Practice #8

If it's cloudy, drizzly and 40 degrees, that can only mean one thing--it's a Mudcat practice day. The 'Cats practiced on Ephesus Church field on a chilly Monday night. Before you read about the 90-minute practice (and 20-minute birthday party), make sure you check out the photos from Saturday's scrimmage.

Practice began with infield, outfield and hitting stations. For some reason, several parents chose to watch from the warmth of their cars.

After stations, the Mudcats spent an extended practice period on game situations, both for the benefit of the defense and for baserunners who may have to repeat some of those same situations in Saturday's season opener against the Lookouts. Of course, the primary reason for doing game situations was for Coach Sean to get practice hitting bombs.

A quick baserunning review capped practice...or so we thought. That's when it was time for things to really start getting fun, as each player had brought a cherished birthday gift for Coach Sean. Words probably can't describe it, but this photo might give you an idea:

After all the presents were opened, the only remaining question was who had more fun: Coach Sean or the kids.

Practice #6

I'm not sure how, but we are already two-thirds of the way through our preseason practices. Wednesday's practice included a visit from a member of the witness protection program. There is a rumor it might have been Coach Sean in disguise, but there is no way a very sick Coach Sean would come out to the frozen tundra of Nowell Field in his condition.

Practice began with throwing and catching drills, and the players were reminded that they need to be doing some throwing and catching at home if at all possible. We also worked on some baserunning scenarios, including running hard through the bag at first, going from home to second, and going from first to third and picking up the third base coach while rounding second.

The Mudcats split into two groups for infield/outfield drills, then finished the field portion of practice with some game situations. Channing, Quenten and Jackson clearly won the coin flip, because they got to be runners and keep warm on the first series of plays; they later switched and moved to defense while Jay, Brayden and Hayden tore up the basepaths. Both Jackson and Channing made nice plays in the outfield during the game situations.

Practice ended in the cage, which made up for being cold by being dark, so you couldn't actually see if your fingers had frostbite.

Our next practice is Friday night from 5-7, and we will start off on the field, which means there won't be anyone on the field ahead of us, so please be early if you possibly can (we realize getting there at 5 p.m. in work traffic is a challenge).

By the way, make sure you turn in your raffle money. Unless, that is, you're saving your money for this raffle. Go ahead, you need to read that story. You read it right: an Illinois Little League is raffling an assault rifle. The money quote is from the league commissioner, who says, "We could've went with a basic shotgun or something simple."

No way--don't go simple with your Little League gun raffle!

Practice #5

First of all, make sure to check out the photos from Friday night.

For the second straight day, the Mudcats had to struggle through practice without Coach Sean, who has now missed the first two practices of his Mudcats career and has broken his Lou Gehrig-like streak of perfect attendance. Without the fearless leader, the 'Cats started off Saturday in the cage, getting in some hitting before taking the field. While the All Blacks were in the cage, Coach Jamie threw the first 400 of what would ultimately be an 850-pitch afternoon.

After a quick warmup period on the field, the Mudcats finished their throwing and catching period with a relay game. Still sore from Friday night's push-ups, Coach Adam wisely chose to supervise the drill rather than participate. He nominated Coach Brett to participate, thrilling the team that learned they would have Coach Brett instead of Coach Adam. Not surprisingly, that team won the relay competition, overcoming a phenomenal diving play by Jay that forced a third and deciding relay.

The middle part of practice was split into infield and outfield drills. Then, after the Mudcats had turned in their second straight solid practice, they split into three squads and finished with an intrasquad scrimmage highlighted by Channing's bomb deep into the outfield and some heads-up baserunning by Jackson and Jay.

The Mudcats now have a lengthy time off until the next practice on Wednesday. Players (and their parents!) are reminded to please practice at home as much as possible to enable us to continue to make progress during the week.

Practice #4

The Mudcats had to struggle through practice Friday night without an ailing Coach Sean, who was at home very sick. Practice began with a quick baserunning review and then moved to a throwing relay competition. The teams were fairly evenly matched--except for the unfortunate squad that got stuck with Coach Adam. Needless to say, that team lost the best-of-three competition and had to do 15 push-ups.

