Game 14: Bees 11, Mudcats 3

The Bees gave the Mudcats a taste of their own medicine on Saturday evening, playing airtight defense and cruising to an 11-3 win. The victory gave the Bees the top seed in the postseason tournament, which begins Monday, and sent the Mudcats to the second seed. The All Blacks will open tournament play on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. against the Bats.

The tone for a defensive battle was set early, as the Mudcats 1, 2 and 3 hitters were retired in order for the first time this season. The 'Cats also went scoreless in three straight innings for the first time this season, a streak that eventually stretched to four straight innings (the first four of the game) before the All Blacks broke through in the fifth with a pair of runs. By then, though, the hard-hitting Bees had already built a six-run lead, and the Mudcats--who mustered a season-low eight hits--could never get any closer.

Stay tuned for more information on tournament week practices. The next game will be Tuesday at 5:30 against the Bats, with pregame at 4:30. For the purposes of your Minor League tournament bracket projections, the final seedings are as follows:

1 Bees
2 Mudcats
3 Lookouts
4 Thunder
5 Bulls
6 Scrappers
7 Bats
8 Riverdogs

The full tournament bracket can be found online here.

Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
Fifth inning
Gavin led off with a single, moved to second on Quenten's single, and scored on Colin's RBI single. Cameron drove in Quenten with a hard shot to third.
Score after four and a half innings: Bees 6, Mudcats 2

Sixth inning
Will led off with a double, and Hayden came through with an opposite-field RBI single.
Score after five and a half innings: Bees 11, Mudcats 2

Saturday's Web Gems

• Channing made a nice play in right-center in the first inning, running under a deep fly ball to make the catch.
• On the first batter of the second, Quenten glided to a hard liner and snagged it on the fly in center.
• Gavin made what was probably the defensive play of the year in the third, throwing his body completely horizontal to the ground to spear a sinking liner a breath before it hit the ground, then hopping up and firing to first to double off the runner. Thanks to Nacole, we even have video of this play, which was taken--as you will soon see--in the middle of a rainstorm:

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	0	0	0	0	2	1	3	8
Bees	0	1	3	2	5	X	11	14

One more day

With one game to play, the Minor League seeding possibilities and tournament pairings look this way. Seedings that are already locked in are bolded:

1 seed: Winner of Bees-Mudcats
Plays Riverdogs on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in first game of tournament

2 seed: Loser of Bees-Mudcats
Plays Bats on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in first game of tournament

3 seed: Lookouts
Plays 6 seed on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in first game of tournament

4 seed: Thunder/Bulls/Scrappers (in order of likelihood)
Plays 5 seed on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in first game of tournament

5 seed: Bulls/Scrappers/Thunder
Plays 4 seed on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in first game of tournament

6 seed: Scrappers/Bulls/Thunder
Plays Lookouts on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in first game of tournament

7 seed: Bats
Plays loser of Bees-Mudcats on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in first game of tournament

8 seed: Riverdogs
Plays winner of Bees-Mudcats on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in first game of tournament

Game 13: Mudcats 20, Riverdogs 1

Sensational Mudcat defense paved the way again, as the 'Cats captured their sixth straight victory with a 20-1 win over the Riverdogs on Wednesday night. The 19-run margin of victory was by far the biggest in the Minor League this season.

And despite all that offense--every Mudcat scored at least one run and ten different batters had a hit--it might have been the defense that was the story of the game. The 'Cats have now allowed just four runs in the past 21 innings. Again on Wednesday, they did it against a hot offensive team, as the Riverdogs had scored 33 runs in their past two games and were riding a two-game winning streak. But they did not have a runner reach second base until the fifth inning and did not score until the sixth.

At the plate, the All Blacks had one of their most complete efforts in the season, as the win marked the first time this year that the Mudcats scored in every inning. The 22 hits were a season-high for a five-inning performance and the second-most in any game this year--and that's with two of the five offensive innings being limited by the run rule.

Stickers galore were handed out, as there was a backlog from the previous game. Unfortunately for Coach Sean, several Mudcats have already caught on to the idea of earning interest and are regularly compounding interest on their stickers. Unfortunately, Coach Regan became the first Mudcat ever to have a sticker deducted for her flagrant disregard for the baseball gods in the sixth inning (her transgression was so egregious that it cannot be repeated here). As penance, she will have to join the pregame dance party with Asher on Saturday.

