Tournament game 1: Mudcats 4, Bulls 1

Playing under foreboding skies and dodging raindrops after a one-hour rain delay, the Mudcats won their tournament opener on Thursday night, edging the Bulls 4-1 in a defensive battle. The game featured a series of highlight reel plays from the All Blacks defense that kept the Bulls off the scoreboard until the fifth. The victory avenged an earlier loss to the Bulls and moved the 'Cats into Saturday's 3 p.m. winner's bracket matchup with the Lookouts at 3 p.m.

After a pair of nearly 30-minute delays, during which the Mudcats sat quietly under the shelter, both teams played stellar defense through the first three innings. The Bulls did manage to get three baserunners in the top of the first, and had runners on second and third with two outs, but Bryce caught a pop fly to end the threat. Stellar 'Cat defense resulted in the Bulls getting just one more runner as far as second base for the rest of the game, and that came on a line drive home run in the fifth. The All Blacks very nearly played flawless defense, as even the rare miscue was erased by a solid play from a teammate, as when Ben picked up a wayward throw to first in the fifth and hosed the overaggressive runner at second base.

To keep up with all the tournament possibilities, use the West Raleigh bracket that is being updated after each game. Saturday's pregame begins at 2 p.m.

Thursday's Mudcat scoring plays
Fourth inning
The only Mudcat runs of the game came in the fourth, and they all came with two outs. Donovan legged out a single and moved to second on a fielder's choice. With two down, Brady lofted a fly ball towards first that couldn't be handled, and Donovan hustled all the way around to score. Charley crushed a triple to left, scoring Brady, and then scored on Bryce's double. Gabe finished the scoring with a single to left.
Score after four innings: Mudcats 4, Bulls 0

Thursday's Web Gems

• Donovan continued his pattern of making a big early play in the outfield, snagging a first-inning line drive to hold the Bulls scoreless in the opening frame.
• Brady showed heart by taking a tumble at the bottom of the first and getting up gingerly, but then recovering in time to record the first out of the second inning on a pop fly to second.
• Gavin stayed with a grounder that had been redirected off a glove with two outs in the second, came up with the ball, and fired a good throw to first to end the inning.
• Ben pounced on a ball that was tapped in front of the plate and fired to first to record the rare 2-3 putout. 
• Gabe hustled in from pitcher to make a diving catch of a fly ball with one out in the fourth.
• Ben did a terrific job of backing up first base on the third hitter of the fifth. That put him into position to grab an errant throw and fire a rocket to second, where Brady did a solid job of receiving the throw and then putting the tag on the runner trying to advance from first to second.

Thursday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Bulls	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	4
Mudcats	0	0	0	4	0	X	4	7