After Coach Adam finished his push-ups, which barely took him a second longer than 22 minutes, the Mudcats split into two groups. Half the team worked on fly balls and outfield drills, while the other group worked on infield play and making solid throws around the diamond.

Then, for the first time this spring, the entire team took infield/outfield together and worked on some game situations, as they tried to retire the speedy trio of Jay, Jackson and Brayden. That threesome made it very difficult to get outs, but the defense did make some nice plays, including a sweet grab in right-center from Brenner.

The 'Cats finished practice in the cages, and for the overall two hour effort, Coach Adam--who was still breathing hard from his 15 push-ups--deemed it the best practice of the season so far.

The All Blacks will be back on the field Saturday afternoon from 1:30-3:30, and will be in the cage first. The forecast is calling for sunny and 60...is that allowed on a Mudcats practice day?

Practice #2

First, make sure you check the right-hand side of the page for today's photo gallery from practice. Thanks to Erin for all her great photos.

Today's practice was pushed back from 9 to 9:30 to take advantage of the dramatic warmup from 31 degrees to 33 degrees. By the time the Mudcats took the field, it felt almost tropical.

There was a heavy emphasis today on some basic baseball fundamentals: throwing and catching. It might sound simple, but it's the foundation of almost everything we'll do. The first throwing game included the losing team having to do 10 push-ups. Colin, who was a member of the winning team, is so ripped he decided to do the push-ups with the losing squad just to make sure he didn't lose any muscle.

After the throwing contest, the All Blacks split into two groups, and half worked on infield drills while the other half worked on outfield drills. Each group rotated to each station, and Coach Brett is at home right now icing his arm after throwing dozens of towering pop-ups.

The on-field portion of practice ended with a basic drill emphasizing good throwing and catching form. Coach Sean reinforced that whenever a player is catching a baseball, he should be moving towards the ball instead of away from it. He also encouraged the players to practice at home as much as they can--even if that just means grabbing a tennis ball and throwing it off a wall (only after getting parental permission to find a suitable wall, of course).

Practice concluded with a hitting session in the cages, with top hand, bottom hand and two-hand work off the tee, plus front toss and live pitching in the cage. The next Mudcat practice is Tuesday at 5:00. Expect it to either: A. Snow B. Rain C. Be below freezing or D. All of the above.

Practice #1

The 2013 Mudcats practiced for the first time Wednesday night on the frozen muddy tundra of Nowell Field. The evening began with a few brief words from Coach Sean, who decided to go the brutally honest route by admitting he makes more mistakes than anyone on the team (not sure what it means that everyone was mumbling, "Yeah, like in selecting assistant coaches").

After deciding not to wrestle a 13-14 year-old team for possession of the other lower field, the Mudcats took the field at Nowell and promptly lost two six-year-olds in the mud, trimming the roster from 15 down to 13. Good job by Jay and Jackson to not sink to the bottom of the West Raleigh complex. The Minor League is considering adding a mud-dodging station to next year's tryouts.

Practice began with some work on form throwing, using four seams and keeping the elbow high. Players then took some grounders in the infield before splitting into two groups for infield and outfield work. The evening ended in the romantically lit batting cages. That's when it was discovered that your signup fees apparently don't cover a pitching screen for the batting cages. That left Coach Sean to bravely stand there and have baseballs ripped at him from 13 angry, muddy hitters.

You will be receiving uniform order confirmations in your email today. Please make sure to return them as soon as possible to make sure we get our order in on time. Also, as a reminder, we will be using the WRMudcats Twitter account this year for practice/game updates, so make sure you (and your relatives who want to keep up with the Mudcats) are signed up to receive updates.

The next practice is bright and early on Saturday at 9 a.m., as part of our continuing efforts to make sure we never practice when the temperature is above 50 degrees.

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.

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.

Practice: Halfway there

After an incredibly long two-day hiatus from the West Raleigh fields, the Mudcats regrouped Thursday night for a short 90-minute session. The first 30 minutes were spent in the cage.

