District Tournament G1: WR 7U 26, North Wake 3

Here's how you know you are big time. Not when you have alternate jerseys or bat bags with your name on them. But when actual celebrities can't even get a ticket to your games and have to watch from outside the stadium. That's what greeted West Raleigh 7U bright and early on Saturday morning as they began loosening up around 8:15 a.m. See if you can spot the celeb in the following photo, which was taken just beyond the outfield fence at the Factory in Wake Forest:

What do you mean you don't see him? Look again. Yep, that's right, it's Justin Beaver. He may have been setting up for his postgame concert, to which Coach Eric had scored front-row tickets!

The Beavs turned out to have a perfect seat for the first inning, because West Raleigh unleashed its most powerful offense of the season, blasting a season-high 26 runs on a season-high 30 hits. The hit parade began with 10 first-inning runs and never really let up

Could North Wake come back from that kind of deficit? Well, never say never (sorry, had to do it), so the WR bats had to stay hot. They pounded out 16 more runs over the next three innings before the mercy rule was invoked at 26-3 after four innings.

With the win, 7U was able to cheer on West Raleigh 8U to another mercy-rule victory while awaiting the scheduled noon 7U start against the Efland Hawks. Meanwhile, other celebrities began to file into the bleachers to wrestle the prime seats away from Justin Beaver.

Game 1 West Raleigh 7U scoring plays
First inning
How long do you have? In the most devastating offensive inning of the season so far, 7U sent 15 hitters to the plate and put up a 10-spot. Bryce started it with a single, and Joey--showing off his new bat--blasted a triple that scored Bryce. Gavin, who was on his way to a 4-for-4 game, followed with another triple, making it 2-0. Chace's single scored Gavin. With the bases clear, Jake started the procession again, ripping a single to right. JT and Ben followed with back-to-back singles, and Ben's scored Jake to make it 4-0. JT scored on Mason's single up the middle.

You tired yet? We're only halfway there. With runners on second and third, Timmy drove a single back through the middle, and Elias went through the right side with his run-scoring single. Asher singled to load the bases, Alex's grounder brought home Timmy, and Trey bashed an RBI single. Bryce, batting for the second time in the inning, finished off the scoring with a single that scored Alex. Finally, it was over--10 runs on 12 hits, almost all of them hard-hit line drives.
Score after one-half inning: WR 7U 10, North Wake 0


Second inning
The offense picked up almost right where it had left off in the first. This time "just" 12 hitters came to the plate. Gavin led off with a single and advanced to second on Chace's single. Good baserunning all the way around meant everyone was safe on Jake's grounder to the right side, and Gavin alertly raced all the way around to score. Joseph whacked an RBI single to left that scored Chace. Ben's single loaded the bases, and Mason's RBI fielder's choice pushed across the 14th run of the day. Timmy's grounder scored Ben. Elias and Asher had back-to-back singles that loaded the bases for Alex, who knocked a two-RBI single into left to finish the scoring.
Score after one and one-half innings: WR 7U 17, North Wake 3

Third inning
Gavin singled and moved to second on a one-out fielder's choice from Chace. Jake roped an RBI single to left-center, and Joseph followed with an almost identical line shot that scored Chace.
Score after two and one-half innings: WR 7U 19, North Wake 3

Fourth inning
Making sure the bats were hot from start to finish, Timmy led off with a hard shot to third. Elias and Asher singled to load the bases for Alex, who picked up his third RBI of the day with another single. Trey's grounder scored Elias. Bryce's single scored Asher. Joey blasted a two-run double to left and then scored on Gavin's single. Chace doubled to left-center, and then Jake drove in the final run of the day with a sacrifice fly to left-center.
Score after three and one-half innings: WR 7U 26, North Wake 3

Game 1 Web Gems

• How selfish are you? You just read about 26 runs and you want great defensive plays, too? There were some of those also. With the bases loaded in the first, Joseph doused North Wake's rally by grabbing a two-out pop-up.
• With a runner on second and one down in the third, Gavin, Chace and Bryce teamed up on a slick double play. Gavin fielded a grounder at shortstop, looked the runner back to second, and fired to Chace for the force on the hitter. But when the runner on second got too adventurous and tried for third, Chace came off the bag firing. Bryce was covering the bag and made the catch and tag for an inning-ending double play.

Game 1 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
WR 7U Blue	10	7	2	7	X	X	26	30
North Wake	3	0	0	0	X	X	3	7