With the win, the Mudcats are assured of finishing no worse than second, which means they will open tournament play on either Monday, May 13, against the 8 seed, or on Tuesday, May 14, against the 7 seed. The next game will determine that seeding, as the winner of Saturday's 5 p.m. start against the Bees (4 p.m. pregame) will claim the Minor League regular season title and earn the top seed for the tournament.

Wednesday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
It started with the top of the order, which had a phenomenal night, as Brenner, Asher and Gavin combined to go 10-for-10. Brenner led off with a single but was thrown out at second due to Coach Adam making the first of a boatload of mistakes for the game. Asher singled and stayed anchored to first base while ignoring Coach Adam. Gavin doubled, putting runners on second and third for Quenten. His grounder to short scored Asher, and then Luke's hard-hit ball to the right side scored a pair.
Score after one inning: Mudcats 3, Riverdogs 0

Second inning
Brayden roped a leadoff single and moved to second when Channing hustled out a ball up the middle. A fielder's choice put runners at the corners, and then Hayden singled in Brayden. With two outs, the Mudcat offense kicked into gear. Jackson singled in two with a line drive to left and hustled all the way to second. Brenner singled in Jackson. Asher singled to center, putting runners at the corners for Gavin, who doubled in Brenner.
Score after two innings: Mudcats 8, Riverdogs 0

Third inning
Colin led off with an opposite-field single and moved to second on Luke's single. Cameron blasted an RBI double, and Channing recorded a one-out RBI single.
Score after three innings: Mudcats 10, Riverdogs 0

Fourth inning
Jay led off and rumbled all the way to second, flashing great wheels and incredible hustle. Jackson singled to the left side. With runners on first and second, Brenner and Asher ripped back-to-back RBI singles, and Gavin clubbed a two-run single to deep left. Colin's grounder to short scored Gavin and invoked the five-run rule.
Score after four innings: Mudcats 15, Riverdogs 0

Fifth inning
The first four 'Cat hitters reached base, with Luke going all the way to second as the leadoff man, Cameron singling him to third, Brayden driving in a run with a hard-hit single, and Channing smacking a run-scoring single to left. Hayden collected an RBI single and then Brenner finished the game's scoring with a two-run single to center.
Score after five innings: Mudcats 20, Riverdogs 0

Wednesday's Web Gems

• With a runner on first and one out in the top of the first, the most dangerous Riverdogs hitter lined a would-be single to center. But Quenten charged in, scooped it up, and fired a laser to Brenner covering second, who fielded the short hop and stayed on the bag to get the force.
• With a runner on first and one away in the second, Gavin smoothly gobbled up a grounder up the middle, stepped on second, and fired to Asher stretching at first for the inning-ending double play--the Mudcats' third inning-ending double play in the last four innings.
• That play started a stretch of eight straight outs retired by the Mudcat defense, including a series of solid plays all around the infield, featuring two straight good plays by Jackson at pitcher.
• Channing stepped in at pitcher in the fifth and made a nice backhanded stop up the middle.
• Cameron made a nice catch of a fly ball at third base in the sixth inning. The play itself was nice, but what made it even nicer was that Cameron hauled in the fly ball while absorbing a solid form tackle from Channing, who was trying to force a fumble. 

Wednesday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Riverdogs	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5
Mudcats	3	5	2	5	5	X	20	22

Do NOT approach a 20-pound groundhog

As you might have heard recently, West Raleigh had a small rabid fox problem. This was such an important pressing issue that WTVD included a story on the fox for at least a week on its 11 p.m. newscast.

However, this could be just the beginning of the invasion of our local baseball fields by crafty animals bent on destroying America's pastime. Don't believe me? Check out this story from New Jersey, which, I kid you not, is headlined, "Groundhog terrorizes Bridgeton Little League." This is a real story.

