The day got off to an inauspicious beginning when Coach Sean took a ball off the spine in pregame BP, then took another one off the skull. You may notice him with some new equipment on Monday. Not surprisingly, he played through it, and may have pitched one of his best games. Do we have any volunteers to hit the ball off him on Monday?
The 'Cats showed some immediate resiliency when the Lookouts scored four quick runs in the top of the first. Undeterred, the Mudcats answered with four of their own, highlighted by Gavin's opposite field two-run home run. That was just the start of a hailstorm of offense, with runs in four of the five offensive innings. And, as Coach Mike pointed out after the game, the hits came from up and down the order. The top half of the order scored nine runs, and the bottom half of the order added an additional nine. Three of the four scoring frames were ignited by a leadoff hitter in the bottom half of the order.
Astute observers may have noticed a suspicious looking man attempting to make a covert cell phone call in the outfield in the late innings. The reason became clear as soon as the two teams shook hands, as Gabe shouted, "See Coach Mike for your Cook-Out milkshake!" That's right, Coach Mike was making good on his previous promise, and the 'Cats were the envy of every team in West Raleigh when a box full of milkshakes were delivered.
Coach Sean has been so busy awarding himself stickers for toughness that he is now totally out of them, so none were handed out on Saturday. However, he promised to try and replenish his supply before Monday night. Pregame for the Riverdogs game starts at 4:30.
As a reminder, the postseason bracket is available here.
Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Donovan led off by smoking a double, and then Gavin--on his way to a 3-for-3, 3 RBI day--crushed an opposite-field two-run home run. Brady and Charley followed with back-to-back singles. Bryce doubled in Brady, and then Gabe's fielder's choice scored Charley and tied the score.
Score after one inning: Mudcats 4, Lookouts 4
Second inning
Brenner got it started with a one-out single, then moved to second on Will's single. A fielder's choice from Channing put two runners in scoring position for Donovan, who promptly scored both of them with a single up the middle. Gavin's single to left scored Donovan.
Score after two innings: Mudcats 7, Lookouts 4
Fourth inning
Only the 10-run rule stopped the 'Cats from fully batting around. Colin picked up the first of his two hits with a hard-hit single to center. Noah drove in Colin with a double to left. Ben's tough to handle grounder put runners on the corners, and then Brenner picked up an RBI with a fielder's choice. Will singled, putting runners at the corners again, and Channing singled in Ben. With two down, Gavin singled, and then Brady roped a two-run single back up the middle. Charley, Bryce and Gabe strung together three straight RBI singles to activate the 10-run rule. Five of the eight runs in the frame crossed the plate with two outs.
Score after four innings: Mudcats 15, Lookouts 5
Fifth inning
Asher reached on an error, then scored on Colin's line drive to right-center. Noah cracked another hard hit ball to center, and then Brenner and Will picked up RBI singles to complete the Mudcat scoring.
Score after five innings: Mudcats 18, Lookouts 5
Saturday's Web Gems
- Donovan decided to defer his traditional first-inning catch in the outfield to the second inning, racing in to make a grab after the leadoff Lookout had reached in the second.
- Two batters later, with runners on first and second, Charley scooped up a ground ball at third, stepped on third to get the force, and threw to Brady at second to convert the inning-ending double play.
- A huge momentum-building play ended the third. With one run already in, former Mudcat Ben Penchuk picked up the third of his three hits on the day on a bullet to shortstop. Gavin knocked it down and threw to first too late to get the speedy runner. The Lookouts tried to score their runner from third, and Bryce alertly came up firing from first base. Ben threw off his catcher's helmet, got into position in front of the plate, received the throw and made the tag to end the inning.
- Gavin went deep in the hole between short and third in the fourth to pick up a grounder, and then Bryce made a long stretch to nab the runner by a quarter of a step.
- Gavin made two very similar plays in the fifth and the sixth, racing back onto the edge of the outfield grass to haul in a pair of difficult pop flies.
- Brady made back-to-back tough plays in the sixth. Each ball was hit hard, and he had to range to his right at second base. He knocked down both balls and got force outs at second base on each one to thwart a potential Lookouts rally.
| Saturday's line score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H |
| Lookouts | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 12 |
| Mudcats | 4 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | X | 18 | 23 |
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