Tournament game 1: Bats 4, Mudcats 2

Pitching and defense usually win a lot of baseball games. According to Coach Andrew, the Mudcats had the defense on Tuesday night, but they didn't have the pitching.

"This loss is on me," he said after the game. "It was terrible pitching."

That might have been an overstatement, but the Mudcat bats never fully awoke, picking up just five hits on the way to a 4-2 loss to the Bats. The defeat means the All Blacks have another Breakfast with the Mudcats on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. against the Lookouts. The winner of that game plays again on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The loss was very beneficial for one person who may not have even realized it--ace photographer Tonya. That's because just as the Mudcats took the field, Gabe announced to all his teammates, "My mom said if we win this game she is buying Chick-fil-A milkshakes for EVERYBODY!" No word yet on whether that offer automatically carries over to the next game.

Although the bats were largely silent--other than Zach's line drive homer and Brenner's sweet opposite-field RBI single--the defense was stellar. As Coach Jim pointed out, Charley set a record that can never be broken by making all three outs of the first inning...and did it while playing left-center. That means Charley has recorded five outs in the first inning against the Bats in the last two games. Unfortunately for Charley, the Doritos were stolen out from under his nose by Asher, who snagged a fly ball in the second inning in left field. In fact, coupled with Brenner's Oreo victory--he wrestled them away from Zach--the six-year-olds had a clean sweep of the food rewards.

Never content to let an opportunity to eat pass by, the team celebrated GM Jenn's birthday with cupcakes, which they very pointedly did not share with the moms from the other team, who had been thoroughly whipped in a heated cheering competition during the game.

The Mudcats have practice Thursday night at 5:15 and return to tournament action Saturday morning at 9 a.m., with pregame at 8 a.m. Breakfast will be served. The 'Cats will be in an earn-back situation for helmet stickers, as one sticker was awarded to everyone on Tuesday night, but Coach Andrew told the team a fully focused effort on Saturday will get double stickers.

Tuesday's Mudcat scoring plays
Fifth inning
Leading off the fifth facing a 4-0 deficit, Zach smashed what has to be the lowest, most line-drive of his eight home runs this season. There wasn't much question about whether it was far enough, but there was a real question about whether it was so low and so hard that it might just slam through the fence. Instead, it went over the fence, clearing it with room to spare and providing the first Mudcat run of the day. Suitably inspired, the All Blacks added another run when Hayes launched a double to center, ran the bases perfectly by being just daring enough on a couple of line outs, and then scored on Brenner's two-out opposite-field single.
Score after four and a half innings: Bats 4, Mudcats 2


Tuesday's Web Gems

• The next time the Bats play the Mudcats, the Bats are going to have a pregame meeting with the sole purpose of instructing their hitters to never--and I mean never--hit it to Charley Hegeman. The last time these teams met, he made two of the three first-inning outs from the outfield. This time, he decided to do a little better--and made all three first-inning outs from the outfield. He made the first two, which were actually difficult plays, look easy. And on the third, he made a shoestring catch that retired the Bats 1-2-3 in the top of the first.
• Trying to emulate Charley, Asher made a catch in left field in the second inning. This is how Stephanie described it: "The biggest, baddest Bat of them all hit a rocket shot to left. Asher ran in like a gazelle, timed it perfectly, had to leap over some obstacles, waited until the last possible second, and then dove with perfect form and focus to make the catch. After he caught it, he ran into the dugout while looking like the cutest little pumpkin of them all." This is how Adam described it: "I wish he would have used two hands." The truth is probably somewhere in-between.
• Charley proved he could play defense in the infield just as well as the outfield, as with the bases loaded he fielded a grounder at pitcher and then fired to Smiley at catcher for the force-out that prevented a run.
• The Mudcats seem to be making a habit of turning some strange double plays. This one involved a pop fly to the catcher, a ricochet off a runner, and a heads-up play by an outfielder. It started with one out and the bases loaded--obviously, a key situation. The Bats hitter popped up to the catcher, where Smiley alertly threw off his mark and grabbed the ball out of the air. He fired to third to try and catch the Bats runner too far off the bag. But the throw bounced off the runner's back and caromed into the outfield. That's where Gavin alertly picked it up and threw a laser back to third base, where Zach had wisely covered the bag from his shortstop position. He applied the tag to complete the very rare 2-8-6 double play.

Tuesday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	5
Bats	0	1	3	0	0	X	4	11