Practice #1

The 2013 Mudcats practiced for the first time Wednesday night on the frozen muddy tundra of Nowell Field. The evening began with a few brief words from Coach Sean, who decided to go the brutally honest route by admitting he makes more mistakes than anyone on the team (not sure what it means that everyone was mumbling, "Yeah, like in selecting assistant coaches").

After deciding not to wrestle a 13-14 year-old team for possession of the other lower field, the Mudcats took the field at Nowell and promptly lost two six-year-olds in the mud, trimming the roster from 15 down to 13. Good job by Jay and Jackson to not sink to the bottom of the West Raleigh complex. The Minor League is considering adding a mud-dodging station to next year's tryouts.

Practice began with some work on form throwing, using four seams and keeping the elbow high. Players then took some grounders in the infield before splitting into two groups for infield and outfield work. The evening ended in the romantically lit batting cages. That's when it was discovered that your signup fees apparently don't cover a pitching screen for the batting cages. That left Coach Sean to bravely stand there and have baseballs ripped at him from 13 angry, muddy hitters.

You will be receiving uniform order confirmations in your email today. Please make sure to return them as soon as possible to make sure we get our order in on time. Also, as a reminder, we will be using the WRMudcats Twitter account this year for practice/game updates, so make sure you (and your relatives who want to keep up with the Mudcats) are signed up to receive updates.

The next practice is bright and early on Saturday at 9 a.m., as part of our continuing efforts to make sure we never practice when the temperature is above 50 degrees.