The victory was not exactly a defensive clinic, but the All Blacks brought their best offense, scoring in every inning except the sixth (and they would've scored in the sixth if not for former Mudcat Tyler Key robbing Brenner with a sweet catch in the outfield). The 'Cats piled up 16 hits and had four different players reach base in all three of their at-bats. Alums Drew DiMeo and Ben Penchuk were on hand for the win. You might remember Ben as the 'Cat formerly known as LB. He is now known as "GS" after crushing a grand slam in the Lookouts win on Saturday.
The All Blacks victory marked the unofficial "senior day" for the Mudcat 8-year-olds, who played their final regular season game on Nowell Field. Each player was introduced individually before the game, and Coach Sean presented game balls to Gabe, Charley, Brady, Donovan, Bryce, Christopher and Noah.
Coach Sean and Coach Mike also provided some significant motivation for the tournament, which begins for the Mudcats on Thursday night with a 5:30 matchup against the Bulls. Coach Mike said the first postseason win would mean a candy bar for every 'Cat (parents, sadly, are not included in the offer). The second win will mean a Cook-Out shake for every player, and the third win means a pizza party. Coach Sean then made the somewhat rash declaration that if the Mudcats win the tournament championship, he will take a pie in the face and the players can shave his head.
The 'Cats do have practice before the first tournament game, as they practice at West Raleigh on Monday night from 6:30-8:30.
Final tournament seedings are as follows:
1. Riverdogs
2. Mudcats
3. Lookouts
4. Bats
5. Thunder
6. Bees
7. Bulls
8. Scrappers
As a reminder, the postseason bracket is available here.
Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Gavin smacked a two-out double, moved to third on a fielder's choice, and scored on Charley's single. Bryce, who hit the ball hard all day, drove home Charley with a two-out double.
Score after one-half inning: Mudcats 2, Thunder 0
Second inning
Asher led off with a single and moved to second on a one-out fielder's choice from Noah. The Thunder had trouble fielding Ben's single cleanly, and then Brenner added an RBI fielder's choice to stretch the lead.
Score after one and a half innings: Mudcats 4, Thunder 2
Third inning
Channing reached to lead off the inning and set up one of the biggest frames of the day. Donovan doubled, and with two men in scoring position, Gavin laced a two-RBI double the other way. He moved to third on Brady's single, then scored on Charley's hard-hit grounder to the left side. Asher finished the scoring with a two-out single.
Score after two and a half innings: Mudcats 8, Thunder 2
Fourth inning
Ben reached with one out, then hustled all the way to third on Brenner's single. Will plated Ben with an RBI fielder's choice.
Score after three and a half innings: Mudcats 9, Thunder 5
Fifth inning
Donovan led off with a single to left. Gavin finished a 3-for-3 day with an RBI single, then moved to third on Charley's double. Bryce blasted an RBI sacrifice fly, and then Gabe and Asher added two-out RBI singles for a pair of important insurance runs.
Score after four and a half innings: Mudcats 13, Thunder 7
Saturday's Web Gems
- In the bottom of the first, Donovan made a nice snag of a hard line drive in left-center.
- With one out in the second, Charley made a smooth play on a difficult ground ball at third base and fired to first to easily retire the hitter.
- Bryce made yet another quality scoop at first base to preserve a force-out in the third.
- Gabe hustled after a foul popup near the Thunder dugout and made a sprawling catch with two men on and the Thunder threatening in the fourth.
- Two batters later, Ben grabbed a pop fly at catcher for the inning's second out.
- With the 'Cats still holding on to a one-run lead and the top of the order on deck, Gavin knocked down a hard two-out grounder at shortstop, stayed with it, and fired to first to end the game.
| Saturday's line score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H |
| Mudcats | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 16 |
| Thunder | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 13 |
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