Game # 1 & #2 Fall Season

Game #1- VS Riverdogs 
FINAL Mudcats 3 ~~ Riverdogs 6
Game #2- VS Thunder
FINAL Mudcats 10 ~~ Thunder 13


Going into Game #3 Mudcats 0-2-0


OK MUDCATS ! Time to hunker down, play tough & STAY FOCUSED !
Mudcat Nation, I know you must be feeling down and out & our players are up against a wall ~~ However, we have had great practices, HIT really great during our 2 games & the basics in the field are there! We will come full circle in time :-) Remember~ PROGRESS before PERFECTION ! Our Mudcat team is young and most likely trying to absorb all this baseball "stuff" !
The Riverdogs & Thunder made some amazing defensive plays at 3rd base, Shortstop on top of having GREAT at bat appearances !  
HIGHLIGHTS :-)
EVERY MUDCAT had at least a single hit against the Thunder ! " EVERY" being the key word !
Jay, Tino, Jackson, Caleb, Alex, Patrick, Ben EACH added an RBI to the run total !
At the bottom of the 4th Inning we were on fire with a 10-4 lead !
The Mudcat defense had "2" 3 up 3 down innings !
THESE are building blocks for success !
The 5th & 6th Innings did not prove so fun for our Mudcats ! The Thunder combined to add up a devastating 9 run rally !
It would be wrong of me not to mention our Cats just lost focus ! Errors, outs at bat & lack of determination seemed to creep in! Mudcats- don't forget
it is a T~E~A~M effort ! Your out at the plate or error in the field is part of the game but each Mudcat counts on you to be determined to correct the error or out and try again with even more determination ! NO tears for errors or OUT's ! Just when you collide with a helmet or take a baseball to the cheekbone ( BEN you are TOUGH~ I say we EYE BLACK only the left eye in honor of BEN the next game ~ LOL ) !
We left the field with injuries, black eyes, bloody noses and heavy hearts ! You gotta lose to appreciate winning !
LET's GO MUDCAT'S :-) I believe we can WIN ~ and if we don't ~~ Let's make the other team remember how tough , spirited, upbeat and determined we are !
  *****STAY FOCUSED MUDCAT NATION ~ we still have ALOT of baseball to play*****
2013 Mudcat THROWBACK INSPIRITION :-)
Click here   ~~    http://vimeo.com/67355505

Fall 2014 Mudcat Team Roster

Fall 2014 Mudcat Team
# 2 Jay Hale
# 3 Tino Ramirez
# 5 George Bolton
# 6 Sean Griffin
# 7 Ben Horton
# 8 Gabe Murray
#13 Caleb Rodriguez
# 15 Grey McMahon
# 25 Julio Vargas
# 33 Patrick Davis
# 34 Jackson Hood
# 55 Alex Nowak
Mudcat Coaching Staff
Coach Jamie Hale
Coach Brian Hood
Coach Jason Ramirez
Coach Johnny Vargas

September 3rd, 2014 Mudcat Scrimmage -VS- Bee's

September 3rd, 2014 Mudcat Scrimmage -VS- Bee's


It was AWESOME to know that this day we would get to see all our MUDCAT families & boy's in action on the baseball field !
Being a seasoned Mudcat Mom I LOVED seeing the returning Mom's, Dad's , brothers & sisters ! It was GREAT to be back at West Raleigh ! There seemed to be excitement in the air ! The NEW retaining wall & paved walkway near the bleachers was a great addition to NOWELL Field!
The funniest moment was not knowing which families were Mudcat's and which families were Bee's ! I think I changed bleacher sides twice before we all saw our Mudcat's come in and get ready in their dug-out !
We really did look sharp ! I will admit, I pre-judged the game outcome before the 1st pitch even took place. New Mudcat's, old Mudcat's with new positions and I assumed lots of jitters ! I will go on record and keep this next part brief ! "I WAS SO WRONG :-)"
Hey New Mudcat Coaching Staff :
Coach Jamie ~Coach Brian ~ Coach Jason & Coach Johnny ~~ YOU ALL HAVE DONE A FANTASTIC JOB developing this NEW Mudcat crew !


