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

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.

It's the Bees

The Bees defeated the Lookouts, 10-2, on Tuesday night. That means the Bees advance to face the Mudcats on Wednesday at 5:30. Pregame begins at 4:30. The winner advances to the championship round against the Riverdogs.

Tournament opener tomorrow

Today's previously forecast bad weather never materialized in the West Raleigh area, and tonight's tournament game was played as scheduled. That means the Mudcats will indeed play the Bulls on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., with pregame at 4:30.

The Bulls-Mudcats winner plays the Lookouts (8-7 winners over the Bees) on Saturday at 3. The Mudcats-Bulls loser plays the Bees on Saturday at 11.

Hold on just a second

Never mind that earlier post. It looks like West Raleigh has done the sensible thing and simply rescheduled tonight's rainout for Friday rather than shifting all games. That means, at the moment, that the Mudcats are still slated to play at 5:30 on Thursday, with pregame at 4:30.

However, with the weather being uncertain, further rainouts and schedule adjustments are possible. Keep an eye on your email and the blog for more details.

Practice rained out, games impacted

Games at West Raleigh tonight are rained out, which means the scheduled Mudcats practice is also rained out.

Tonight's rainout also has an impact on Thursday's scheduled tournament opener against the Bulls. In all likelihood, that game will be rescheduled for Friday. Stay tuned for further updates and keep in mind that further rainouts this week could have additional scheduling implications.

Game 14: Mudcats 13, Thunder 12

The Mudcats finished the regular season with a 13-12 win over the Thunder. The victory gave the 'Cats sole possession of second place, and completed a regular season sweep of the Thunder, with both wins coming by the same narrow margin and score.

The victory was not exactly a defensive clinic, but the All Blacks brought their best offense, scoring in every inning except the sixth (and they would've scored in the sixth if not for former Mudcat Tyler Key robbing Brenner with a sweet catch in the outfield). The 'Cats piled up 16 hits and had four different players reach base in all three of their at-bats. Alums Drew DiMeo and Ben Penchuk were on hand for the win. You might remember Ben as the 'Cat formerly known as LB. He is now known as "GS" after crushing a grand slam in the Lookouts win on Saturday.

The All Blacks victory marked the unofficial "senior day" for the Mudcat 8-year-olds, who played their final regular season game on Nowell Field. Each player was introduced individually before the game, and Coach Sean presented game balls to Gabe, Charley, Brady, Donovan, Bryce, Christopher and Noah.

Coach Sean and Coach Mike also provided some significant motivation for the tournament, which begins for the Mudcats on Thursday night with a 5:30 matchup against the Bulls. Coach Mike said the first postseason win would mean a candy bar for every 'Cat (parents, sadly, are not included in the offer). The second win will mean a Cook-Out shake for every player, and the third win means a pizza party. Coach Sean then made the somewhat rash declaration that if the Mudcats win the tournament championship, he will take a pie in the face and the players can shave his head.

The 'Cats do have practice before the first tournament game, as they practice at West Raleigh on Monday night from 6:30-8:30.

Final tournament seedings are as follows:

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

As a reminder, the postseason bracket is available here.

Saturday's Mudcat scoring plays
First inning
Gavin smacked a two-out double, moved to third on a fielder's choice, and scored on Charley's single. Bryce, who hit the ball hard all day, drove home Charley with a two-out double.
Score after one-half inning: Mudcats 2, Thunder 0


Second inning
Asher led off with a single and moved to second on a one-out fielder's choice from Noah. The Thunder had trouble fielding Ben's single cleanly, and then Brenner added an RBI fielder's choice to stretch the lead.
Score after one and a half innings: Mudcats 4, Thunder 2


Third inning
Channing reached to lead off the inning and set up one of the biggest frames of the day. Donovan doubled, and with two men in scoring position, Gavin laced a two-RBI double the other way. He moved to third on Brady's single, then scored on Charley's hard-hit grounder to the left side. Asher finished the scoring with a two-out single.
Score after two and a half innings: Mudcats 8, Thunder 2

Fourth inning
Ben reached with one out, then hustled all the way to third on Brenner's single. Will plated Ben with an RBI fielder's choice.
Score after three and a half innings: Mudcats 9, Thunder 5

Fifth inning
Donovan led off with a single to left. Gavin finished a 3-for-3 day with an RBI single, then moved to third on Charley's double. Bryce blasted an RBI sacrifice fly, and then Gabe and Asher added two-out RBI singles for a pair of important insurance runs.
Score after four and a half innings: Mudcats 13, Thunder 7 

Saturday's Web Gems

• In the bottom of the first, Donovan made a nice snag of a hard line drive in left-center.
• With one out in the second, Charley made a smooth play on a difficult ground ball at third base and fired to first to easily retire the hitter.
• Bryce made yet another quality scoop at first base to preserve a force-out in the third.
• Gabe hustled after a foul popup near the Thunder dugout and made a sprawling catch with two men on and the Thunder threatening in the fourth.
• Two batters later, Ben grabbed a pop fly at catcher for the inning's second out.
• With the 'Cats still holding on to a one-run lead and the top of the order on deck, Gavin knocked down a hard two-out grounder at shortstop, stayed with it, and fired to first to end the game.

