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 |
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