Game #2 Mudcats -vs- Bats

March 31st, 2014 Mudcats -vs- Bats


As the days have passed my smile still stays stuck in a position of happiness & pride! I have looked over and shared the pictures 100 times ! If we didn't win another single game this season, for this Mudcat Mom-- I would still feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I look back over game #2 of the 2014 season!
Yes, I'm a product of the 80's hair-band era, and a song just keeps coming to mind ! As sung by a band that even today still can draw a crowd, AEROSMITH sings a lyric I feel applies to the practices, scrimmage games and the first two games of our season !  The song is, "DREAM ON" and the lyric I am referring to say's, " You got to lose to know how to win"  ~~"you know it's true, all the things you do come back to you " !  DREAM ON ! 


This game was NO DREAM ! Parts of it even seemed like a nightmare.  Before I begin the breakdown of the game let me make note of the superior pre-game music prepared by Kendall and the announcing of our game( despite the speaker system sounding like an episode of Charlie Brown - Peanuts) by Kendall & Ben ! Mudcat brothers & sisters add to the experience!
I LOVED seeing the players looking tough with the eye black on ! We look sharp in all black & red and oh so grown-up with the eye black !


1st inning ~
The Cats came out looking sharp in the field ! Some infield/ outfield player positions changes were made and the changes proved to be very much a part of our success. We held the Bats scoreless as we took the plate.
Jay & Jackson start us off with base hits as Braydon moved our Cats around the bases. We had SOLID hits but those Bats held strong and kept us scoreless the 1st inning as well.


2nd inning ~~
The Bats came out slugging ! Quickly the got two runs on us.
Will & Jake both got on base with hits. Trey stepped up with a foul ball that would be caught by the Bats 1st base player. This guy got 3 outs on us from foul ball catches !  Again our cats had great hits by Marcus, Nick, Tino & Grey but the Bat's were in perfect sink to keep us scoreless at the bottom of the 2nd.


3rd inning~~~
HOMERUN over center field ! I don't care what team you cheer for- homeruns on NOWELL are cool ! But :-(  insert sad face-- it was not a Mudcat ! This homerun put the Bats up 0-6 ! OMGoodness-- how in the world are we going to catch up " DREAM ON" right !
Grey had a heck of a web-gem hit AND the Bats had a heck of a web-gem catch !
Bottom of the 3rd ~Mudcats scoreless~ 0-6 !


4th & 5th inning ~~~~~
Would you be shocked if I told you the Bats came out H-O-T again ! Well they did, BOTH INNINGS, but so did our Cats. We made some key outs in the outfield (Trey-- good playing out there ) and kept errors to a minimum !
MUDCAT BATS came alive for our turn up to bat. In the two innings Jackson & Channing got on as Will drove in Jackson and Jake drove in Channing :-) Our Mudcat rally began !
Nick had a great hit but some Bat magic locked in the out. Tino battled hard at the plate and our 5th inning ended 2-7 !


6th inning ~~~~~~
I apologize for the lack of description and rush through the 4th & 5th innings BUT I know the ending to this story and I think I am getting excited all over again ! I just want to get to the good part ! Well, it was all good. Defense was good, batting was great but that Bat homerun really put us in a hole and they too were playing solid defense.
WeLcOmE BaCk WILL THE THRILL ! I'm so sorry you were sick "but" some extra rest and TLC did your game some good ! Your defensive effort, along with the entire team,  kept the Bats scoreless this inning !
OK ~ so it's now the bottom of the 6th inning, Jay & Jackson have had solid hits but got out by good Bats defense. Ok, so maybe I did start packing up some, started thinking about an after game hotdog and 100 other various Mommy things.My thoughts were like this, "well-- they played good- they just had that one bad inning, we will get them next time, 0-2, no big deal, were young, we will get our chance, I'm just glad it's not Jackson up to bat now with 2 outs ( LOL )"  ect ect ect...
**Then a crack of the bat came, Braden gets a great on base hit ! I was really happy for Braden( you know he has played a great game) but we did have two outs on us and we were down 5 runs ) Some one said- "hummm-- maybe this will be a CARDIAC CAT GAME like last year" ! WOW-- what a prediction that was !
Channing follows up- then Cameron then Will then Jake THEN~ TREY~ THEN MARCUS MARCUS MARCUS ties it all up !
I had to dig back in my purse and get back out my pen !
I look up and see 7-7-7 " HOME 7 ( 7th Inning ) Visitor 7 ! OMGOODNESS we just came ALIVE :-) Yes, this inning the Cats became a team, they cheered for each other, held it together, made clutch plays that made the 7th inning possible!
DREAM ON ! All they worked for, all the cold practices, scrimmages, ALL the 1st game lessons of a painful loss~ all came down to some solid defense in the 7th inning that left those hot Bats bats "cold"( that made sense right )  !!! We were now H-O-T !
My name is Action Jacksons Mom and you know what I got~~ what do you got~~ I got a team that's hotter than hot !
TINO "Bambino",  steps up and gets on base, Grey "G-man" delivers a base hit, Jay- Bird hits a single & Action Jackson remains cool, collective(ok, not really-- he was jumping all over the place on the way to hit) and brings "TINO HOME" !
MUDCAT NATION erupts with pride , I am positive I cried! I felt such a sense of joy for each and every player, coach, parent, brother, sister, Grandma ( GiGi) Grandpa and Mudcat family  !
It was a unified effort all coming together at one time for VICTORY!
All the practices( on the field or in an indoor facility), talks, scrimmages, game #1 loss developed into " NO QUITING IN THECATS"  !
" You got to lose to know how to win"  ~~"you know it's true, all the things you do come back to you " !  DREAM ON ! 


P.S. Hey Coach Robb-- this MVP sticker goes out to you ! Great pitching-- get that arm iced up for three in a row :-)


                               CATS WIN 8-7 Cats win 8-7 Cats win 8-7 Cats win 8-7
                                        DID I mention, Cats win 8-7 :-)