweetest-shooting individual was assigned to basketball. The primary duty for adults at that station was to prevent wrestling matches on the concrete when going after loose balls. A quick scouting report on the Mudcats on the basketball court:

Gabe: Do not try to wrestle him for a loose ball.

LB: Good movement without the ball. High-pitched shriek valuable at scaring off defenders.

Asher: Really good at saying, "I'm open!" Not so good at actually being open.

Christopher: Spent most of his time in the paint. Tough on the baseline.

Brenner: The next Spud Webb. Please tell me you remember Spud Webb.

Drew: Likes to get the ball around the top of the key. Has been known to tackle the man with the ball to subdue him.

Smiley: Approximately the same love for passing as Allen Iverson. Dangerous with the bank shot.

Anthony: Heady player. He may have actually tried to take a charge at one point.

JJ: Victim of perhaps the best line of the day, when he took off his shirt to play football and Coach Tom replied, "Hold on, JJ, it's getting kind of bright. Let me put on my sunglasses."

Charley: Turning seven on Monday, which is key because it resulted in cupcakes for the entire team (plus a few parents).

Big Ben: Actually made the effort to set screens in a driveway basketball game. Clearly a typical Tar Heel student of the game.

Hayes: A sneaky player. Hangs out quietly by the rim and waits for you to forget him. Then will either get the pass and score, or pull himself up on the rim like Spider-Man to block shots.

Tyler: Quickness enables him to be a good offensive rebounder.

Luke (ringer): Absolutely deadly moving to his right and firing in the right-handed bank shot on the run.

Bags (ringer): The playmaker.

Cole (ringer): Tall like a power forward (considering the competition), but with the playmaking skills of a point guard.

Adam (ringer): Just making sure...no one was actually watching the basketball station, right? OK, good. In that case--Incredibly talented, likely to be a first-round draft pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Registered a triple-double (blocks/steals/times saying, "Hold on, I'm tired").

The next practice is Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Method Road.

Game #8: Scrappers 14, Mudcats 2

The Mudcat offense never got started on a chilly, occasionally windy Saturday morning, and the Scrappers claimed a regular season sweep with a 14-2 victory.

The storyline for the offense was summed up in one very simple stat: for the entire game, the Mudcats had more strikeouts (5) than base hits (4), and did not notch a clean hit after the first inning. After two razor-thin margins in the previous two games, the bats didn't seem to wake up for the early start.

"We lost two games in a row where we competed at the highest level," Coach Andrew told the team in the postgame meeting. "But just because we lost two in a row doesn't mean we can come out uninspired like we did today."

For one inning, it looked like the good guys had indeed brought their hitting shoes. After the Scrappers plated three runs in the top of the first, the Mudcats bounced back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, with one driven in by Christopher and one by the red-hot (apologies to Anthony) Hayes.

From there, however, the bats went silent, and the Mudcats did not get a ball out of the infield after Hayes's RBI single. The emotion seemed to leak out of the dugout in proportion to the offensive struggles.

"It started in the cage before the game," Coach Andrew said. "We just didn't look very inspired. I didn't see that desire to win the game. We've got to know we can win."

No stickers were awarded, with Coach Andrew explaining that the goal for the next game is to earn a team sticker because of a complete and inspired effort. He closed with three simple questions for his players:

Do you know you can win?

Are you confident in yourselves?

Are you tough?

Sunday's practice has been moved from the West Raleigh field to the Hegeman Hitting Wonderland at 1408 Jenks Carpenter Rd.

Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Smiley jump-started the offense with a line-drive double. Drew advanced him to third with an infield single, and then Christopher drove in the first run of the half-inning with a fielder's choice. After Anthony singled, Hayes drove in Christopher with a single to center.
Score after one inning: Scrappers 3, Mudcats 2


Saturday's Web Gems

• LB notched an outfield assist when he recorded a force at second base from center field in the second inning.
• Several Mudcats played well at unfamiliar positions in the final three innings. Anthony nearly made a diving stop in left-center, Drew made a solid play at third, and Hayes made a good play at second.

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Scrappers	3	3	0	6	0	2	14	21
Mudcats	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	4

Game #7: Bulls 7, Mudcats 6

Sooner or later, one of these close games is going to go the right way. For now, though, the Mudcats' tough luck continued, as they lost their second straight nail-biting decision, 7-6, to the Bulls. The game marked the second straight defeat by two or fewer runs.

