Bomb Squad

West Raleigh keeps a list of players hitting home runs known as the "Bomb Squad." The newest edition of the Bomb Squad includes our very own Gavin Gallaher, courtesy of his three-run blast last night against the Bees.

Reminder: someone, we're not saying who but he lives at the same house with someone on the Bomb Squad, may have said after the game that this week's practice is on Thursday. It is actually on Wednesday. The 'Cats will start at 6:30 in the cage at West Raleigh, and then move to the field from 7-8.

Game 13: Mudcats 12, Bees 3

Maybe it was Coach Sean's pregame freestyling. Maybe it was Coach Tom's birthday cupcakes. Maybe it was Coach Mike's "Mudcattitude" as he strode off the field after each defensive inning. Or maybe the Mudcat bats are just too good to stay quiet for two games in a row. Whatever the reason, the 'Cats rebounded from Saturday's tough loss with a 12-3 win over the Bees on Monday night at Nowell Field. 

"Now that," Coach Sean told the team, "was Mudcat baseball."

Even while missing Brenner and Christopher (who once again was one of the loudest voices in the dugout), the 'Cats got hits from eight different players and saw eight different players score a run in leading from wire-to-wire. Six of the 12 runs were scored with two outs, and the victory gave the All Blacks a season sweep of the Bees. Several alums were on hand for the win, including Jacob "Smiley" Mitchell and Coach Rob.

The win means the Mudcats can finish no lower than third in the regular season (the 'Cats have the tiebreaker over the Lookouts). That means they can't play on Tuesday, May 15, and the opening tournament game will be either Wednesday or Thursday.

The next Mudcat event is practice on Wednesday night at West Raleigh at 6:30. The next game is the regular season finale Saturday at 3 against the Thunder.

Monday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Donovan signaled that the Mudcat bats had reawakened by lining a hard single back up the middle and forcing Coach Sean to dodge out of the way in the first at-bat of the game. Gavin followed with a single, putting runners on the corners. Brady singled in Donovan, and then Charley's sacrifice fly plated Gavin.
Score after one inning: Mudcats 2, Bees 0


Third inning
As has happened so often this season, the rally started with two outs. With two down and nobody on, Channing ripped a single through the right side. Donovan's hard grounder was too hot to handle, putting runners on the corners. That set the stage for Gavin to blast the first Mudcat homer of the season, a three-run bomb almost to dead center field that sent his teammates streaming out of the dugout to greet him at home plate. Gavin's biggest concern after crushing the homer: "I wanted to make sure I touched all the bases." That was a legitimate concern considering that his fellow Mudcats barely let him get halfway down the third base line before mobbing him. Suggested station for Wednesday's practice: refining the home run trot.
Score after three innings: Mudcats 5, Bees 0


Fourth inning
The All Blacks put the game out of distance with four more runs, starting with Charley's leadoff single to left. Bryce blasted another single, and after a fielder's choice put runners at the corners, Asher singled to right to drive in Charley. Gabe scored on Colin's rope to left, and then Noah drove in two with a deep blast to left-center.
Score after four innings: Mudcats 9, Bees 1

Fifth inning
The 'Cats tacked on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth. Scoring began when Channing--on his way to a 2-for-2 day--smacked a single to left. Gavin followed with a double that very nearly cleared the fence, and then Brady and Charley each drove in a run to complete the scoring.


Monday's Web Gems

• Foreshadowing what was to come, Gavin made a highlight reel play to close the top of the first. With the bases loaded, the Bees slashed a hard grounder up the middle. From his second base position, Gavin ranged to his right, dove, knocked the ball down, and then flipped to Charley covering second to retire the side.
• In the second, Bryce made a clean pickup of a difficult short-hop throw at first base to save a run.
• One batter later, Asher made a good heads-up play at pitcher by fielding a ground ball, freezing the runner at third base, then spinning and throwing to retire the hitter at first base.
• In the fourth, Gavin smoothly fielded a sizzling grounder smashed by the Bees' best hitter, then flipped to Brady at second to record the out.
• With two on and two outs in the fourth, Bryce made an inning-ending catch of a fly ball in left field.

