A slightly juggled offensive lineup did pay some dividends for the Mudcats, as JJ was on base all four times in his leadoff spot and scored a run, while Drew and Hayes also picked up two-run singles in their new slots in the order. As Coach Andrew told the team, "We hit the ball well enough to win the game."
Defensively, however, there were some focus issues. "I'm not sure there was one inning where we were completely focused for the entire inning," Coach Andrew said. "We didn't quite do it defensively." The All Blacks made errors in four of Sunday's six innings, and the Bats scored runs in all four of those innings.
The leaky defense--or, really, the occasional focus lapses--meant no team-wide helmet sticker was awarded. But the 'Cats were close enough that Coach Andrew promised they were in an "earn-back" situation on Monday, when six solid innings of play will result in two stickers instead of one. After an impressive 3-for-3 day with a pair of doubles and two runs scored, Christopher earned the offensive player of the game award (Note: Not an actual photo of Christopher). No defensive player of the game award was handed out, and Coach Andrew was last spotted buried in a mound of Doritos, laughing hysterically.
I know why you're all really checking the blog: Sunday's between-inning food presentations included strawberries, apples, grapes, lobster and jelly beans. Only one of those is not actually true. Also, carrot cake cheesecake was provided for the fans, who were working hard in the first-base bleachers. Stay tuned next season when I will be a participant on The Biggest Loser: Mudcats Edition.
The three-game series concludes with Monday night's 5:30 first pitch against the Thunder ("Thunder thunder thunder nation, we're the best team in the nation..." Sorry, standing in the dugout during the games tends to get in your head a little bit).
Sunday's Mudcat scoring plays
Second inning
Chris launched a one-out double and moved to third on Charley's fielder's choice. Brenner picked up the first Mudcat RBI of the evening with a fielder's choice, and Gavin hustled out a grounder to short to beat the throw and score Charley.
Score after one and a half innings: Mudcats 2, Bats 1
Third inning
Powered by the Rally Monkey, Asher singled to left and moved to second when JJ--batting in the leadoff spot for the first time--smacked a hard-hit ball up the middle. Anthony powered a run-scoring opposite-field single, and then Drew provided the inning's big blow with a two-run single to center.
Score after two and a half innings: Mudcats 5, Bats 2
Fourth inning
On his way to enjoying a bounty of Oreos, Christopher smacked another double, then ran the bases aggressively and managed to come all the way around to score when the shortstop couldn't handle Brenner's grounder.
Score after three and a half innings: Mudcats 6, Bats 6
Sixth inning
Zach blasted a single that was probably a double in reality but was hit so hard that the center fielder was able to catch a favorable carom off the fence and throw it in quickly. The Bats had some more infield adventures with Smiley's grounder, putting runners on second and third. And then Hayes came through with a two-run single to left that cut the four-run deficit in half.
Final score: Bats 10, Mudcats 8
Tuesday's Web Gems
- The Mudcats converted yet another outfield relay to nab a runner trying to score. This time, it was Zach-to-Smiley-to-Charley, who made the surehanded catch and then applied the tag in plenty of time.
- Coach Andrew began the fourth by instructing his team to "Go get the ball." Smiley proceeded to illustrate that perfectly by bouncing off the pitcher's mound and making what could have been a difficult play look easy, gobbling up a grounder and throwing to first.
- Hayes saved what would have been extra bases in the fifth by stabbing a grounder that was headed down the third-base line.
| Sunday's line score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H |
| Mudcats | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 12 |
| Bats | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | X | 10 | 17 |
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