Tournament game #2 Mudcats 7 - Bats 19 :-(

Bleacher Dad Dale has done a great break down of our final game !

THANK YOU DALE !

Here is the final breakdown:

Tough, tough loss everyone. The Mudcats' season was ended with a Bats win 19-7. We were the home team this evening for the Fall tournament game in the one loss bracket.

The 1st inning end with us going down 1-2-3 and the Bats up 6-0. We gotta give it to the Bats - they were hitting well today.

The 2nd inning was punctuated by Fin's spectacular fly ball catch in left center and nice singles from Cameron, Will and Jackson but the Bats were hitting it where we weren't and took a 11-0 lead going in the 3rd.

Will and Jackson started off the 3rd inning defensively with 2 grounders they threw to Brayden for a quick 2 outs. The Bats hung around and scored 3 more runs before we could collect the final out with Cameron's throw to Channing at 2nd. After Moose's single, we made good contact in the bottom of the 3rd with Sam, Julio and Mason Jones but we couldn't get anyone home quite yet.

4th Inning ~ The Bats only scored one in the 4th and we managed to put 3 on the scoreboard to chip away at the Bats' 14-3 lead with some nice hitting. Alex hit a nice one and turned a sharply hit ball into a solid single. Jay and Brayden collected singles and then Channing BOMBED one to the outfield for a stand up double. Cameron then hit a screamer to the fence to help drive in our 3 runs.

In the top of the 5th the Bats' scored 5 more and the were up 19-3. Fin had a nice tag out at home plate with a smart heads up throw to home by Jackson to stop another run from getting home. We brought another one home as well with Jackson getting another great hit and Fin, Sam and Mason Jones getting some nice hustle singles  too! 19-4 Bats going in the final inning.

Our defense held strong in the top of the 6th with Jackson getting a ground ball and finished the out with a smooth throw to Brayden on 1st. Channing made a great play at second as he stabbed the ball as it was going by to get the force at 2nd almost doing a split to get a hard it ball up the middle! Nice Play! Channing then caught a pop up to get us up to bat for the last time this fall.

Jay and Brayden started us out in the bottom of the 6th with hard hit singles. Channing continued his hot streak by sending a screaming liner to center for a double but not before he launched one to Coach Jamie's shin leaving a huge bump on his shin as well. Cameron collected a single to drive in another run but the Mudcats simply ran out of innings to try to get back in this one. Bats won 19-7.

Thanks for a great Fall season everyone! Thanks to Jamie, Chris, Brett and Rob for their time coaching this Fall. I hope everyone has a nice Winter - see you in the Spring at tryouts!       Dale !

Tournament game #1 ~ Mudcat's3- Bulls 5

Tournament Game #1 highlights !

The baseball gods really did deliver perfect baseball weather and our Cats got some pre-game "Sport Clip" attention as each Mudcat got their very own red- design for their hair ~

1st inning ~~

From the first at bat ~ Jay- hawk hit a line drive right up the middle-- but the Bulls made their own web gem two glove play ! Off the pitchers glove right into the shortstops glove for our first hit and our first out ! Braden, Connor and Channing all got hits to move around the bases and bring in Braden for our first run ! 1-0
* DEFENSE*
Mudcats held the Bulls scoreless with solid defense!

2nd & 3rd Inning ~~

Moose started off the 2nd inning with a great hit to shortstop and Julio started off the 3rd inning with an on base hit but the Bulls rock solid defense held our cats scoreless as they evened the score 1-1 !

4th Inning ~~

Braden started this inning off great with a hit and solid base running to 2nd.
Cameron crushed the ball to 1st base and drove in Braden and Connor!

Will, Jackson and Finn all had solid hits to get on base but our Mudcats retired this inning bases loaded ! 3-1

* DEFENSE*
Bulls came out swinging and tied up the score 3-3

5th Inning ~~

Cats went down hard and quickly 1~2~3
Just one note-- MASON JONES IS F~A~S~T !!!