Monday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Bees	0	0	0	1	0	2	3	7
Mudcats	2	0	3	4	3	X	12	13

Game 12: Riverdogs 7, Mudcats 0

The Riverdogs wrapped up the Minor League regular season crown and earned a split of the season series with a 7-0 shutout of the Mudcats at Nowell Field.

The 'Dogs got all the runs they would need in the first inning on a three-run homer, and the Mudcat offense never got on track against a stingy Riverdogs defense. The All Blacks never advanced a runner to third, and moved just one runner (Channing in the fourth) to second.

The loss did clear up one part of the tournament picture for the Mudcats: they cannot play on Monday, May 14, according to the most recent end of season bracket.The Bats defeated the Lookouts earlier on Saturday, so the 'Cats could still open tournament play on either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Looking ahead, the 'Cats can clinch second place (and an opening game on Thursday, May 17) by winning out. The next Mudcat event is practice on Sunday at 1:00 at Method Road, with the next game on Monday night at 5:30 against the Bees.

Saturday's Web Gems

• Gavin started yet another Mudcat double play in the second, grabbing a line drive with one out in the first, then throwing to Bryce to double off the runner and end the inning.
• To end the third, Gavin made a solid play ranging to his right up the middle from shortstop, knocked down the ball and stayed with it to through to first to finish the inning.

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Riverdogs	3	0	0	4	0	X	7	11

Bracketology: May 4

It's time for one of the favorite activities of the Mudcat blog: trying to figure out when we might play in the postseason. Earlier today, Coach Sean emailed out a postseason bracket, which can also be found on the West Raleigh website.

After looking at the Minor League standings, the 'Cats could finish anywhere from first to fourth. That means we could play on...yep...any of the first four days. One thing we do know, though, is that if the Riverdogs happen to defeat the All Blacks tomorrow, that would seal the regular season championship for the 'Dogs. For your scheduling purposes, that means the most important consequence would be that the Mudcats could not play on Monday, May 14. However, a Mudcats win would give the 'Cats the tiebreaker over the Riverdogs and would leave the regular season title still undecided.

For your reference, the remaining games for the top four teams in the standings are:

Riverdogs: Mudcats, at Bats, Scrappers
Mudcats: at Riverdogs, Bees, at Thunder
Lookouts: Bats, at Scrappers, Bulls
Bats: at Lookouts, Riverdogs, at Bees

We'll update this after Saturday to let you know if the weekend's results have clarified any possibilities.

Practice: Missing Coach Sean

The Mudcats returned to the practice field Thursday night, but they were Coach Sean-less, as he tries to juggle the approximately 14 teams for which he is responsible (you think it is tough keeping up with one team, try doing it for more than one). The combined efforts of Coach Tom, Coach Mike, Coach Andy and Coach Matt were almost enough to equal one of Coach Sean. Fortunately, Coach Tom's guns made up the difference.

Practice began in the cage, then moved to the field after the conclusion of the Bees-Thunder game. Third and first basemen worked on throws across the diamond, while the middle infielders focused on making a play on a grounder and making the quick flip to second base. In the outfield, the Mudcats continued to stress keeping the ball in front. With a game against the Riverdogs looming, outfielders are asked to remember to play deeper than normal so that they can make the play moving in rather than having the ball sail over their heads.

The final half-hour was devoted to game situations, as Coach Andy sprayed line drives all over the field. Practice concluded with a relay race that included some questionable strategy by a team that shall remain nameless (but one of the players on that team had a name that rhymes with Smasher), but their sneaky tactics were fruitless, and they still took the loss.

The 'Cats have a game Saturday at 1 on what is supposed to be a warm day, so arrive at noon for pregame and drink plenty of water (oh, and the kids should drink plenty of water, too).

Game 11: Mudcats 11, Bats 11

No, my 11 key isn't broken. It's just that in the eleventh game of the season, the Mudcats and Bats played to an 11-11 tie on Nowell Field. The tie was the first in recent memory for the 'Cats, as the time limit prevented an extra inning--when both sides would have had some of their toughest hitters due up--from being played.

The tie was the second straight game the Mudcats played without the services of Christopher, who despite a wrist injury likely to keep him out for the remainder of the season made the effort to be in the 'Cats dugout during the game. Everyone lined up after the game to sign his Mudcat-red cast and is hopeful that Chris, who is well-known for having one of the best attitudes on the team, will continue to be an important part of the squad whenever his busy schedule allows him to make it to the field.