# 2 Jay Hale
# 3 Tino Ramirez
# 5 George Bolton
# 6 Sean Griffin
# 7 Ben Horton
# 8 Gabe Murray
#13 Caleb Rodriguez
# 15 Grey McMahon
# 25 Julio Vargas
# 33 Patrick Davis
# 34 Jackson Hood
# 55 Alex Nowak


AWSEOME LINE-UP! LAZERSHOW with the bat's on "FIRE" !
I would post the score- BUT at some point it was just run after run after run after run !
Defensively ~AWESOME 1st game effort !
If this is the PRE-GAME down low-- I can't wait to see the real deal beginning this Saturday !
I "BELIEVE" these "CATS" are going to be a force to be reckoned with !
I URGE each Mudcat family to look over the amazing history in pictures, stories & video on this Mudcat BLOG site !I just bet it will pump-up your "CAT" for Saturday's game !
http://vimeo.com/95521352

Tournament Game #3 Mudcats -vs- Bulls

Tournament Game #3 Mudcats -vs- Bulls
ONCE A MUDCAT "ALWAYS" A MUDCAT !
If ever that phrase was special, it held true today ! This was the very last game for some of our MUDCATS on Nowell Field in ALL BLACK !
I guess it did not sink in for me until I realized it was the last game with my BLEACHER buddies too ! I love the support and encouragement we all give each other !
This game is a bit tough to write about ! I'll just touch on the highlights ! The first highlight didn't come from our CATS~ it was those BULLS ! Their bats were "HOT".
By the beginning of the 4th inning the score was Mudcats 1 - Bulls 7 :-(  Their homerun hitter blasted one heck of a shot with bases loaded up !
HOWEVER~~ The 4 inning was our inning ! WE OWNED the 4th INNING ! The Bulls added no runs and we put 4 runs on the scoreboard. Jay, Jackson & Braden would each get singles and Channing stepped up ! It was his moment in time~ The Hammer's 3rd & last homerun at NOWELL Field ! With our bases now emptied Cameron,Will, Trey & Marcus would each get singles. Trey's hit would bring in Cameron & Will. The Cat's would end this inning with 6 runs - Bulls 7 runs.
I can't tell a lie-- I felt some cardiac cat action about to happen ! ( Then again-- it was " HOT" on those bleachers) ! The 6th Inning was Come Back Cats type of excitement ! The Bulls would get two runs quickly bringing the score 6-9.
OK-- here we go, Jackson steps up & gets on 1st, Braden gets on Channing with one more RBI for the Cats and now our score is 7- 9 ! It's looking promising for some Mudcat magic as we had no outs ! BULLS~ BULLS~ BULLS~ just that quick made some amazing defensive plays and our season came to an end.
I don't know what to say now, they were deflated just as we all were ! I sorta wanted to cry- it just had not all sunk in yet! It's fun to watch them play, to catch up in the bleachers, to share facebook stories, pictures and connect in the one way we all know best " WE ARE A MUDCAT FAMILY" ! I think I speak for everyone when I say, deep down, even when "MY MUDCAT" is playing against "YOUR MUDCAT" up on those " BIG " fields-- I will secretly be cheering for "YOUR MUDCAT" to do great~ get that hit or make that catch ( as long as it's not MY MUDCATS hit ~ LOL ) ! I look forward to keeping in contact with each and every Mudcat family, continuing our support and love for West Raleigh Baseball and hopefully one day wearing the same team colors again !
ONCE A MUDCAT ALWAYS A MUDCAT !


In The Land O' Frost Minor League The Mudcats finished with 7 WINS 7 Losses ! Not to SHABBY !