"That was an awesome game," Coach Andrew said matter-of-factly after the game. "We hustled. Sometimes we hustled and got out, but sometimes we hustled and were safe. This was one of those games where you hate to see anyone lose."

The offensive highlight was obvious: Hayes ripped the season's first home run, stomping firmly on second base on his way around the bases, to give the Mudcats a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning.

But the Bulls were about to ramp up the offense, as they scored six runs over the final three innings after being held to just one run in the first three innings. That led into the decisive sixth, which the two teams entered tied at four.

Earlier, during pregame, Coach Andrew had told LB he had an important role as the number-13 batter, because he was the "second leadoff hitter." That proved prophetic, because LB did indeed lead off the sixth, smacking a line-drive single. After a fielder's choice, Smiley advanced LB to third on a single, and then Drew cleared the bases with a double.

The Bulls led off the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back doubles, slicing the Mudcat lead in half. LB made a solid play at pitcher to record an out at first on a grounder, and after an infield single tied the score, Anthony grabbed a sinking liner just before it scraped the dirt to record the second out. After back-to-back singles loaded the bases, the Bulls' Christian completed a 3-for-3 day with a line-drive game-winning single.

For the effort, which included hits from 10 different Mudcats, the entire team earned a sticker. Stickers were also awarded to Anthony for his play on a hard liner, Smiley for a heads-up play recovering a popup and getting a force at second (half-sticker to Anthony for being there for the force), LB for playing with toughness at pitcher and fielding a hard liner, Hayes for the inside-the-park home run, and Asher for getting under a pop fly in right field, although he needs to complete the catch next time.

The bigger news was a weeknight bombshell from Coach Andrew. "I'm going to keep my word about not caring whether you win or lose," he told the team. "And you can tell your parents you have my permission to play wall ball tonight."

That led to the following exchange between the team's two youngest players:

Brenner: "Do you know what wall ball is?"
Asher: "No, do you?"
Brenner: "I don't think so."

Despite the lack of knowledge about how the game was actually played, the entire team responded with a giant roar when told of their postgame activities. It didn't take long for the older Mudcats to explain the rules, which you have to be under the age of 12 to understand. The one fact that seemed very clear is that the people who live bordering the West Raleigh baseball fields must have a fantastic collection of tennis balls, wall balls, and baseballs. The Mudcats managed to lose only one ball during their game, but Gabe and Asher were sent on a reconnaissance mission and recovered the ball...just before what sounded like a decent-sized dog started barking and only a few words could be heard from inside the house.

The Mudcats hit the practice field again Thursday at 5 p.m., by which time every parent will likely be able to recite every track on the Mudcat Rap CD by heart due to incessant repetition in the car (the DOT has determined the CD can be played exactly 4.7 times consecutively between Chapel Hill and the West Raleigh baseball fields).

Thursday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
The Mudcats did it with two outs again. Drew reached on a fielder's choice, then moved to third on Chris's single. Anthony drove in Drew with a single, and then Chris took advantage of a defensive misplay to score the game's second run.
Score after one-half inning: Mudcats 2, Bulls 0

Fourth inning
Anthony beat out a one-out single, which led to Hayes's laser to right-center. Both Mudcats flew around the bases--clearly stepping on second, YOU HEAR ME, CLEARLY STEPPING ON SECOND (oh, sorry)--for an inside-the-park home run.
Score after three and a half innings: Mudcats 4, Bulls 1

Sixth inning
LB led off with a single and moved to second on a fielder's choice. Smiley singled and then Drew drove in a pair before being called out while somehow never managing to actually be touched by the ball at third base, not that anyone is bitter.
Score after five and a half innings: Mudcats 6, Bulls 4


Tuesday's Web Gems

• Anthony continued his stellar play at second base, stopping a tough line drive and also alertly covering second base on a forceout.
• LB closed up the hole up the middle with a slick stop on a hard liner.

Tuesday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	2	0	0	2	0	2	6	12
Bulls	1	0	0	2	1	3	7	12

Game #6: Thunder 6, Mudcats 4

There's never a bad time for the best defensive performance of the season. But it couldn't help but feel like bad timing when the Mudcats turned in their best fielding effort of the season...only to fall victim to an equally good performance by the Thunder, who survived a furious sixth-inning Mudcat rally and pulled out a 6-4 win. The game marked the second-lowest scoring game in the Backyard Bistro Minor League this season (the lowest was a 5-3 Riverdog win over the Scrappers) and was just the sixth Minor League game this season decided by two runs or less.