After moving to the field for the final hour--only after former Mudcat Ben Penchuk crushed an over-the-fence home run during the Lookouts-Bulls game--Coach Sean had one major focus: "We have to lock down our defense," he told the 'Cats. That meant a full 60 minutes of defensive work, beginning with outfielders hitting the cutoff man while infielders lined up the cutoff man and received and made quick throws. In the Minor League, unfamiliar base runners at first can sometimes mean there are force outs at second to be had on hard singles up the middle, and Coach Sean wants the outfielders to play aggressively and make those plays. The All Blacks have converted two force outs from the outfield through the first seven games.

The final 10 minutes were devoted to situations, with everyone on the play--infielders, outfielders and even the baserunners--required to think about what they were going to do before the ball was hit. Coach Sean managed to conserve his power and only hit one ball over the fence.

Even with all the defensive work, the best catch of the day was clearly by Channing. While on vacation with his family at the beach, he used his bare hands to catch what appeared to be a hammerhead shark. A photo of his wildlife taming was shown to the team, which was suitably impressed.

The next Mudcat event is a Saturday game at 3 p.m., which means pregame starts at 2 p.m. The 'Cats have now played every team in the league once, which means Saturday--against a tough Lookouts squad that was missing several players when the two teams first met--begins the second half of the season.

Practice: All Blacks (and blue)

I have no idea how many games the Mudcats are going to win this year. But I do know for sure they are going to look like the toughest, meanest team anyone has ever seen in West Raleigh. The 'Cats brought their black eye total to two on Wednesday night when Coach Tom decided to hit Colin in the eye with a line drive.

Colin still made a catch on a pop fly later in the same practice, proving that you might need two hands to catch a fly ball, but you only need one eye.

Practice: Return of the blog

Not sure where the trusty blogger has been--obviously not doing his job. Hopefully, that doesn't mean push-ups anytime soon.

The Mudcats gathered on Tuesday night for practice a feast. Oh, and there also may have been some baseball. The first hour was spent in the cages rotating between live pitching, tee work, and soft toss.

On the field, the 'Cats simulated their pregame routine for Thursday's season opener, which if executed at the same pace as Tuesday's practice may need to commence at around 2:30 p.m. for the 5:30 game. The outfield took some fly balls while the infield fielded grounders.

After the pregame simulation, the Mudcats worked on game situations. A highlight-reel play was turned in by a new outfielder known only as "Lil' Tom," who speared a well-hit ball in right-center. Multiple players got reps at several different positions, and the only baserunning error was made by Coach Sean, who was caught in a crisply executed rundown between third and home.

Practice concluded with what was allegedly a birthday meal for Donovan but looked more like the midnight buffet on a well-stocked cruise ship. Players and coaches sang for both Donovan and Coach Matt, and players also received their uniforms.

Gametime on Thursday is 5:30. Coach Sean made the very wise call that even though the team order for the pants was messed up by the vendor, the Mudcats will indeed still wear pants on Thursday. As he put it, "I should have the new pants at the game on Thursday. Just in case, wear pants anyway." Good tip. This is why he is the head coach.

Pregame begins as close to 4:30 as possible, with the Mudcats slated to take infield at 5:10.

Practice #7: Gavin goes yard

The Mudcats were happy to be back on the well-manicured grounds of West Raleigh on Tuesday evening. In fact, they were so happy that they proceeded to fire the ball all over the infield during a throwing competition around the horn. Unfortunately, Coach Sean had decreed every missed throw meant three push-ups for everyone, which included the coaches. I think I blacked out somewhere around 27 push-ups, so I'm not exactly sure how many we did, but I believe the final total was 33. Coach Mike (pictured in background) was kind enough to provide supervision during the push-up portion of practice.

After taking a moment to admire their guns, the Mudcats broke into two groups. The infield worked on grounders, while the outfield was broken into two groups--one with Coach Mike firing baseballs, and one with Coach Adam and Coach Matt smacking lobs (luckily, one of the Mudcat staff photographers snapped this action shot) with the tennis racket. Charley made several nice grabs in the outfield, as did Gavin and Christopher.

The Mudcats then spent a significant portion of practice working on game situations. The coaches continue to emphasize the importance of thinking about where you will go with the ball when it comes to you. The key--those thoughts must happen before the ball is pitched, not once the ball is in your glove. Channing, Ben, Donovan and Will were much improved in backing up plays all over the field, and Will and Channing also took a moment to practice their body checks into the boards just in case any teams want to mix it up.