The groundhog in question is some kind of mutant super-groundhog that weighs in at 20 pounds. An umpire had to jump in and save the day by distracting the evil groundhog, which was intent on chasing innocent children around the field. What happened next should strike fear in all our hearts and must be quoted directly due to the incredible nature of this story:

<<Bridgeton Little League President T. Carl Hemple intervened to save Dennis (the umpire). 

"Then he started chasing me," said Hemple. "Man, was he big. He must have weighed 20 pounds.">>

Now, I am assuming here that the "he" in question is the groundhog and not the umpire, because if the umpire only weighed 20 pounds, I think we know why he was unable to detain the groundhog.

<<The groundhog gained on Hemple, who went to his car, jumped inside and locked the doors. 

"The groundhog went under the car," said Hemple. 

He decided to start the car.>>

This is utterly fantastic and if no one has video of this, then someone in Bridgeton needs to be very disappointed in themselves. So the groundhog is chasing the Little League president across the parking lot, and the quick-thinking president manages to get a big enough lead to jump into his car and--this is key--lock the doors. Because you don't want the gargantuan 20-pound groundhog to open the car door with his fuzzy mutant paw.

We then have the sentence, "He decided to start the car," which I assume means the Little League president started the car, but given what we know about how devious this groundhog was, I don't think we can rule out that the groundhog started the car in an effort to smoke out the president and get him to unlock the doors.

Like me, I assume you're all breathlessly waiting to know what happened next.

<<The groundhog escaped the roar of the motor and headed for the Bridgeton Sports Hall of Fame.>>

NOT OUR TROPHIES IN THE BRIDGETON SPORTS HALL OF FAME!

The Little League president, presumably from the safety of his locked car, called the police, and they "arrived in two minutes." They got one of those "sticks with a loop" around the groundhog's neck, and if you have ever seen an angry 20-pound groundhog, then you know exactly what happened next: according to the story, "It broke the loop." Which led Fearless Little League President T. Carl to say, "I'm telling you, it was big." We were able to find this action photo of the groundhog in question.

Eventually, the police officers were able to get the groundhog into a cage, where it was carted away. Fearless Little League President T. Carl then emerged from his car, and presumably was asked why he and the umpire (no word on whether he was also locked in the car) were the only folks able to run interference on this ill-intentioned groundhog. He responded by saying his coaches had training for everything involving kids, "But not groundhogs. Not animals coming out of the woods."

I strongly feel that West Raleigh needs to include Groundhog Defense in next year's coaching clinic. And if you don't agree, then read this bone-chilling update to the story: the 20-pound groundhog has escaped from the animal shelter. You read it right, folks: the Bridgeton Groundhog is on the loose. When the vet in charge of the shelter showed up for work on Sunday morning, no doubt wearing body armor to repel the advances of the 20-pound groundhog, he was greeted with a mystifying sight:

<<The cage was empty, but secured.>>

And what was inside that cage, you ask? Good question. The actual quote from the vet is as follows: "Inside was an empty can of cat food."

Yes, there is a very good possibility that the 20-pound groundhog has innocent cat hostages. The mutant groundhog left no sign of where it might be headed. Fearless Little League President T. Carl could not be reached for comment, probably because he was locked in his car.

For all we know, the mutant groundhog could be headed towards West Raleigh as we speak. If you see this baseball-loving giant groundhog at the game tonight, DO NOT APPROACH IT. Run to your car, lock your doors and hide all your trophies.

Down the stretch they come

Just seemed like a fitting title with the Kentucky Derby today.

It might be that you're trying to plan your next three weeks. Or maybe you're just one of those people who fills out eight different NCAA Tournament brackets and likes knowing all the possibilities. Either way, we wanted to take a look at the standings with two games remaining in the regular season. There are two key links for this exercise:

The current West Raleigh Minor League standings through 12 games

The postseason bracket

So far, the seedings look this way:

No. 1 seed: Bees or Mudcats.
Mudcats could be 1 seed if: They win out, or they win one game and Bees lose out.

No. 2 seed: Bees/Mudcats/Lookouts
Mudcats could be 2 seed if: Bees win out and Mudcats beat Riverdogs

No. 3 seed: Lookouts clinch at least the 3 seed with a win over Bulls OR Scrappers
Mudcats could be 3 seed if: Lookouts win out, Mudcats lose out, and Mudcats lose a yet-to-be-determined tiebreaker.

