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 |
No comments:
Post a Comment