The defensive performance came against a formidable offense, as the Thunder entered the game in the top half of the league in runs scored. But several key Mudcat defensive plays short-circuited potential big innings, including three outfield assists at second base.

"That was an intense defensive game," Coach Andrew told the team. "We got out of innings with just one or two runs when they had some big hitters up with runners in scoring position. Our defense looked excellent."

Indeed, Mudcat infielders had to make two-out plays with runners in scoring position in the first four innings--Drew made outs from his shortstop spot in the first and second, Anthony got the last out in the third, and Charley made a flawless play in the fourth to leave two runners stranded.

Meanwhile, though, the Mudcat offense could never find the holes. After scoring one in the first, the potential tying run appeared to score in the second on a home run by Hayes. But the rarely-seen-in-7-year-old-baseball appeal play was used, and the umpires decreed that he had missed second base and called him out. Everyone handled it calmly and supported the ruling of the eagle-eyed umpires, especially once they remembered they had signed those pesky Codes of Conduct at the beginning of the season.

The Mudcats bounced back to tie the game in the fourth, but the top of the Thunder order generated two runs in the top of the sixth to provide the final margin of victory. The final Mudcat rally saw the tying runs move into scoring position in the bottom of the sixth, but a hard line drive once again found a Thunder glove.

While the on-field results were largely positive, there is room for improvement off the field. No team sticker was awarded. "That's because of the attitude of the team," Coach Andrew said. "I heard people asking if this team we were playing was as good as the Bats. We can't have that kind of losing attitude. It doesn't matter who we are playing...I've seen all the other teams in this league play and I have coached a lot of teams on this field. This is the best team I have coached on this field. We can beat any team down here, and I'm not just saying that to make you feel good."

Two Mudcats picked up individual stickers, as Gabe rifled in two outfield assists from center field, picking up a pair of force outs at second base. Charley registered an assist from left center, as he also got a force out at second base.

The loss was the first weekend defeat of the season for the Mudcats and officially ended the chances that any idiotic bloggers would write anything about winning trends in the future.

Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
With a slightly juggled top of the order, Charley singled and moved to second on a fielder's choice from Chris. Smiley drove him in with a double.
Score after one inning: Thunder 2, Mudcats 1

Fourth inning
LB led off with a single and moved to second when Chris reached on an infield misplay. Smiley singled, driving in LB. Drew doubled to tie the game, giving him at least one RBI in every game this season.
Score after four innings: Thunder 4, Mudcats 4


Saturday's Web Gems

• The Mudcats got their best outfield play of the season. Two of the three outs in the third inning were via outfield assists (one by Gabe from center and one by Charley from left-center), limiting what could have been a huge Thunder inning to just two runs.
• The Mudcats looked much more comfortable on the pop-ups just over their heads that gave them trouble in the game against the Bats.
• Smiley gloved a hot shot down the third base line and threw to Anthony at second for an alert sixth-inning force.

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Thunder	2	0	2	0	0	2	6	16
Mudcats	1	0	0	3	0	0	4	10

Practice #15--Defense wins games

The Mudcats might not know it, but they largely wrote Friday's practice script during Thursday's game. That 20-7 loss was a terrific illustration of the power of defense, as the Bats made several sparkling plays in the field--plays that made it virtually impossible to string together any kind of offense, and plays that seemed to feed off each other. Once one terrific play was made, the next one almost seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

That's the kind of defense the Mudcats want to play in Saturday's 3:30 contest against the Thunder. As the season approaches the midway point, it's the time of year when some fundamentals can start to slip. With that in mind, Friday night's session was defense-intensive.

The practice began in the cage, with the usual round of tee/soft toss/live pitching. Live pitching was done by the newly preppy Coach Andrew, who showed no ill effects from consuming 32 root beers on Thursday night and apparently spent his evening off shopping for new duds at J. Crew. For those who missed it, it looked something like this. Perhaps intimidated by the new West Raleigh dress code, the other team with rights to the field didn't show up. That turned out to be a good thing, because it was determined that the Mudcat hitters were "burning down the cage" with the hot bats they were swinging.

