Game 9: Bulls 12, Mudcats 1

In baseball, as a grizzled veteran once said (I think his name was "Coach Mike"), sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains. And, well, sometimes it rains and you lose. For the second straight game, the field required significant prep time to get ready after some sporadic mid-day rains. After yeoman's work from many coaches, plus Ben's dad, Kevin--who was so impressive Gabe might even hire him to do some work for Proctor & Pops Field Maintenance--the field was eventually playable. But that turned out to be the highlight of the evening, as the Mudcats dropped their second straight decision, 12-1. The loss gave the Mudcats and Bulls a split of the season series.

The Bulls led from wire-to-wire in snapping their four-game losing streak, building off a two-run homer in the top of the first and never looking back. Even the appearance of a mysterious well-dressed man--who for some reason insisted on being called "Coach Tom"--in the Mudcats dugout in the late innings couldn't reverse the fortunes. The stingy Bulls defense never cracked the door, and the 'Cats never sent more than five hitters to the plate in any one inning, making it very difficult to get a rally going. The offensive highlight belonged to Will, who recorded his first 2-for-2 West Raleigh day.

The original schedule had the Mudcats listed for practice on Friday night. That practice has been canceled due to a non-Mudcats game being rescheduled at the same time. The next All Blacks event is Saturday morning bright and early at 9 a.m. The traditional early morning Mudcat Buffet will be served, so come hungry for pregame at 8 a.m.

Thursday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Gavin reached on a twisting grounder, moved all the way to third on Charley's hard hit ball to the right side, and then scored on Bryce's RBI fielder's choice.
Score after one inning: Bulls 2, Mudcats 1

Thursday's Web Gems

• In the first inning, Charley ranged to his right and made a backhanded catch on the outfield grass of a popup that looked ticketed for the outfield.
• On the very next hitter, Donovan was heads up backing up center field, and fired the ball back into second base on a double. That's where Gavin caught the relay and turned immediately to throw to Gabe, where the hitter was trying to stretch the play into a triple.
• Brenner closed out the inning by snatching a line drive out of the air in right-center.
• On a routine grounder that turned into a very tough play because of a bad hop leading off the fourth, Brady quickly adjusted to the unexpected hop and made the throw to first to retire the leadoff man.
• Two hitters later, Brady saved a base by backing up second on an errant throw.
• Still in the fourth, Asher picked up his second outfield assist of the season, throwing to Brady at second to record the force and cutting off what looked like a big Bulls inning.
• Charley went deep in the hole between third and shortstop to snag what looked like a grounder through the hole, then went to second to get a force in the sixth.

Thursday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Bulls	2	0	3	2	0	5	12	14
Mudcats	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	8