The highlight of the situation portion of practice came when mighty Gavin strode to the plate with the bases loaded. With the wind howling in from right field, he/Coach Sean hit a titanic blast the opposite way and nearly on to the other field.

Practice finished with some baserunning and hitting stations. The Mudcats have a two-day break before hitting the field again on Friday at 5. That gives everyone 48 hours to round up their raffle money before DeeDee sends out the leg breakers.

Practice #4: Do you know what aggressive means?

The Mudcats returned to Method Road on Thursday night for the fourth practice of the year, and just the second held in decent outdoor field conditions ("decent" being the highest praise ever afforded to Method Road).

After a quick lap around the field, Coach Sean held a throwing competition between Red (Gavin, Bryce, Will, Brenner, Noah and Chris) and Black (Gabe, Donovan, Charley, Ben, Colin, Asher, Channing). Black won the first two events--which meant 10 push-ups for the Red squad--but then got a little over-confident, agreeing to go double-or nothing on the third and final race. Predictably, Red won the third competition, which somehow--with Coach Sean channeling Karl Hess to make the ruling--resulted in everyone doing 10 push-ups.

After the competition, the Mudcats convened at home plate for a quick baserunning lesson. Coach Sean wants everyone to run the bases aggressively at all times. Gavin took the home-to-first running contest, narrowly edging out Gabe, Brenner and Charley. Players worked on running through the bag at first, rounding first and hitting the inside of the bag on the way to second, and picking up the third-base coach when rounding second.

The middle part of practice was devoted to infield and outfield stations, with everyone taking fly balls and grounders at each position. Practice ended with game situation drills, featuring a nice catch in the outfield from Colin and some impressive hustle from Donovan in the outfield tracking down the prodigious blasts from Coach Sean.

The Mudcats practice again on Saturday--as Chris put it, "not next Saturday, but this Saturday"--at 3 p.m. at West Raleigh.

Scrimmage: Mudcats vs. Thunder

The Mudcats and Thunder convened at the pristine grounds of Method Road Park on Tuesday evening. As usual, the field was in immaculate condition. Following nearly an hour of work by Coach Tom, Coach Mike, Coach Sean, and most importantly, Gabe, the field was deemed ready for play.

Coach Sean demonstrated his confidence in his team by originally planning to go with just four outfielders. When Coach Mike pointed out that the 'Cats hadn't had much time working on the penalty kill so far during the preseason, Coach Sean relented and used five outfielders. Every Mudcat played multiple positions and the defense was highlighted by several heads-up plays from Charley, plus good leadership in the field by Gabe.

Meanwhile, the Mudcat offense clicked most efficiently in the first inning, when the top of the order pushed across three runs with a series of hard-hit balls. Five consecutive batters reached base before the Thunder recorded an out.

With just three practices so far this year, and only one of those a true on-field practice that wasn't held either indoors or in a mud pit, Tuesday was mostly about learning some of the details of the game. For example, players discovered it is very tough to find your glove and hat when you hide it in a different place after every inning. Coach Sean also emphasized the importance of focus on defense--thinking before every pitch what you will do with the ball if it is hit to you, and being ready as soon as the ball is pitched.

The Mudcats next take the field on Thursday night at 5:00 at Method Park. Mudcats are reminded to get started on their totally optional raffle ticket sales (which, as a reminder, are not optional at all) as soon as possible.

Practice #1: Getting started

The spring 2012 Mudcats season began Sunday afternoon with a team meeting at the most important place at the West Raleigh baseball fields--the concession stand. Coach Sean ran the meeting, which included the always enjoyable team vote on uniform colors. Last spring's Mudcats wore black pants and black jerseys, which led to the nickname of All Blacks and a unique team ability to do the haka before games. Some players and coaches were more talented (ahem, Coach Tom) than others.

This year, however, the colors were again up for debate. Coach Mike's suggestion to use red pants, shirts and socks were quickly vetoed by the West Raleigh Fire Department, who were afraid they might confuse the coaches with a fire truck. Gabe suggested white pants, and Coach Mike generously offered to do everyone's laundry if white pants won the vote, but in a vote only slightly more rigged than most Chicago mayoral elections, black pants emerged victorious. Coach Sean explained some of the details of the optional West Raleigh raffle fundraising, plus announced plans for a team slush fund to cover Coach Sean's beach vacation unexpected expenses. For the rest of the details on the team meeting, see Coach Tom, who always makes it a point to arrive 10 minutes early.