Once they took the field, the team broke into two groups--infield and outfield. Infielders started the session with the reaction ball, a torturous device designed to bounce anything but normally. They eventually moved on to fielding grounders, focusing hard on getting a wide base and receiving the ball out in front of them, closing the top hand down like a gator...whoops, not that gator, this gator...or, er, I know it's here somewhere...this gator.

In the outfield, players worked on a variety of skills. Coach Rob proved to be the master of the tricky in-between ball, forcing the outfielders to choose between charging it hard and trying to play the ball on the fly, or staying back and fielding it on a hop. Later, gum was awarded for charging in hard on ground balls to the outfield, trying to emulate the force play at second made by Hayes on Thursday. They also worked on one of the toughest plays for this age group--turning and sprinting back on a fly ball over their head.

Practice concluded with a relay, won in a titanic upset by the outfielders--made up mostly of the team's younger players--over the bigger, stronger infielders. Of course, the fact that the outfielders only had to have five racers complete the race while the infielders had six might have had something to do with it. Afterward, Coach Joy and Coach Tonya awarded helmet stickers for sportsmanship to Hayes and Tyler.

Pregame Saturday begins at 2:30 p.m. The key part of the day--Andrew and Neal's field grooming clinic--should begin at approximately 3:10 p.m. and will be filmed by the Home and Garden Channel for a later documentary. Those with a keen eye for scheduling will note that NC State plays Georgia Tech at noon and Carolina plays Duke, er, Rutgers (got the two state universities of New Jersey confused for a second) at 3:30. The West Raleigh Diamond Vision board will show live feeds of both games.

Game #5: Bats 20, Mudcats 7

The Mudcats might be taking this whole student-athlete thing a little too seriously. Obviously distracted by the need to focus on school the next day, the studious Mudcats fell 20-7 to the Bats on Thursday night. The loss dropped the squad's overall record to 2-3, with all three losses coming during the week.

The numbers are perplexing. The Mudcats average 13.5 runs per game during weekend games, but have never scored more than seven in a weeknight game. In the two weekend games combined, they're outscoring opponents 27-13. But during the week, they're being outscored 47-17.

The Bats continued the trend right away, plating four runs with two outs in the first inning. By the time they followed with five runs in the second, the Mudcats were in a quick 9-0 hole after two innings.

Once all thoughts of homework were banished, the Mudcats--as usual--fought back. A leadoff single from LB ignited a five-run rally in the fourth. The top of the order contributed three doubles--one each from Smiley, Drew and Anthony--to fuel the comeback.

More often, however, Mudcat hits found the gloves of the Bats, who turned in one of the best team-wide defensive performances of the young season, with sparkling plays all over the infield. The Mudcat defense also made some key plays, especially in the bottom of the fifth inning, when they needed to get three outs in less than 10 minutes in order to have the opportunity to play the sixth inning. Anthony steadily hauled in a high pop fly and Smiley alertly fielded a sharp grounder and stepped on third to end the inning and preserve the chance for one more at-bat.

"We earned that last inning," said Coach Jim. "We got three quick outs when we needed them."

Coach Rob awarded helmet stickers to Smiley and Anthony for combining on the season's first double play, a well-turned 5-4 combination in the second inning. Hayes--who also drove in a pair of runs with a single--earned a sticker with his outfield assist in the third inning.

Following the game, Coach Rob acknowledged that the team had not earned the promised 10 minutes of wall ball time from a weeknight victory. "Would Coach Andrew be proud?" he asked. Getting a somewhat lukewarm response, he followed up with, "Did you play hard? Did you have fun? Did you do your best?" Getting much more positive responses to those questions, he awarded a sticker to the entire team for persevering in the face of unusual circumstances, as Coach Andrew spent the evening getting blisters on his thumbs from firing off many text messages and trying to break the world record for root beer consumed.

The next Mudcat action comes Friday night at 5 p.m. The next game is--yes!--on a weekend, with a 3:30 first pitch on Saturday against the Thunder.


