The highlight of the defensive effort came in the fourth inning, when the Bulls were threatening to close an 11-6 deficit. On three consecutive singles, they quickly loaded the bases with no outs. But solid defense by the Mudcats resulted in three equally quick outs, and the Bulls left the inning with no runs. For that entire type of team effort--on the day, the ruthless scorekeeper did not charge the 'Cats with an error for the first time all season--the entire squad was awarded defensive player of the game honors.
Anthony was so excited by the big win, which brought the Mudcats back to .500, that he invited everyone to Monkey Joe's, where I'm guessing pandemonium still reigns at this very moment.
With two regular season games remaining, the All Blacks could still finish anywhere from first to seventh. The next official Mudcat event is Monday's practice at Kentwood at 5 p.m.
Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
With JJ out with a fever, Smiley filled in at the leadoff spot and led off with a single to left. Anthony beat out an infield hit, and then a fielder's choice moved the runners to second and third. Zach drove in his first run of the day with an RBI double, and Christopher followed with an RBI fielder's choice. On his way to an Oreo-worthy performance, Hayes singled in a run and would eventually score two batters later after some adventures in the Bulls infield.
Score after one-half inning: Mudcats 4, Bulls 0
Second inning
The Mudcats did some major damage with two outs, tying their biggest inning of the season and doing it all with two outs. With two outs and Asher on first, Smiley and Anthony had back-to-back singles. Drew drove in two with a double. Zach and Christopher scorched grounders that weren't handled, scoring Anthony and Drew. Hayes completed the scoring with a 2-RBI single, giving him three RBI in the first two innings.
Score after one and a half innings: Mudcats 10, Bulls 3
Third inning
It was an inning for the Mudcat youth, as Gavin singled Brenner to second, and after a Gabe fielder's choice, Brenner scored on Asher's RBI fielder's choice.
Score after two and a half innings: Mudcats 12, Bulls 5
Fourth inning
This time it was the top of the order, as Anthony and Drew strung together back-to-back one-out singles. Then Zach (2 RBI) and Christopher (1 RBI) put together back-to-back doubles. Hayes singled, putting runners at the corners, and Charley scored Christopher with a grounder to short.
Score after three and a half innings: Mudcats 15, Bulls 6
Saturday's Web Gems
- Gabe speared a ball at pitcher and then threw to second from his knees to record a force.
- No one is still quite sure what happened, but the Mudcats turned a triple play in the third. The fact that there was already one out when the triple play was made should not deter anyone from putting it on the highlight reel. After a hard liner to Smiley at pitcher with the bases loaded, the Bulls baserunners strayed too far from the bag. Smiley went to Drew at third to get (we thought) the second out of the play and third out of the inning. But the umpires let the play continue, so Drew went ahead and threw to Anthony at second to catch the runner there. Whether it was two outs, three outs or four outs, it was still a nice play.
- In a great example of team defense, the Bulls loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth but got zero runs. Smiley caught a pop fly at pitcher for the first out, Anthony made a diving catch in foul ground at first base for the second out, and Zach made a heady play to grab a grounder and step on third to end the inning.
- Christopher made a very nice stretch at first base in the fifth to save an out.
| Saturday's line score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H |
| Mudcats | 4 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | X | 15 | 15 |
| Bulls | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 8 | 15 |
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