Practice #10--A bunch of creeps

The Mudcats arrived at East Cary to find that the grounds crew--made up of a flock of geese--had just finished manicuring the field. Luckily, someone was able to snap a photo of the pristine condition (seen off to the right is Coach Andrew dragging the infield, which had the exact same level of effectiveness as when Coach K pledged to stop cursing).

Given the conditions, the practice options were somewhat limited. Showing some flexibility, the Mudcats scrubbed a planned scrimmage and instead went to practice option two. First, the coaching staff explained the game procedures for Thursday night. Pregame will also include the Pledge of Allegiance--with, as Coach Andrew may have mentioned a time or two, the players' feet lined up behind the foul line but not touching the line.

In addition to the normal pregame festivities, Saturday's game also includes the annual West Raleigh Baseball opening ceremonies, which feature a silent auction for a parking spot plus the opportunity to bid on an actual Coach Mike game-used water hose. Part of those ceremonies will be a relay race in which each team will be represented by one player. To decide which Mudcat would participate, the squad held a team-wide 40-yard dash on Thursday. Smiley earned the right to represent the Mudcats, holding off Ben Penchuk at the wire.

With the infield slightly dangerous, the coaches decided against live hitting. Instead, they split the remainder of practice into four periods, with three Mudcats running the bases in each period. The rest of the team was sent to their respective positions on the field and forced to play the ball as if it was a game situation when Coach Andrew threw the ball into play. That made it very much a thinking practice. Let's see, runner on first, two outs, I'm at shortstop...where's the play? Runners on second and third, one out, I'm in left field...where's the play?

Perhaps still a little disappointed about missing out on the planned scrimmage, the opening periods started a little slowly. The mood was further darkened when Charley took a rough tumble at first base, but the way he hopped up and recovered after seeing a little blood seemed to ignite his teammates. By the time the sun was sinking behind the treeline and Coach Andrew called out for the defense to turn in a 1-2-3 inning, they did it flawlessly.

Players have the opportunity to earn two stickers at tomorrow's game. The goal: show a baseball-ready position on every single pitch, no matter what position they're playing. That means "creeping" on every play--getting their feet moving as the ball is delivered to be ready to move as soon as it's hit. As Coach Andrew promised after the scrimmage, if all 13 players and most parents (expectations are much lower for the parents, as they should be) are baseball-ready on every pitch, every Mudcat will receive two stickers.

Thursday's pregame is at 4:30, with the first pitch at 5:30 on The Ocho).