Game 3: Mudcats 10, Scrappers 9

This bleacher mom thinks the starting game temp was HOT but the electricity at the end of the game was even HOTTER!  There is absolutely no doubt that the Mudcats were hotter than hot in the 6th inning!

1st inning- I think it's fair to say that the top of the inning should be re-named the Conner "Smiley" show!!  Conner started the Cats defense off with a great catch for their 1st out!  The 2nd out came from a quick thinking play by Conner as he forced out the lead runner at 2nd base.  And in keeping with them theme... the final out was an awesome pop fly catch in center field by, you guessed it, CONNER!

Time for the Mudcats to bat!  The Scrappers were tough on defense as well!  From the dugout came the cheer "two out rally!"  Channing had a great hit to get on and Cameron put a big BLAST to center field.  With some confusion in base running the inning ended 0-0!

2nd inning- The Scrappers had hot bats this inning.  Thankfully Cameron made a great play from 3rd to stop the hot hitting Scrappers!
Up to bat came Conner with a great hit to put him on 2nd base.  Will had a solid hit but I think it was the Mudcat bleacher crowd that "willed" him safely to 1st base.  Finn got a hit to bring Conner in for the first Mudcat run of the game.

3rd inning- Jackson started off the inning with good pop fly catch at pitcher, and "Moose" stepped up to make some good stops.  The start of the 3rd inning looked promising until the Scrappers hit a BOMB to right field and made the score 5-1.   On the very next play, they launched another bomb to left field that increased the Scrappers lead 7-1.  Jackson fielded a little dish to 1st and ended their hitting rally!
Now it was time to bat!  Sam stepped up with a solid hit getting on base.  Conner, Mason and Alex all came through and moved Sam in to score the Cats 2nd run!

4th inning- The Mudcats made great defensive plays to keep the hard hitting Scrappers scoreless.  We then turned around with some lightning hot bats.  Jackson, Brayden and Channing all had solid hits to get on base.  Cameron delivered an RBI to bring in Jackson.  Conner stepped to the plate and had a big, big hit with bases loaded to bring in Brayden.  Then Will stepped up with a hit and one more Mudcat RBI bringing in Channing.  At the end of the inning the Mudcats rally brought the Cats within two.

5th inning-  The Mudcats took the filed prepared to stay solid on defense.  Jackson had a catch to get the 1st out.  Moose let the Bleacher mom crew know he was "HUNGRY!"  A snack was quickly delivered and the sun finally went down behind the trees.  Will and Channing added two great defensive plays to keep the Scrappers scoreless.

Mason "Moose" started the Cats off with a base hit followed by another base hit from Jay.  Having Mudcats on 1st and 2nd, Mason Jones stepped to the plate!  The dug-out was cheering "Bang, bang, choo choo train, come on Mason hit that thang!"  #20 delivered with a hit to bring in another run and pull the Mudcats within 1.

6th inning- The sun was now down but this inning was H-O-T!  The Scrappers came out hitting hard.  Jackson and Mason had a fist bump moment together when they worked to get the Cats first out.  Will and Channing teamed up for the second out and Brayden snagged a pop fly to end the Scrappers time at bat, but not before they add two runs to their lead, bringing the tally to 9-7.

Watch out world here we come, the Mudcats are #1!  Going into the bottom half of the final frame, the boys were as fired up in the dugout as they Mudcats have ever been!  Jackson lead off with a solid hit combined with a Scrapper error to put him on 1st base.  Brayden put a bomb to center field and brought Jackson home.  Channing  had a great hit combined with a Scrapper error that allowed him to advance.  At that point, a Mudcat mom was heard saying, "I didn't think I would be a screamer!" but we were all so excited!  Cameron stepped up and, WooHoo, tied up the game 9-9!  It was now "THRILL" time!  Will placed a huge hit to right field that brought in the winning Mudcat run!  Final score Mudcats -10, Scrappers-9.

Post game words of wisdom: "Listen guys, we win together and we lose together!"  "400 Mudcat stickers were purchased and hopefully they will all be gone by the end of this season."  "Something exciting happened when we were down 2-7 and we just dug down deep and never gave up!"