After the meeting, the Mudcats adjourned to the batting cage, where they hit in three groups: tee, soft toss and live pitching. Hopefully, everyone noticed that Coach Sean went straight into the live cage and needed zero warmup tosses. As Coach Mike put it, "That's what happens when you are a finely tuned athlete." The rest of the coaches, meanwhile, needed a minimum of 15 minutes to get loose.

After hitting, the Mudcats moved to the practice field. After a quick lap around the field and throwing instruction from Coach Sean, a relay race was held. Due to extremely poor coaching from Coach Adam, his team lost both races. On the bright side, Coach Adam's team was able to do five push-ups after each loss and now is ripped.

Relays were followed by stations. This included Coach Sean's observation, "It's a lot warmer on the field than in the cages." Coach Mike's response was, "That's because now we are in the sun and before we were in the shade." Coach Mike is a scientist.

 Players were split into Red, Black and White groups for stations and rotated among outfield (first step always back in the outfield, opening the hips and sprinting back to the ball) and infield (making good throws, fielding the ball with good form out in front).

Coach Sean ended practice with some game situation work, partially to allow the players to get used to different game scenarios and also to allow him to show off his incredible hitting power. His attempts to crush the ball over the heads of the outfielders were thwarted by Benjamin and Asher, who each made nice catches in the outfield. Other notable plays included a heads-up cover of third by Charley from his shortstop position and an alert backup of first base by Brady that saved at least one extra base.

Practice concluded with a quick team photo, which was requested by Coach Tom so he can attempt to call everyone by their correct names--or something close to their correct names--at the next practice. The most formidable challenge for this goal is likely to come from Channing, who informed the coaches that he wants his nickname to be "Chandler." This may or may not be because one of the coaches actually called him Chandler at one point. Fortunately for Channing/Chandler, Coach Sean heard this request as wanting to be called "Hammer," which has a chance to stick.

There will be a test on names on Wednesday. This test is only applicable to coaches.

The next practice is on Wednesday night at West Raleigh, which will be followed by Friday's team event at the ballet TBA.

Practice--Tagging up

Monday's practice session began, as usual, with a throwing contest. Smiley won the first round and Christopher claimed the second.

Following the throwing contest and a team lap (or, as Gabe likes to call it, "Everybody behind me!"), the Mudcats split into stations. Coach Rob manned the outfield station. In Coach Tom's absence (it is believed Coach Tom and JJ were off scouting another game), Coach Mike was in charge of the conditioning station. Coach Sean ran the infield station while Coach Adam played his usual integral role.

After a quick water break, the All Blacks came together to work on baserunning from third base and outfielders getting the ball to the cutoff man (in theory) and then relaying the ball to the plate. As you will remember, this is a play the 'Cats have executed successfully at least twice this year. Let's just say their conversion percentage is a little higher in the games than it is in practice. Perhaps we can blame the struggles on the slightly complex rotation put in place to make sure everyone tried each position, and on the catching advice being dispensed by Coach Mike, Coach Rob and Coach Adam to the unfortunate catchers.

Several players/groups earned praise after practice. The six-year-old trio of Brenner, Asher and Gavin were singled out for their leadership and effort. The eight-year-olds were noted for their improved effort level at practice. The seven-year-olds had the unfortunate role of being neither the youngest nor the oldest, but there was a team-wide helmet sticker awarded (the group of Christopher, Smiley, Drew, Zach and Anthony received two because they were in an "earn-back" situation) for focus and effort. Hayes and Zach were deemed the Mudcats who best personified the focus, so they captained the relay teams. Despite some shenanigans around home plate trying to slow up Hayes's team, they still emerged victorious, which allowed Hayes to lead the final team cheer.

The next Mudcats event is Thursday night's game at 5:30.

Practice--Flying blind

Something so incredible, so astonishing, so unbelievable that it had to be seen to believed happened on Thursday night at Pullen Park--the Mudcats went through a two-hour practice with no formal practice plan.