*DEFENSE*
Great defense by our cats BUT one AWESOME Bull hit moved the  Bulls around to score 2 more runs ! 3-5

6th Inning ~~

Julio " Lil Papi gets on with some Mudcat magic !
HOORAY ~ JAY bombs one to left field
Braden gets on and Julio goes for it at home but gets out ! I must note that was exciting even if he got out ! Great hustle Julio !
 It was looking exciting but we just did not get that big hit to drive in another run! It's hard to accept a lose in the tournament, but it will just make a win that more exciting and appreciated !

                                                             Bulls win 3-5

                   If you can't accept losing ~ you just can't win !     Vince Lombardi

"LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL IS A GOOD THING~ IT KEEPS THE PARENTS OFF THE STREETS :-)"    YOGI BERRA

Mudcat Family ~~ I have enjoyed writing my play by play of the games ! I know I get wordy and silly but I truly love this Mudcat team and I know some will play on different teams next year but the boys will always have a connection as will each and every Mudcat family ! West Raleigh is a special place, The Mudcat team is a special team and our boy's are very very special players and now buddies !  
                                                      See you all in the spring ! Mudcat Mom #34

Game #12 Mudcats13 ~ Riverdogs 9 !

                              ~~~~~~~THREE WINS IN A ROW~~~~~~~
                                                 Way to play Mudcats!

Jaybird showed  up " RED"dy to play and fired up his Cats with one cool "JAYHAWK" ! Yes, I know it is a Mohawk but it just seems so much cooler to call his inspirational hair cut a "JAYHAWK" !

The infield looked "THICK" from all the rain , as the coached prepped the field ! Well, the infield looked thick AND the smell of the PDQ was thick in the stands! It seems that PDQ is addictive :-) I tried to wheel and deal a few chicken strips but was abruptly denied :-) LOL

                             ~~~~GAMETIME~~~~GAMETIME~~~~GAMETIME~~~~

1st inning !
These Riverdogs showed up with 9 players and I promise they looked like they drove themselves to the game ! They looked so focused and older ! I personally was very impressed with their batting and fielding all game for having only 9 players !

The Riverdogs came out hitting hard! The 2nd batter bombed one to center field and they quickly got on the board 0-1 ! This up to bat ended with the Riverdogs only getting run because Mason J made a great play in right field, Moose was solid in left field and the boys played solid defense as the River dogs pounded the ball !

TIME TO BAT 1stinning ~
~ Jay gets on -- excuse me, JAYHAWK gets on to lead off
~Braden drove one to center
~Connor moved the boys around
~Channing drove in two Cats 2-1 :-)
"THAT's THE WAY WE LIKE IT" came cheering from the Mudcat dugout ! YES~~ I like that song, and that is exactly the way we like it !!
~Cameron moved Channing to third and then our up to bat ended !

2nd inning ~
A few~~ strike that ~~ ALOT of great hitting ended he Riverdog appearance at the plate 2-6 ! I must admit, I thought this was going to get ugly for our Cats~ The Riverdogs just looked so solid at the plate ~~ Well, that's what I get for thinking ! I forget about the 5th & 6th inning magic that some how occurs for our Cats!

TIME TO BAT ~ 2nd inning
~ Finn Finn Finn with a base hit to2nd
~ Moose Moose Moose to 1st
~ Alex Alex Alex with an RBI  
We were back on the board !   ~~ 3-6~~

3rd Inning~

The Riverdogs continued to pound the ball ( remember I said I was worried earlier) and ended their plate appearance adding 3 more runs !

