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!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, March 8, 2013
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?
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?
Saturday, March 2, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
It's time
The spring 2013 draft just finished up at West Raleigh Baseball world headquarters. We hope everyone enjoyed the live streaming feed we set up of the Mudcats war room (Coach Sean is on the right). The world's foremost experts have already given the draft, which clocked in at roughly the same amount of time as the first three rounds of the NFL Draft (which stretches over two days), high marks.
We have added seven new Mudcats, and you will see the spring 2013 roster on the right-hand side of the page. It won't take long for us to get acquainted, as our first practice is scheduled for Wednesday night at West Raleigh. You'll be hearing much more about this week's schedule from Coach Sean in the next 24 hours.
We have added seven new Mudcats, and you will see the spring 2013 roster on the right-hand side of the page. It won't take long for us to get acquainted, as our first practice is scheduled for Wednesday night at West Raleigh. You'll be hearing much more about this week's schedule from Coach Sean in the next 24 hours.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
It's registration time
Yes, Mudcat fans, if the calendar says January, you know what time it is: the leaves are off the trees, there is a chill in the air, and Coach Sean is slumbering away in his winter hibernation, only to emerge in early February to see if he sees his shadow. Oh, wait, that's someone else.
However, we do know for certain something that happens at this time of year: it's time for you to sign up your Mudcat for the spring 2013 baseball season. This is the time-honored rite of spring in which you pay the West Raleigh Exchange Club in exchange for the privilege of getting to pay them more money when they hold the annual raffle. You can find the registration link here. Practice will be here before we know it, and we look forward to seeing everyone on the field.
We should also note that now there is a new way to keep up with all the latest West Raleigh Mudcats news. No, not the ESPN Bottom Line, although you can expect all games to be televised on The Ocho, as per usual. This year, we will also be using the Mudcats Twitter account to provide game updates, practice changes/updates, groundskeeping tips from alums Coach Mike and Gabe, etc. You can follow the Mudcats on Twitter here.
However, we do know for certain something that happens at this time of year: it's time for you to sign up your Mudcat for the spring 2013 baseball season. This is the time-honored rite of spring in which you pay the West Raleigh Exchange Club in exchange for the privilege of getting to pay them more money when they hold the annual raffle. You can find the registration link here. Practice will be here before we know it, and we look forward to seeing everyone on the field.
We should also note that now there is a new way to keep up with all the latest West Raleigh Mudcats news. No, not the ESPN Bottom Line, although you can expect all games to be televised on The Ocho, as per usual. This year, we will also be using the Mudcats Twitter account to provide game updates, practice changes/updates, groundskeeping tips from alums Coach Mike and Gabe, etc. You can follow the Mudcats on Twitter here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