I know, I'm as surprised as you are. But it really happened.

Don't think there was no organization whatsoever. Coach Andrew had formulated a rough practice plan, but because Pullen Park was an unfamiliar environment, no one was quite certain what the state of the field might be. After all, we all remember the Great Kentwood Easter Egg Hunt on Monday. As it turned out, though, Proctor and Sons must have the field maintenance contract at Pullen Park, because the fields were in great shape.

Coach Jim made the mistake of arriving early to pitch to Christopher, which meant every Mudcat who arrived wanted to hit off the lefty. Eventually, after about half the team had taken their hacks against Coach Jim, Coach Rob took the 'Cats who had already hit into the outfield to shag some fly balls while Coach Andrew took over on the mound.

Apparently, the bright sunshine must have been getting to Coach Andrew, because he formulated a diabolical plan for the second half of the scrimmage. He installed Coach Tom as the head coach/full-time pitcher for one team, and picked Coach Adam as the head coach/full-time pitcher for the other team. Sides were chosen, and the teams went through a very even four-inning scrimmage. Highlights included Coach Adam pitching to Zach, JJ playing a slick first base, and the Fightin' JJ's using some dubious tactics to "win" the practice-closing relay race. Of course, there were also some shenanigans from the other team, as Coach Tom suspiciously got much better-looking and faster during the race.

You might notice that Coach Andrew does not appear to have a job description in the above scrimmage. He was very busy.

The next Mudcat event is Breakfast at West Raleigh on Saturday at 9 a.m., with pregame beginning at 8 a.m. Fans and players are encouraged to arrive hungry in the event that there might possibly be food on hand.

Practice--Creeping Up

Monday evening's practice showed just a slight holiday hangover, as the Mudcats appeared somewhat dazed from a weekend spent tracking down the biggest and best Easter treats they could find. Practice began with a throwing competition, with the always impartial Coach Mike presiding. Drew, who is still figuring out the mechanics of his new short cast, won the first contest. This was especially impressive since there were some who thought that Coach Mike's strike zone might have been a little different for the 8-year-olds than it was for the 6-year-olds. I'm not saying it was rigged, just that some guys from the North Carolina State Fair stopped by and said they thought it looked fair to them. Then they wanted to know if Coach Mike would guess their weight and/or birthday. Following the brief interlude, Gavin won the second throwing contest--and let the record show that he won it outright, without any strike zone assistance.

The next segment of practice was devoted to stations, or as the returning 8-year-olds like to call it, "The part of practice where Coach Adam ticks us off." Tonight's reward was Easter eggs stuffed with...uh, I'm not sure what, because Asher ate his before we even pulled out of the parking lot. Judging by some careful investigation, I believe chocolate may have been involved. In the absence of Coach Tom, Coach Mike was put in charge of the calisthenics station, where the activity was folding Russell Wilson origami. Meanwhile, Coach Rob and Coach Jim dodged frisbee golf discs while hitting fly balls, and Coach Sean and Coach Andrew helmed the infield station. At the infield station, Coach Sean taught the importance of playing on your toes in the infield and "creeping" towards the hitter rather than standing flat-footed and waiting for the ball to arrive.

After a quick water break, the entire team assembled on the infield for some baserunning instruction, as the coaches continue to try and get the All Blacks to be even more aggressive on the bases. Specific attention was paid to the art of figuring out how far to go on a ball hit to the outfield and how to strike a balance between being aggressive and still leaving room to get back in case of a catch. The Mudcats were able to go through multiple different situations, and several even practiced the art of the slide, which was especially impressive considering the state of the infield.

Asher and Christopher were selected as team captains for the relay race for their dedication to form and focus. Christopher proceeded to select his dad for his team. Asher was given the choice of every coach in attendance and expressed a strong sense of family pride and love for his father by picking...Coach Andrew. In a related story, late night calls to the Chapel Hill police report that a six-year-old has been spotted wandering the streets. Christopher's team emerged victorious.

The next Mudcat event is a 5:30 game (4:30 pregame) against the Riverdogs on Tuesday.

Practice--Physics lesson

Wednesday's practice began with a physics lesson...Hey, wait, where is everybody going?