TIME TO BAT ~ 3rd inning
~Braden gets on
~Channing comes up BIG TIME bringing Braden in 4-9
~ Connor gets on base and moves the Cats around
~Cameron adds an RBI 5-9
~Will tally's up another RBI 6-9
~Jackson gets on but Cameron takes a tag to the head as he hustles to 3rd ! He was out and it was noted, " It never hurts as bad when you are safe"
~Finn gets a hit and with a  little Mudcat luck and hustle gets on and Will comes in ! 7-9
~~~~~ WAY TO DIG DEEP MUDCATS !!! ~~~~

4th inning~
Mudcats and Riverdogs held tough, fought hard and the score remained the same ! So, this Mudcat Mom was starting to remember what sometimes happens in the 5th and 6th !
 The CARDIAC CATS show up !!

5th inning ~

Solid defense kept the Riverdogs at bay ! we held the 7-9 !

TIME TO HIT !!!!
~ Jayhawk gets on with hustle!
~Brayden works some Mudcat magic and gets on!
~Connor brings in Jayhawk 8-9
~ Channing gets on 1st
~Cameron drives in Connor 9-9
** THIS IS GETTING REAL GOOD**
~ Will brings in Channing AND Cameron 11-9
~Finn continues to hit great and brings in Will AND ACTION :-) 13-9
*****WHAT A RALLY *****
Coach Jaime called up Coach Chris to pitch and he took third! The combo of the boys hitting and hustle with Coach Chris pitching in the sweet spot and Coach Jaime sending the boys aggressively home , made this inning AWESOME !!

6th inning ~

WEB GEM of a catch from Channing ~ 2nd out from Action  the 3rd as Will seals the deal !!!
 1-2-3 Their OUT !
~~~****~~*~*~*~*~* MUDCATS WIN MUDCATS WIN MUDCATS WIN~*~*~*~****~~~

                  Now, That's the way we like it !

Game #11 Mudcats 4 ~ Bats 3 :-) NICE WIN CATS !!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME :-) This Mudcat Mom must have missed an AWESOME GAME !!!

Tough night to work, but my Mudcat Husband kept me updated  by texting me the play by play of the game from the boys !

Bleacher Dad Dale and  the crew gave me an awesome breakdown of this Mudcat WIN !
I talked to Action Jackson about 9pm and all he said was, " Mommy, we played great and I got robbed TWO times " ! I knew a Mudcat Coach must have handled his two out's well for his self esteem :-)

Here's the breakdown: Mudcat Bleacher Dad Dale ~ you are Awesome !

Here's the breakdown:

 

Practice makes Perfect! Great Defense Mudcats!  A nice 4-3 win against the first place Bats as everyone played great and came together to clamp down on the Bats' offense.

I think we all saw a glimpse of the future everyone. It seemed we were watching our boys play as young men with poise and determination. Our wonderful coaching staff needs to take some credit for this win as fundamentals taught in practice was the difference in this one. A muddy, wet field had the ball skipping around in the outfield and staying low in the infield all game long from the week long drizzly rain and overcast skies.

Did anyone see the swamp at 3rd base?

1st:

The top of the first everyone was ready to play. Will and Channing caught pop ups and Cameron had a nice play then throw for a force out at 2nd. No balls hit to the outfield....yet. On offense, Connor came up with 2 outs and destroyed the ball sending it rocketing to short; #88 held his ground but the ball was too fast and he couldn't make a play and injured his forearm trying to stop it as well. Coach Jamie heard the "smack" of the ball hitting his arm and was the first one on the scene to insure he was OK. After a few minutes of recovery #88 stayed in the game. The Mudcats then scored 2 runs with the 2 out rally As Channing got a single next. Cameron came up, waited for the perfect pitch - then proceeded to BOMB one to left center to drive in Connor and Channing. 2-0 Mudcats after the first.

2nd:

The Mudcat defense was stifling again as the Bats could only muster a couple of singles in the top of the 2nd. The defensive highlight was an impressive call "3-3-3-3" by Cameron as Jackson fielded a ball cool as a cucumber and then made it look easy spinning and throwing to Cameron for the 2nd out. Channing closed the inning looking like Pedroia (although I bet Channing is taller) fielding and throwing to Will at 2nd; smooth as silk. 

2nd - 3rd:

Blink and you missed the bottom of the 2nd and top of the third as both teams went 1-2-3. Still 2-0 Mudcats going into the bottom of the 3rd. Alex had a great hit to start out the bottom of the 3rd. We loved it as he smiled and high fived coach Rob when Alex got to first. Sam blazed to first to beat out an infield grounder for a single - man is he fast. Mason Jones then drove one over 2nd base for a solid hit with a sweet swing (thanks for the pointers during batting practice Dad!!!). Julio had some nice swings but was unlucky at the plate in the 3rd. We were held scoreless going into the top of the 4th but the hits translated to confidence in the field.