Tuesday marked the third time in the last four games that the All Blacks have had to battle back from a first-inning deficit. This time, it was a 3-2 Bats lead after the first. But the 'Cats turned in a big five-run third to retake the lead, then flashed some quality defense in the fifth to hold an 11-8 advantage going into the final inning.

That's when the Bats mounted a three-run rally to tie the score and ultimately force the tie. Coach Sean, who had a coaching doubleheader on Tuesday night, told the 'Cats they will reemphasize defense at Thursday night's practice (West Raleigh at 6:30). No stickers were handed out for a tie, but Coach Tom mentioned there could be a potential double-sticker opportunity at Saturday's game.

By the way, a special shout-out to former Mudcat Anthony Alberghina, who checked in on the blog recently. The 'Cats definitely miss him and wish he and his family well in Alabama, where Nick Saban is reportedly already keeping an eye on Anthony.

Tuesday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
To begin his 3-for-3 day and lead off the first inning, Donovan smacked a single. With two down, he moved to second on Charley's single, and then back-to-back singles from Bryce and Gabe plated a pair of two-out runs.
Score after one inning: Bats 3, Mudcats 2


Third inning
The 'Cats' biggest inning of the game started with Will's single. Channing reached on a fielder's choice, then moved to second on Donovan's single. With two on, Gavin ripped an RBI single the other way. Brady, who pummeled the ball all night, crushed a double that scored Donovan, and then Charley cleared the bases with a two-RBI single. After some aggressive baserunning allowed him to take second on a throw in the Bat infield, Charley scored on Bryce's hard shot to center.
Score after three innings: Mudcats 7, Bats 6


Fifth inning
Donovan once again led off with a single, then ran hard to advance to third on Brady's single. Charley drove in his third run of the day with a single to left-center, and Bryce and Gabe followed with run-scoring hits to complete the scoring.
Score after five innings: Mudcats 11, Bats 8

Tuesday's Web Gems

• In the first inning, Bryce ranged over almost into the Mudcat dugout to haul in a foul pop fly for the second out of the frame.
• Channing recorded his first career outfield assist by cleanly fielding a hard-hit ball to right, coming up aggressively, and hosing the runner at first base leading off the second.
• Bryce probably saved a run by picking a throw out of the dirt at first base and stayed on the bag long enough to record the force.
• Asher made a good hustle play by grabbing a pop foul at catcher to finish the fifth.
• With the potential go-ahead run at third base with two down in the sixth, Gabe made a steely play at third, fielding a grounder and making a strong throw to first to retire the side.

Tuesday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Bats	3	0	3	0	2	3	11	14
Mudcats	2	0	5	0	4	0	11	17

Practice: Back at WR

Fresh off Saturday's win over the Scrappers, the Mudcats returned to West Raleigh on Sunday afternoon and had one of their best practices since the preseason. Under a sunny, warm sky that was a stark contrast to Saturday's chilly temperatures, the 'Cats spent the first 30 minutes in the batting cage.

Once they hit the field, the All Blacks split into infield and outfield groups. In the outfield, the focus was on calling the ball clearly when it was hit between two fielders. Outfielders also worked on picking the ball up barehanded when it goes off the fence and is at a standstill, so that they can turn and fire back into the infield immediately. Even a second's hesitation could mean an extra base for the opponent.

After working in groups, Coach Sean put the team through some game situations. Highlights included several close plays at the plate, a couple of throwing errors by Coach Andy, and Will clearing the bases with a walk-off home run way over the fence to conclude the situational drills. Practice finished with a relay race that ended--incredibly--in a dead heat, after Gavin turned in a great effort keeping up with Donovan on the final leg.

A host of Mudcat alums were around for the practice,  including Christopher, Drew, Coach Andrew, and Zach, who was overheard telling one of his Hooks teammates, "I hit one off that scoreboard against the Riverdogs." In reality, I think that ball went over the scoreboard, but it was nice of King Za to downplay it.

The 'Cats return to the field on Tuesday at 5:30 with a game against the Bats, with pregame beginning at 4:30. Keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow's doctor appointment for Christopher, whose status is uncertain due to an unfortunate encounter with a trampoline.