Coach Andrew received a less than inspired reaction when he gathered a group of 6-8 year-olds around him and said, "How many of you guys know what physics is?" Given the blank stares that greeted him, he tried a different approach--"Does anyone know Newton's third law of motion?"

The best response went to Sticks, who replied, "I know who Cam Newton is." It turned out, even after a valiant effort from Coach Tom, who was trying to implement a new practice dress code, that Coach Andrew was talking about a different guy named Newton. The guy Coach Andrew was talking about apparently made some laws. I may be off just slightly because my transcription is a little fuzzy, but I think it went like this:


Motion...reaction...action...physics...science...loud noises.

Coach Andrew then demonstrated this law (every action has an equal and opposite reaction, there will be a quiz at the game on Saturday so bring your #2 pencils) by firing a tennis ball at the backboard, which was the first time any Mudcat has ever missed a shot at the basketball station. When he threw the ball gently, the ball trickled back to him. But when he fired the tennis ball, it came careening back into the crowd of Mudcats, sending them scattering for cover and making the rush hour traffic on Jenks Carpenter Road wonder why that man was throwing a tennis ball at a bunch of kids. Of course, Coach Andrew's lesson was an educational, vivid lesson for the children: physics is dangerous. Also, they learned they should never go near someone who is talking about physics. These are life lessons the boys will remember long after their baseball careers are over.

After the coaches finished hurling projectiles at the players, the All Blacks broke into five stations: basketball, tee, hurricane, soft toss, and live pitching. Elisa was in charge of picking the order of the players, which she allegedly did in alphabetical order. However, Anthony needs to file a formal protest because he somehow came after Zach.

Highlights of the stations included Christopher having his "best round of BP as a Mudcat," according to Coach Andrew, and Zach crushing the ball with such velocity that Coach Andrew had to display some slick moves.

Practice concluded with Virginia finding a lizard, which GM Jenn might want to check for in the car. The next Mudcat event is a game Saturday night at 5 p.m., with pregame beginning at 4 p.m.

Practice--BACK!!!

Sunday's practice was on the fence of happening most of the day. With a 5PM start time the Coaching staff was hoping that Kentwood would dry out enough to be playable. At 3PM, it was decided to go ahead. This turned out to be a great decision upon a sunny arrival. Coach Andrew declared it was the best he had seen Kentwood's infield. Many of the parents thought that was perplexing while watching Coach Jim use a bucket lid to move dirt into the puddle by home plate.

The All Blacks decided to take target practice at Coach Sean. The first round ended in a tie between Sticks and Stones throwing from the dirt. Anthony solely secured the second round. After a quick jog with Coach Sean the practice plan was announced: Ninja Tom station, Infield, and base running. Before breaking up Coach Sean had the honor to lead the chant. Coach Andrew informed everyone this would be a quick practice so everyone could get home to rest up for tomorrow's game. (It should be noted that practice did not end until after 6:50pm. Many think Coach Andrew thought practice was suppose to end at 8PM.)

Stations ran smooth and players were rewarded bubble gum for their focus. Neal was spotted in the parking lot preparing to take practice up a notch while changing into his cleats.  Gabe was unhappy that after Coach Andrew told everyone to switch he continued to talk with his group. Gabe had to remind Coach there was a tight schedule to follow.

Once the stations ended, a base running drill was next. Coach Tom worked on his Proctor voice while yelling "BACK!!!!" from third base. While waiting on their turns to run, it was noticed that the younger Mudcats were being taught the art of chest bumping. Lots of situations were practiced with Coach Jim's arm getting a work out.

Coach Tom noted that Noah and Gabe showed the most hustle during stations and the base running drill. This made them captains for the relay race. It was determined that two parents, coaches, etc could be picked for each team. There was some confusion when Gabe picked GM Jenn for his team since everyone thought he loaded up with Coach Tom and Neal. It was quickly determined that Gabe only wanted Neal to supply the ball for his team. Team Noah out ran Team Gabe.

The short practice ended with Noah leading the All Blacks Chant.

The Mudcats are next in action on Monday, April 11th at 5:30PM on Nowell field against the Bulls, pre-game at 4:30PM. We all hope our writer will return from his vacation to Florida by game time.