4th:

Will caught a pop up to start the top of the 4th. After the Bats got a single, #53 laced one to right center all the way to the fence to drive in the first Bats run. Channing made a tough grounder look easy at 2nd and made a good throw to Brayden for out #2. The Bats scored another one and we went to the bottom of the 4th 2-2. We came up to bat looking loose and ready to hit in the bottom of the 4th. Brayden had a nice hustle single to start us out. Channing kept the momentum going with a screaming liner to center for a double driving in Lefty who scored with smart base running watching where the ball was being thrown and racing to home before time was called. Cameron then drove in Channing with a clutch hit that proved to the be the game winning run. Will then collected a nice hit as we left the 4th up 4-2.

5th:

Jackson made it look easy during the top of the 5th as he smoothly collected 2 grounders and threw perfectly to Brayden for a quick 2 outs. Practice makes perfect coaches! Then the Moose show happened! The Bats drove one to left...Moose immediately charged; glove up ready to go with the rest of left field ready to back him up. Mason N. looked confident and no one else challenged him for the ball (again - practice makes perfect). He ran up to the ball to his right at a tough angle and snagged it out the air on the run!! Coach Chris jumped up and high fived him. Moose was lucky to make it back the dugout as his teammates congratulated him the whole way back with proud Papa watching. The families in the stands felt proud as well as it is obvious all the Mudcats are "our" kids as we cheered his spectacular catch to end the inning 1-2-3. Still 4-2 Mudcats.

The bottom of the 5th started with Sean Patrick's slicing single and Moose still beaming from the awesome catch smacking a single as well. Although no runs were scored the solid hitting carried the momentum and confidence to the field to close the game.

6th:

The first place Bats would not go down easy. They confidently collected single after single and scored another run. The Mudcats had had enough as Brayden put his glove on the ground to collect a grounder and calmly stepped on first - 2 outs. With runners at 1st and 2nd, 2 outs the Bats looked confident as the top of the line up came up to bat. Another tough grounder, this time heading for Will. He cooly collects it and tosses it to Cameron for out number 3.

Wait - we don't get to bat again?!? Mudcats WIN 4-3. The Bats emotion over flowed as some carried tears to the shake hands line and we saw great sportsmanship from parents and kids alike as the Mudcat family congratulated the Bats for playing with heart and not giving up. Coach Jamie then handed out web gem stickers and clutch hitting stickers as the coaches were held almost speechless with a common theme for the post game gathering being great fundamental defensive and poise under pressure to win the game against a tough team.

A side note of sportsmanship by Connor after the game by checking in on #88. Here's how it the dramatic scene played out: Connor walked up to him and said seriously "You alright? Sorry about that." #88 held tough and said "that's OK" and the combatants turned and walked away from each other respectfully to battle another day.

DALE ~Thank you for the breakdown and helping all of us who were not there know what happened !
I am so proud of all our Mudcats !!
WE BEAT THE # 1TEAM :-)
WOOHOO~Practice has made for "progress"! PROGRESS before PERFECTION !!!
Connor, AKA Smiley AKA CRUSH ! Thanks for the sportsmanship :-)
So sorry I missed the game, but so glad for the play by play breakdown :-)
See you all Saturday afternoon !!!

GO MUDCATS :-) Amanda

 

Game # 10 Mudcats 6- Bulls 4 !!

What difference a week makes at West Raleigh !  I usually start off with , It was a hot sunny day on Nowell Field ! NOT this baseball day ! Chilly~ windy~ and Burrrr ! The Hot chocolate was made and all our Mudcats were warming up for a VICTORY !