Mudcats

14 games

7 wins

7 losses

0 ties

0.500 average

106 points for

104 points against

Tournament game #2 Mudcats -vs- Bees

Tournament game #2 Mudcats-vs-Bees


WEATHER: BEAUTIFUL
Pre-game PUMP-UP music: AWESOME
Pre-game WARM-UPS: Looking GREAT
WE BELIEVE came out loud and proud from left field !
Pledge of Allegiance ~ always special ~ CLICK HERE :-)https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203818611576827&set=vb.1565964052&type=2&theater
Bleachers : PACKED-- full of parents, sisters, brothers, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Old Mudcat players and even some Old Mudcat Coaches !
Time to play baseball !!
At the plate : The Mudcats really hit the baseball hard & ran the bases good ! 1st inning we were on fire !! Jay, Jackson, Braden ( RBI ) Cameron ( RBI ) Will & Trey would all get hits to get The Cats 2 runs .
2nd & 3rd inning we would have great hits by Braden, Cameron, Will ( 2 RBI's) to bring our run tally to 4 runs Cats and 3 runs Bees !
GAME SO FAR : LOOKING AWESOME ! Lots of fun, cheering & excitement !
4th Inning takes a turn for the bad for our Mudcats-- it seems that Bees player, you know the one who hits HOMERUNS, well, he hit one and our score took a BIG change. Mudcats 4 Bees 7  :-(
One awesome hit really mattered in this game!
We had some AWESOME Mudcat WEB-GEM defensive plays ! Jackson with important catches in the outfield, Will with solid plays at SS, Lefty at 1st, Nick & Jake in the outfield backing up plays & making catches,Trey in center field, Channing at 2nd, Big Red solid at 3rd, Tino hanging tough at the plate, Jay with smart plays at pitcher,  Marcus, Grey & Sean taking turns in the out field and cheering in the dug-out ! Really, a great team effort.
It was said, "Nerves keep you on your toes" ! I BELIEVE The cats were on their toes ! 


 " My Motto was to always keep swinging ! Whether I was in a slump, or feeling badly, or having trouble off the field. The ONLY thing to do was KEEP SWINGING !  Quote from the GREAT HANK AARON !
We get another game Mudcats " JUST KEEP SWINGING " !

Tournament Game #1 Mudcats-vs-Lookouts !

First Round Post Season Play Offs – Game 1

 

Mudcats v. Lookouts

 

You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day to play baseball! The only thing that made it a better day was the awesome Mudcats 10-3 victory over the Lookouts!

 

This was a total team win.  EVERY player wearing a Mudcats jersey contributed to this win!  The Cats got stellar defense from Will, Channing, and Jay in the infield and great outfield support from Nic, Jackson, Trey and Marcus!

 

The Mudcats came out in the top of the first inning knowing they needed to put some big numbers up on the board and they did just that with 5 runs in the first!  Our bats continued to be hot throughout the whole game, connecting with the ball several more times throughout the game to drive in a total of 10 runs.  Gray “G-Mack” has found his rhythm with his walk up song and has been hitting great! 

 

Not much else to say about this game, other than the Mudcats hit great and played better defense than the Lookouts today to put a notch in the win column. 


Thank you Mudcat Mom "JESS" aka-- Trey's Mom for the game summary !

Game #14 Mudcats -vs- Bees

Game #14 Mudcats -VS- Bees


Did I really just put in it was GAME #14 ? This season has gone by way to fast !
We would end Game #14 losing to the Bees 4-9 and complete our regular season 7 "W" - 7 "L" ! This makes the upcoming tournament exciting ! 
We start off 0-0 ready for a brand new "mini" season !


THE BEES ! What can I say-- they are pretty tough! The 1st inning was a tough one for our Cats ! The Bees would quickly put up 4 runs. Will had a great hit but we would end this inning with no runs.
The 2nd Inning had some "HOPE". Will would make a solid defensive play, Jackson & Cameron would combine for the 2nd out and Jackson would get the 3rd out with a nice catch outfield. Our turn to bat-- Trey would get on base with a great hit, Braden would follow up and Jay would get a hit w/ RBI bringing Trey in. Tino stepped up and had a great hit bringing in Braden for an RBI ! We would end this inning 2-5.
The 3rd inning would go QUICKLY ! 3 up & 3 down basically for both teams. Our 4th inning remained scoreless for the Bees as our defense again was very solid. Jackson would make a great catch in the outfield, Tino with a good play at home plate & Will with a great out to end the Bees chance for more runs.  Unfortunately ( insert sad face :-(  ) our Cats would also stay scoreless.
Our 5th inning would have great hits but those Bees just played some tough defense as well ! Jake,Braden, Jay & Nick would all have great at bats but no runs in the books for the inning.
6th inning ~~~~~~
Tino would hit a double, Grey, Sean Jackson would all combine with solid hits to bring in a few runs !
Time to re-focus, re-charge and get ready for the tournament !
Come on Cats-- step on that baseball field like you own it and make the other team step up to play our game ! It's MUDCAT TIME !!