Saturday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mudcats	2	2	4	1	4	0	13	16
Thunder	2	0	3	3	4	0	12	13

Bracketology: One game left

The Thunder and Bulls made up this week's rainout tonight, and with the Thunder victory, we now know a couple more seeds. Here's how the postseason picture looks right now:

1. Riverdogs
2. Mudcats
3. Lookouts/Bats (Lookouts clinch third with win over Bulls or Bats loss to Bees)
4. Bats/Lookouts
5. Thunder
6. Bees
7. Bulls/Scrappers (Bulls clinch 7th with win over Lookouts or Scrappers loss to Riverdogs)
8. Scrappers/Bulls

Bracketology: Mudcats postseason opener is set

The Riverdogs defeated the Bats last night. Based on tiebreakers, no matter what happens on Saturday, that means the Mudcats finish in second place for the regular season. So you can book the All Blacks' postseason opener for Thursday, May 17, at 5:30 p.m. The full bracket is available on the West Raleigh site.

The postseason picture currently looks like this. The most likely team to earn that seed is listed first:

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

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.

Bracketology

The Minor League tournament has finished round one. As we are all aware, the Mudcats play bright and early at 9 a.m. tomorrow against the Lookouts.

The loser of that game is eliminated. The winner will face the loser of the Scrappers-Bulls game (which will be played on Saturday at 5 p.m.) this Sunday at 1 p.m.

Other tournament games on Saturday include a winner's bracket game between the Thunder and Bats at 3 p.m., and an elimination game between the Bees and Riverdogs at 11 a.m.

Revised tournament bracket posted

Yesterday's rainouts, which mean the Mudcats will face the Bees in a makeup game today at 3, have forced the rescheduling of the Minor League tournament. The new bracket is now available at the West Raleigh website--look in the downloads section on the right-hand side of the page.

No matter the outcome of the game today, the Mudcats will play in the 4/5 game, which means the All Blacks will open tournament play against the Bats Tuesday night at 5:30. Win or lose, the next game will be this Saturday, May 21 (if they lose, they will play at 9 a.m.; win and the game is at 3 p.m.).

Closing ceremonies have been moved from May 25 and will now take place on May 31.

Saturday bracketology

This morning's 9 a.m. Riverdogs-Lookouts game was rained out, but the 11 a.m. Bats-Thunder game did take place, with the Thunder claiming a 4-1 win. That means a couple of things:

The Thunder are the regular season champions and will be the top seed in the tournament. The Riverdogs will be the second seed.

The Bats are locked into the 4/5 game in the tournament.

How the All Blacks can finish:

Scrappers (play at 3 p.m. vs. Bulls) win, Mudcats win: Scrappers finish third, Mudcats fourth, Bats fifth.

Scrappers lose, Mudcats win: Mudcats finish third, Bats fourth, Scrappers fifth.

Scrappers win, Mudcats lose: Scrappers finish third, Bats fourth, Mudcats fifth.

Scrappers lose, Mudcats lose: Scrappers finish third, Bats fourth, Mudcats fifth.

Any of those scenarios mean the Mudcats would play tomorrow (assuming no more rainouts) at either 3 or 5. The tournament bracket is available here.

What we know...

The Mudcats face the Bats Thursday at 5:30. Once that game is complete, every team in the Minor League will have just one game remaining. Based on what's happened so far, here are the seeds we know for sure in the postseason tournament:

#1: Thunder (with win in regular season finale or Riverdogs loss in regular season finale) or Riverdogs (with win and Thunder loss)
#2: Thunder/Riverdogs
#3/4/5/6/7: Still very jumbled, see below
#8: Lookouts

So, specifically, what does Thursday's game mean for the Mudcats seeding?

If the Mudcats win Thursday...They finish third, fourth or fifth.

If the Mudcats lose Thursday...They finish either fifth or sixth (Scrappers have head-to-head tiebreaker). The winner of Saturday's game against the Bees would finish fifth, and the loser would be sixth.

The end-of-season postseason bracket is available here. We'll update more of what we know after Thursday's game along with potential scenarios.

Mudcat Bracketology

A quick look at the postseason picture for your planning purposes as the Minor League enters the final week of regular season play:

It's not yet reflected in the standings, but the Thunder beat the Scrappers on Sunday afternoon. That means the Mudcats are officially eliminated from regular season title contention.

We now know that the Mudcats can't finish first (the regular season champion will be the Thunder, Riverdogs or Bats) or eighth. In addition, because the Riverdogs swept the regular season series from the 'Cats, the All Blacks can't finish second.

The current seeding picture is jumbled, as the only team locked into a seed is the eighth spot, which will be held by the Lookouts. Based on the official Minor League postseason bracket, we already know the Mudcats can't play Sunday, May 15 at 1 p.m. We also know it is very unlikely--but not impossible--that the Mudcats could play on May 15 at 7 p.m.