It sure was fun to see the boys having some spirit pre-game ! They looked like they were having fun and isn't  that what it is all about ? ( and a solid win helps )

1st inning~ 
Jay lead off the Cats ( The Mudcat Coaches shook up the line up some) and got on base. Connor stepped up with a , " to hot to handle" line drive to the outfield to move Jay around. We would end this up to bat scoreless.

On defense Sam had a great throw from left to 2nd~ they did not make the out BUT the throw was solid and the Cats were playing solid defense! Moose had some solid throws from the outfield as well to keep the Bulls 0-1 !

2nd Inning ~
Will started us off with several foul hits to right field then bombed a great hit to center field ! Action moved Will to 3rd ! The Cats were looking real good at the plate. Moose was up and Coach Jaime yelled, " SWING ALL THE WAY THROUGH" Moose !  A~N~D Moose delivered bringing Will home for our 1st run !  Let me just end this inning by saying ~~ DON'T LEAD OFF ON 2nd BASE !! If you were there you know exactly what I mean ~~ and that was that for our up to bat. Again~~ the Mudcats don't really need 3 out's every time they Bat to get it done ! We play better under pressure :-)

On defense ~~ OUT CAME the umbrellas, drizzling rain made for some messy chilly baseball however 1~2~3 OUTS and we were back to the plate !!

3rd Inning ~
Coach Jaime was on fire at  the plate ~ he was throwing some heat as out Cats struck out a few times ( Just teasing with you Coach Jaime)! I think our Cats just were ready to be hitters and the chilly rain and wind was a curve ball for players and pitchers :-)  Up came our Lil' Papi with a great hit ! I love it when he gets a hit~ that smile is priceless !

As I re-read my defense notes for this inning, there are a few rain droplets, runny ink so if my memory serves me correctly~ we had some throwing errors and sealed the inning 1-3 ! Time to make up some runs.

4th Inning ~ 
A solid hit by Braden and some Mudcat luck & he is on 1st !
Connor "Crush-Smiley" brought Braden to 3rd~
Channing had a pop-up BUT also an RBI bringing in our 2nd run~~
Cameron moved Connor to 3rd~
Will stepped up ( let it be noted-- no sleeves~ no batting gloves but ) TOUGH HOT hit to move in 2 Mucdats ! 4-3 ! No GLOVES~ NO SLEEVES~ " NO PROBLEM" :-)

***** GREAT INNING MUDCATS****

Defense for this inning was solid ! Pop fly caught from Jackson and a double play by Braden and Channing !! WOO HOO CATS !

5th Inning ~
Moose with a leadoff hit and speed getting on 1st~ Alex with a hit moving Moose to 2nd~ Great hitting Cats~ those Bulls played some tough defense this inning and kept us scoreless!

Defense~ A "COOL" snowcone catch by Braden at2nd started off an exciting defensive inning for our Cats. We had a few errors throwing that  scored a run for the Bulls and tied up this ball game ! The Cats truly hunkered down and seemed to be determined to end this inning and finish off this game with a win.

6th Inning ~ A Mudcat yelled from the dug-out, " You gotta hit it Braden"- after a record amount of foul hits-and he surely did !
Connor and Channing had solid hits to move the Cats around and score one more run for The Cats 5-4 !
Will delivered with a RBI bringing in Connor and we ended our up to bat 6-4
*** If you remember this inning, again you win some calls and loose some calls** Mudcats are tough with the Umpire selection of outs and safe calls !

RAIN*wind* RAIN *wind* RAIN** just made our Mudcat defense tougher ! Cameron took care of the 1st out ~~ WILL with a AWESOME clutch catch for the 2nd out &  Action getting the 3rd out and we put this one in the BOOKS-- !!

Burrrrrrrrrrr ~~ this one was cold but our Mudcats were H~O~T :-)

Game #9 Mudcats 8- Scrappers 6 !

                                            What an A~W~E~S~O~M~E game !

I appreciate our Bleacher Dad reporter , DALE ~AKA~ Connor " Smiley :-) " Allen's Dad, helping out with the bleacher report today !   If I may, I'm going to re-write that last sentence :-)!