No. 4 seed: Bulls/Scrappers/Thunder

No. 5 seed: Bulls/Scrappers/Thunder

No. 6 seed: Bulls/Scrappers/Thunder

No. 7 seed: Likely Bats/Riverdogs

No. 8 seed: Bats/Riverdogs

So the most likely slots for the Mudcats are the 1 seed or 2 seed. The 1 seed faces the 8 seed on Monday, May 13, at 5:30 p.m. The 2 seed plays Tuesday, May 14, at 5:30 p.m.

You can rule out playing in the 4-5 game on Thursday, May 16, but there is always the chance that we could have a practice that day.

So I'm certain all of you now know this by heart and will have this committed to memory before practice tomorrow.

Game 12: Mudcats 9, Lookouts 3

Coming off Friday's shutout, the Mudcats turned around and once again pulled off a season first on Saturday: they beat the Lookouts, 9-3, and had a defensive web gem in every single inning--the first time that has happened this year. Of course, it shouldn't have been a surprise, because in the pregame huddle, when Coach Sean asked the team who was going to get a web gem, he was greeted with a chorus of "ME!"

One other thing he was greeted with was an American Bandstand wannabe:

Note Jackson and Cameron getting into it and showing some sweet moves of their own.

Unfortunately, the Lookouts wanted to settle the game with baseball rather than dance moves. However, that turned out to play right into the 'Cats' hands, as they played one of the most complete games of the season and earned a regular season split with the Lookouts.

In front of a sellout crowd that included Coach Andy (who was secretly hoping Coach Sean would tire out so he could pitch), the 'Cats continued their solid defensive play and have now allowed just three runs in the last 15 innings of play. Not coincidentally, the defense has led to a season-high five-game winning streak.

After allowing two first-inning runs to the hard-hitting Lookouts (who came into the game averaging a dozen runs per game and had scored at least seven in every game this year), the 'Cats locked down the defense and allowed just three runners as far as second base in the final five innings. The Mudcats also benefited from two double plays, bringing the double play total to four in the past two games.

Because Official Sticker Kingpin Regan was sadly not in attendance (perhaps trying to avoid Coach Andy), stickers were not handed out. This is either because Official Sticker Kingpin Regan rules with an iron hand with the stickers...or because Coach Sean was too tired to walk to his car to get them. Whatever the reason, when the stickers are handed out, everyone will get one for the win, and Coach Matt awarded a special hustle sticker to Jay for backing up every play at first base from right field.

The 'Cats hit the practice field Sunday at 5 p.m. The next game is Wednesday at 5:30 against the red-hot Riverdogs.

Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Asher slapped a one-out single up the middle, raced to third on Gavin's long single, and then scored on Quenten's sacrifice fly.
Score after one-half inning: Mudcats 1, Lookouts 0

Fourth inning
Asher lined a leadoff single to center and moved to third on Gavin's deep single. Quenten smoked an RBI single. Colin lifted an RBI double to left-center. Luke scored a pair with an opposite-field RBI single. After Cameron put runners on first and second with a hard shot to the outfield, Brayden finished the scoring with an RBI single the other way.
Score after four innings: Mudcats 6, Lookouts 2

Fifth inning
In a prototypical two-out Mudcat rally, Brenner reached on a fielder's choice. Asher singled to right-center. Coach Sean tried to throw off Gavin by narrowly avoiding a balk, but then grooved a fastball that Gavin smashed onto the batting cage in center field for a three-run home run.
Score after five innings: Mudcats 9, Lookouts 1

Saturday's Web Gems

• Will set the defensive tone early by grabbing a sinking liner in left field in the first inning.
• Channing caught a hard-hit liner in right-center in the second that helped turn what could've been a Lookout threat into a scoreless inning.
• Asher fielded a ground ball on the first base line in the third, applied the tag, and then brought the pain to the unsuspecting baserunner. 
• With a runner on second in the fourth, Luke made a leaping one-handed catch of a line drive in left-center.
• Later that same inning, Brenner made a nice play backing up on a pop fly in shallow right, ranging far behind his second base position to make the catch.
• Brenner started a trend with an inning-ending double play in the fifth. With a runner on first, he snagged a line drive back to pitcher, then threw to first to double off the runner.
• Suitably inspired by Brenner, the 'Cats decided to raise the ante in the next inning, turning a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. It started with Luke smoothly scooping up a grounder, then flipping to Gavin at second, who fired a rocket throw to Asher at first to nab the runner by half a step and end the game.

