April 5: Bulls at Mudcats

It was a good night for baseball, and a great night if you were a Claritin salesman, as there was pollen everywhere and on everything. Spring is definitely here, and other than the pollen, the weather was beautiful for playing ball.

The Mudcats have been struggling up to this point in the season and were hoping things will turn around tonight. There have been signs of greatness shown by the players, just not for six innings in a row. If the Mudcats are going to beat the Bulls tonight they would have to bring there "A" game all night long.

Things got off to the wrong start for the Mudcats and nothing seemed to go right for the first three innings. In fact you know things are going wrong when one of the teams runs off the field with only two outs, we will give the Bulls the credit for that one. After 3 the score was 14-0.

The fourth started out rough with a lead off Home Run by the Bulls, and not a single with a bunch of throwing errors, a real over the fence long ball. The nice thing about that was seeing the sportsmanship showed by the Mudcats with some congratulations by the players. Jacob caught a high infield fly to record the first out. The next batter hit a line drive to Center where Tyler was waiting with open glove to make a nice catch. In the bottom Christopher got things started with a single and started a rally for the Mudcats first runs of the game. Leyton, Adam, and Jacob doubled and Sticks had a single which all led to 4 runs in the inning. After 4 the score was 17-4.

The fifth inning was an inning of defense for both sides. Great range shown at second by Anthony to catch a fly ball on the outfield grass behind first base. The Bulls and Mudcats went three up and three down. After 5 the score was 17-4.

The Bulls tried to set the record for singles in the top of the sixth hitting eight of them. Sticks made a great stop at third for a force out and ended the top of the inning. It was a daunting task down by 18 runs but the Mudcats were up to it. Ben got them started with a single and Luke singled right behind him. Charley then hit a double right down the third base line and collected two RBI's. T-rex hit a double of his own traveling all the way too the fence and the Mudcats were in business. Six batters latter Zach hit one hard down the first base line but some problems on the base paths led to the final out. Not before the Mudcats scored eight in the inning which is there strongest offensive output for one inning this season. The final was 22-12.

After the game Coach Andrew wanted to hear from the players. "Was that last inning fun?" There was definitely a spark in the offense with 11 batters coming to the plate. The dugout was alive with the songs and cheering of all the players.

All the player will receive one sticker for their never give up spirit and the sportsmanship that they showed. Anthony will receive a sticker for his catch at second.

In the end the players were happy to run and get their soda and spend some time playing around. Looking forward to the next time they get to play baseball.

On three MUDCATS!

Write-up by Frank
Pictures by Tonya and Scott