I appreciate our Bleacher Dad reporter, Dale~ AKA~ Connor " CRUSH" Allen's Dad, helping out with the bleacher report today! YES ~ he is "Smiley" but tonight he CRUSHED that ball !

I am so proud of all" 13" of our Mudcats . They play their hearts out ! We proved we don't need 3 out's to dig deep ! LOL ~ With Jay birds hustle, humor &enthusiasm, Actions determination, Lefty's clutch plays on 1st and solid hitting, Big Red stepping up with solid performance all around, The "Thrill" remaining calm and delivering exactly what is needed from him at the plate and on the field, The 'Hammer" always hanging tough at 2nd and being a leader on the field and in the dug-out,  Lil Papi getting a hit and giving smile just at  the perfect time, Jack Rabbit, Moose, Finn & Crazy Legs hit's & hustle, Crash & Crush coming up big with hits that move all our Cats around the bases !

The fact that WE ALL know exactly who each Mudcat is in that paragraph, without really  using their names, makes this team so special !

Bleacher Dad Dale's re-cap ! It's great :-)

                              Gametime! Gametime! Gametime! GO MUDCATS! 

Great win for our Mudcats tonight 8-6 over the Scrappers who lived up to their name and fought hard to come back but our defense closed the game out. Our last game against the Scrappers we had to come back to win as well (09-11-13) but this game seemed even more exciting! The 6th inning proved to be the Action Jackson and Lefty web gem show!!

We were up first to start the game. The parents noted the line up change when Connor came up third after a couple of unlucky outs and then smashed it to center field for a double. Ok, Ok, nice job coaches for shaking it up a bit. However, lady luck turned her head away again as we didn't score any runs. On defense Action Jackson had a fly out and stopped a hard grounder for the final put out at first to end the inning but the Scrappers were up 2-0 going into the 2nd. Jackson was just getting his glove warmed up.

The second inning saw more line up changes with Fin, Hammer, The Thrill, Jay Bird and Moose up to bat. We had 3 good singles and a couple of pop flys but no runs scored. On defense Will and Jackson started the inning with nice throws to Brayden but the Scrappers hustle beat out the throws to 1st. The Thrill then tossed one to Channing for the first out and caught a pop up for out #2. Lefty closed the inning with a grounder and calmly stepped on the bag. 2-0 Scrappers going into the "2 out" 3rd.

The 3rd inspired the bench and stands as Jack Rabbit was blur on the base path and scored our first run. Moose drilled the ball to left center to bring in Sam. Then Alex got a single and Lil Papi drove in Crazy Legs to tie it up 2-2. All of a sudden we were on defense..........It seemed to most we only had 2 outs and the Scrapper head coach met with Coach Jamie and the umps but we took the field anyway as both teams showed great sportsmanship and played on! Defensively in the 3rd Jay took a bat to glove/helmet early and then promptly took a step back to finish up the inning at catcher. Coach Jamie asked how he was and he shook it off but thank goodness for all that catcher gear no matter what a pain it is to put on every inning! Cameron had a couple of nice throws to Channing at 2nd to close out the inning but the Scrappers put another run on the board to take the lead again 3-2.

We tied it up in the 4th with Connor scoring after an absolutely crushing triple to the fence past 3rd with Big Red's clutch hit then driving him home. Fin had another single with great hustle to 1st base! 3-3 as the Mudcats took the field! The Mudcat defense then clamped down on the Scrappers with a 1-2-3 inning. 

The 5th started with more great base running hustle with Jay and Moose flying to first to get important singles to start us out strong! Mason Jones eyed our runners on 1st and 2nd, looked at coach Chris with determination and then smacked a single to collect 2 RBIs and then Crash cracked another nice single as we took the lead 5-3. After we took the field in the bottom of the 5th Channing caught all three outs at 2nd with throws from Jackson, Cameron and Will but the Scrappers put another one on the board to close the gap 5-4 going into the exciting 6th inning!