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	1	0	0	5	3	0	9	15
Lookouts	2	0	0	1	0	0	3	9

Game 11: Mudcats 9, Bats 0

The Mudcats did something historic on Friday night--they posted a 9-0 shutout win of the Bats. The stellar defensive performance forced us into the team record books. After consultation with Mudcat Historian and former general manager Jenn, we have determined it's the first Mudcat shutout since May 16, 2009--when the current eight-year-olds were four years old and when even Coach Sean was a little younger. The shutout was the first in the Minor League this year and just the eighth shutout at West Raleigh this year in any age group.

"That was a great defensive game," Coach Sean told the team. He also mentioned it was the first shutout he had ever seen in the Minor League, but unfortunately, Minor League records are not quite as complete as Mudcat records, so we have no way of knowing for sure--other than Coach Sean's memory, which of course is infallible.

The defense began early, as the 'Cats held the Bats without a hit over the first three innings. That gave the offense time to chug into gear. Perhaps limited by the lack of pregame dancing, the All Blacks scored just one run in the first two innings. But after getting an energy boost from a few eight-year-olds, the Mudcats exploded for seven runs in the third. Atypically, the big inning was not powered by big hits, but instead was a succession of singles. That enabled the Mudcats to show off their hustling on the basepaths, as six different 'Cats scored all the way from second on a single.

That was more than enough offense, but the All Blacks made sure it would hold up by turning another sweet defensive trick in the fourth: the Bats loaded the bases with no outs but got zero runs, as Quenten's unassisted play at third base snuffed out the threat. The runner he doubled off at third base was the only Bat who reached third all game.

Everyone received a sticker for the win, and then everyone also received a sticker for the solid team-wide defensive effort. Coach Jamie awarded Brenner an extra sticker for his hustle on the bases that got him all the way to third and put him in position to score one of the three runs Brenner plated on the day.

There's not much time to savor the historic performance, as the 'Cats play again on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. against the Lookouts, with pregame at 2 p.m.

Friday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Brenner led off with a single, then hustled to third on Asher's single, where he scored on Gavin's rocket that was knocked down by the pitcher.
Score after one inning: Mudcats 1, Bats 0

Third inning
For the third time this season, the 'Cats scored seven runs in a single inning. The inning was ignited at the bottom of the order, where Will, Jay and Jackson all reached to lead off the frame. With the bases loaded, Brenner's grounder to third scored the first run. Asher's single scored Jackson all the way from second. Gavin's single plated Brenner, and then Quenten singled in Asher. The parade of singles continued with Luke's two-out hit up the middle, and Cameron and Brayden also came through with two-out hits to complete the scoring.
Score after three innings: Mudcats 8, Bats 0

Fifth inning
Brenner led off by smoking a ball down the third base line and hustled all the way to third. Asher's sacrifice fly to center scored Brenner.
Score after five innings: Mudcats 9, Bats 0

Friday's Web Gems

• The standout defensive plays began early. With a runner on first and one out in the first, Gavin ranged across the middle to spear a line drive.
• The very next hitter hit a line drive bullet to center, but Quenten grabbed it on one hop and fired to second for the force to end the inning.
• Gavin backed up Brenner, picked up a hot shot, and threw to first for the first out of the second.
• Will ranged to his right to snag a line drive at pitcher on the next play.
• Quenten turned an unassisted double play in the fourth. With the bases loaded, he gloved a hard line drive, then stepped on third to double off the runner.
• The leadoff Bat in the fifth smoked a hard drive to right-center, but Cameron limited him to a single by firing the ball in from the outfield.
• Brenner started the second double play of the game. With runners on first and second, he caught a line drive at pitcher, then threw to Asher at first to double off the runner.

Friday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Bats	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Mudcats	1	0	7	0	1	X	9	15