The game was so good that you might have forgotten that in the middle of it, the sprinklers came on with no warning:
At the time, perhaps we didn't realize it, but the umpires were actually conspiring to make sure everyone got their money's worth on the always-reasonable gate fees. Just think, if the home plate umpire had actually called Drew safe at the plate in the bottom of the fifth when the catcher dropped the ball, it wouldn't have been nearly as exciting to win on a one-out walk. But you know these umpires, always looking out for the kids! So instead, Andrew's walk tied the game, and then JT's epic two-out at-bat ended with a bullet of a single that won the game. Thank you, umpires, for your faithful and not-at-all-overwhelmed service!
The victory, in which 11 of the 12 hitters on the lineup card reached base at least once, advanced 11U Blue to a semifinal matchup with a very good Perquimans River Cats team.
Game 3 11U Blue scoring plays
First inning
Bryce singled, went to second on a wild pitch and stole third. Gavin walked. Chace blasted a two-run double. Drew's fielder's choice advanced Chace, and Banks' grounder scored him.
Score after one inning: 11U Blue 3, Warriors 1
Third inning
Asher singled. Gavin beat out a fielder's choice. Chace crushed a three-run homer. Banks lined a one-out double, discombobulated the pitcher to get to third, and scored on Ben's single.
Score after three innings: 11U Blue 7, Warriors 5
Score after three innings: 11U Blue 7, Warriors 5
Fourth inning
JT doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Asher's sacrifice fly.
Score after four innings: 11U Blue 8, Warriors 6
Fifth inning
Drew worked a one-out walk. Banks walked. A wild pitch moved up both runners. Ben was hit in the helmet by a pitcher who was throwing absolute vapor and, then, with everyone concerned he would permanently have seams embedded on his cranium, responded by giddily dancing up the first-base line (that really happened). The Warriors got a dubious force at home to maintain their narrow one-run lead, but Andrew coaxed a two-out, RBI game-tying walk. At that point, if you noticed the pitcher looking a little rattled, it's because he was staring at JT in the box while also having to deal with this pointed at him from the dugout:
JT worked the count full before lining a game-winning single to left, sparking a walk-off celebration on the field (trust me, JT is under there somewhere):
Score after five innings: 11U Blue 10, Warriors 9
Pitching Performances
Andrew started and pitched two strong innings, allowing just one run.
Banks tossed two innings of quality relief.
JT cleaned things up in the fifth to set the stage for his offensive heroics.
Dugout wisdom
West Raleigh was joined during BP by Baker and a friend, which you pretty much always know means something awesome is going to happen:
At one point, as Baker ate his icee (not pictured), he announced, "Daddy, I think I got some icee down my pants." Coach Fred, with the wisdom that only a father can provide, immediately replied, "Baker, it's a good day to have icee down your pants." You don't read that in a parenting book. It's just fatherly intuition. Some days are good days to have icee down your pants...this was one of them.
Banks tossed two innings of quality relief.
JT cleaned things up in the fifth to set the stage for his offensive heroics.
Dugout wisdom
West Raleigh was joined during BP by Baker and a friend, which you pretty much always know means something awesome is going to happen:
At one point, as Baker ate his icee (not pictured), he announced, "Daddy, I think I got some icee down my pants." Coach Fred, with the wisdom that only a father can provide, immediately replied, "Baker, it's a good day to have icee down your pants." You don't read that in a parenting book. It's just fatherly intuition. Some days are good days to have icee down your pants...this was one of them.
Game 3 Web Gems
- With a runner on first, Chace chased down an errant pickoff throw and fired to Gavin at second to get the runner trying to advance.
- Bryce hustled after a ball behind the plate and tossed to Andrew to get a runner trying to score in the second.
- Elias made a nice running catch in center field in the fourth.
Game 3 line score
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
R
|
H
|
NW Warriors
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
X
|
9
|
13
|
WR 11U Blue
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
2
|
X
|
10
|
10
|
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