Great hitting for the Mudcats starting out the top of the 6th. Action Jackson hit it hard to the outfield for a single and then Lefty collected a single as well. Connor crushed another one to the outfield sending Jackson home. Then Cameron's and Hammer's clutch singles helped score 2 more runs as we took the lead 8-4 going into the bottom of the 6th. 

The bottom of the 6th was insane! The Scrappers got 2 quick singles and we all held our breath as they bombed a triple to score 2 runs. Brayden then caught a incredible fly out to stop the momentum. The Scrappers then came up to bat with one of their good hitters. The runner on 3rd poised to run home at the slightest contact with 2 outs. BOOM! A screaming liner headed to center field, the runner on third took off racing to home...WAIT A MINUTE...Jackson snatched it out of the air like a cat!!!!!!! He moved so fast he could have caught a fly trying to get by him!! Action Jackson was then mobbed at the mound by his teammates to end the game! Goodness what an ending. 

After we all started breathing again we gathered behind the dugout for stickers and the coaches' breakdown of the game. Coach Jamie told us he told Connor to hit it for Grandpa at the top of the 4th; why didn't I think of that? Our veteran infield came up big tonight and the younger players proved to be speed demons on the base path. Everyone showed up with frazzled parents and coaches rushing to get there by 4:30p but the team pulled it together and gutted out a great victory.

By the way - I think we can all agree coach Brett's lucky jeans and white dress shirt was the good luck charm for the night! No more uniform for you coach to keep the streak alive! I'll pitch in some more slush fund money to keep that shirt pressed! Haha.

  

Game #8 Mudcats 5- Lookouts 8

Our Cardiac Cats had their eye black on and ready for some Monday night Mudcat madness !

As we  Pledged Allegiance to the Flag, we faced right into the sun that beamed down on the Mudcat bleachers ! It sure seemed like it was going to be a hot one ! It was time to toss the ball caps in the air and get down to the business of baseball.

1st inning ~ The Lookouts came out hitting hard. Connor started us off with a great catch in center field. Not too much damage was done as we took to the plate 0-1 !

The sun finally went behind the trees :-) Jay cheered, " hit it to outer space Channing!"  Channing delivered and started up off by getting on base.  Cameron stepped up with a blast to right field that brought in our first Mudcat run !  Connor had a great line drive to left field but we ended the inning 1-1.

2nd inning ~ The Lookouts got " 6"  runs on us quickly . They were working our outfield out pretty good !  Braden scored a web-gem with an awesome catch on 1st base .

The Lookouts got our Cats out 1-2-3 . We had some good solid hitting but the Lookouts stayed solid on defense.

3rd inning ~ Channing had a great web- gem play to keep the Lookouts scoreless.

The Mudcats settled down some, made some solid hits and inched closer to bring the score 4-6.

4th inning ~  Our MUDCAT defense really stepped up this inning taking care of the outs 1-2-3 in a row !

Connor started us off with a solid hit, Finn moved him around ! " WE NEED A HIT MOOSE" and the Moose delivered bringing in Connor ending the inning 5-6 !

5th inning ~ Gezzzz-- these Lookouts are some great hitters ! Bad throws and maybe we should have " eaten" the ball some added runs to the Lookouts lead.
This inning ended 5-8

6th inning ~ WE JUST NEED 3 outs and 4 runs ! Not too much to ask of our Cardiac Cats right ??

The bleachers were ready for a comeback! " Stay tough Mudcat's" ~~ " Let's play ball guys" `` " Give a team effort Cats" !! All the encouragement helped out Cats to again, a 1-2-3 out series !

JUST 4 runs and we can go home winners Mudcats ! ONCE again, we had two outs and the Cats started coming alive! Cameron stepped to the plate and drove Connor to 3rd ! We were all at the edge of our seats but a pop-up and some bad Mudcat luck ended our Monday night Mudcat madness :-)

Mudcats 5- Lookouts 8
It was asked of the Cats to dig deep ~ play hard and come to the next game ready to play for the team and not give up ! Learn something Mudcats~

Win or lose, it is just so special to be in a great environment, surrounded by an AWESOME MUDCAT family ! See you all Thursday !