Thursday's Mudcat scoring plays
Fourth inning
LB led off with a single. After a fielder's choice, Smiley doubled, and then Drew doubled, scoring Smiley with the first Mudcat run. After Chris singled, Anthony drove in Drew and Smiley with a line drive double. Hayes completed the scoring with a two-RBI single up the middle.
Score after three and a half innings: Bats 12, Mudcats 5

Fifth inning
JJ finally figured out how to beat the Bat shortstop, beating out the throw for a leadoff single. Asher singled, sending JJ to third, and then Brenner picked up the RBI with an infield single to the right side.
Score after four and a half innings: Bats 17, Mudcats 6

Sixth inning
Smiley doubled deep down the left-field line, then scored on Drew's single.
Final score: Bats 20, Mudcats 7

Fifth inning
LB started the inning with a line-drive single to center. Charley and Smiley hit back-to-back singles to load the bases, and then Drew cleared them with a 3-RBI double. Christopher picked up an RBI for the third straight at-bat with a single, after Hayes singled, Big Ben closed the scoring--due to the 10-run rule, which states teams can only score five runs in an inning in which they take a 10-run lead--with an RBI single.
Score after five innings: Mudcats 13, Riverdogs 3.


Thursday's Web Gems

• You have to start with the double play. Smiley fielded a hard ground ball down the third base line and stepped on third base to record the force. Then he alertly fired to second, where Anthony was covering to convert the back end of the twin killing.



• Hayes charged a ground ball hard from his center field position, scooped up the grounder, and threw to second to get an outfield assist on a third-inning force play.



• Anthony played a towering pop-up perfectly in the fifth inning.

Thursday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	0	0	0	5	1	1	7	14
Bats	4	5	3	5	3	X	20	29

Practice #14--Lingering layoff

So, what did everyone do with two whole days away from the baseball field? Take a trip around the world? Put together a 10,000 piece puzzle? Eat dinner somewhere other than the back seat of the car?

Aw, you know you missed it. The Mudcats were back on the field Wednesday night at Method Road for the first practice since Sunday. In many ways, it was a very typical practice, but in one way, it was very unique (and that's not a reference to the fact that Coach Mike wasn't there to water the field).

The first part of practice was devoted to three stations:

1. An outfield station, in which Coach Jim handed out one piece of gum for each catch of a fly ball. Once players were awarded one piece, they had a chance to earn another piece by catching three more fly balls--but all three had to be two-hand catches in order to count.

2. The usual hitting stations.

3. An infield station devoted to the 4-6/6-4 drill. Now, I know there is at least one of you out there who has a Chicago song in their mind right now. Or maybe that's just me, since the Carolina band has had that song in their rotation since approximately the moment Chicago put that song on paper. But thankfully--given the relative music ability of the coaching staff--the 4-6/6-4 drill is a little different. Instead, it required players to go to either second base or shortstop, where they had one of two responsibilities: either field a grounder, or cover second base. The player fielding the ball flipped to second to get the force out, and then the player covering the bag fired over to the (inept) first baseman to complete the double play.

Seeing the overwhelmed nature of the person he originally assigned to first base, Coach Andrew eventually allowed individual Mudcats to play first, where JJ--perhaps intuitively realizing the volume level of practice was way down due to Coach Mike's absence--did an especially good job being assertive and letting everyone know where to make each play.

Around the time the stations concluded, Hayes had to depart, Deion Sanders-style, for a hockey game, with Neal piloting the helicopter that transported the Anderson family from field to rink.

Before the final practice period, Coach Andrew called the Mudcats around him near first base for a quick life lesson. Always eager to try out the things the team talks about in practice, Coach Andrew tried to carry the Mudcat Motto with him into his daily life. This gave him the opportunity to try out the "confident but humble" facet recently. As he explained to his players, sometimes someone who is standing up for themselves can land in trouble even if they are fully in the right and the other people involved make about as much sense as NCAA suspension guidelines. For that reason, Coach Andrew will not be at Thursday's game, which will cause him some serious emotional distress and extremely high text messaging fees on this month's cell bill.

To simulate Thursday's conditions, the conclusion of Wednesday's practice was devoted to a scrimmage, with Coach Tom on the mound. Coach Andrew sat on the bleachers and observed, where other parents helpfully taught him how to mumble, "If the dang pitcher could ever throw a strike, my kid would be hitting a homer every time up there."

Following the confident but humble theme, Coach Rob awarded helmet stickers to a group of older players who have been consistently good leaders this season: Christopher, Drew, Smiley and Anthony.

Tomorrow's game begins at 5:30 p.m. (pregame at 4:30). Coach Andrew, who will be found at the Backyard Bistro after the game, is expected to show severe withdrawal symptoms around 4:45. A victory means the Mudcats earn a coach-promised 10 minutes of postgame wall ball.