Now it can be told

As you've probably heard by now, one of the three teams slated to be in this weekend's tournament has pulled out. After some investigation, we've discovered why: they got a look at these intimidating photos showing off the muscles of some of WR 7U's brawniest players:

When you look at it that way, it's hard to blame them for not wanting to play. As Coach Sean is fond of saying, "You want a piece of me? Which piece, because you can't handle all of it."

Further information is forthcoming on the schedule for this weekend.

WR 7U Olympics

You have to have this playing in the background to really get the full effect of this post.

Thursday marked the last team practice for West Raleigh 7U. More practices had been scheduled, but when everyone found out Timmy couldn't be there, they decided not to bother. In honor of the last practice, Coach Sean constructed an elaborate Olympic-style competition, plus concocted an evil ruse (more details on that later).

Opening ceremonies featured Coach Sean explaining the rules to the team. "So, does everyone understand how this works?" he asked.

They responded with an emphatic chorus of, "Uhhh..." Oh wait, that was just Coach Adam. The kids fully understood that the first event would be ground balls.

Each player received three grounders, in increasing order of difficulty, and were judged on their ability to field the ball with two hands, come up into a solid throwing position, and make a good throw to Kid Gooch.

Grounders were followed by fly balls. Each player again went three times--the first was directly to them, they had to move a little for the second one, and the third was a wicked liner down the line.

In addition to making the catch, they also had to come up and fire another solid throw. This was good practice for the next event, which was throwing. I'm not saying this was the hardest event, but, well, look at the targets set up by Coach Sean:

The targets (but not Coach Ken) are shown actual size. The goal was to throw the ball into the targets on no more than two hops from about midway in left-center field. "They have to go in the buckets," Coach Sean said as the throwing round began. After one of the three rotations, he added, "I think hitting the bucket is OK." Yeah, you think? The difficulty of hitting the buckets was proven when the coaches attempted to hit them while standing at the fence. Coach Sean air mailed the buckets due to his howitzer arm, while Coach Kevin did nail one. No official records were kept for this portion of the evening.

Players also received five live swings off the pitching machine.Where the ball was hit determined their score. The highest score was given to Coach Bruce for his impressive moves in dodging a line drive.

The next event was running. First, the players were timed going from home to first. Then, they were timed going from second to home. Note here the speed exhibited by Chace, who had taken a wicked bad hop grounder off his kneecap in pre-Olympic warmups but, in true heroic Olympic fashion, came back to post one of the best scores of the day:

With all the events completed, it was time to tally the scores. Coach Sean had devised a scoring system in which the entire 7U roster was divided into two teams, but only he knew who was on which team. It turned out that he had secretly marked the teams on the scoresheet using a code he learned while in Navy SEALS training. The individual scores were added, then combined to make a team score. Then, because one team had six players and the other had seven, the cumulative scores were averaged to get a per-player average for each team. Got all that?

Now, I fully realize no one believes this and thinks the officiating must have been questionable. But as someone who was there when the scores were being tallied, I can vouch for it: the per-player average was a dead tie. This allowed Coach Sean to put his devious plan into motion.

Let's flash back to the beginning of practice. Coach Sean had gathered the team down the left-field line, away from all parents and coaches. After exhaustive interrogation of a person who shall remain nameless, I have learned the following facts: at that gathering, Coach Sean told the players he planned to allow them to peg the coaches with water balloons at the conclusion of practice. HOWEVAH, the coaches were simply told that a water balloon toss would be the tiebreaking event if needed.

Coach Sean carefully lined up the two teams along the third base line. He generously offered to partner up with the odd player, since all 13 players were in attendance, and asked the other coaches to split up and stand near each team's line to "judge if they were cheating."

He explained the rules of the game, and told the players they had to toss the balloons back and forth, and when all of theirs broke, they were out. Then he said, "Go."

Look very carefully at the above picture. Notice that some/most of the players are following the instructions of the game perfectly. But the one big kid, in the yellow shirt, seems to be hunting down coaches with wild abandon. And look who just happens to be the one who picked up the bucket full of water to use as a weapon:

Once the water balloons had been exhausted, some devious pranksters wheeled out the hose, intent on revenge on Coach Sean. However, it turned out the hose had a higher and better use: entertainment for the coaches.

The next team activity is a coaching staff trip to roll Coach Sean's house game on Saturday morning at 10 in Oxford. Game times for the weekend are 10 and 11:30 on Saturday and 11 and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. Jersey information for each day will be forthcoming after consultation with the proper authorities.

Upcoming schedule

After a long weekend break for Coach Sean to research and buy the new team RV, West Raleigh 7U Blue returned to the practice field this week. The team will play its final tournament this weekend in Oxford and will compete against a pair of 8U teams. Game times are as follows:

Saturday at 10 a.m. against the East Wake Dragons
Saturday at 11:30 a.m. against the Alamance Angels

Sunday at 11 a.m. against the Alamance Angels
Sunday at 12:30 p.m. against the East Wake Dragons

A full link can be found here.

Incredibly, tonight at 5 p.m. marks the team's final practice of the season. In his own personal homage to the Olympics, Coach Sean has planned a series of competitions in different areas of the game. Coach Sean will, of course, serve as master of ceremonies. To aid the media in covering the event, a pre-competition photo of 7U Blue was taken in their Olympic-style jerseys.

Awesome, baby!

The West Raleigh 8U Blue team, which includes brothers, friends and teammates of everyone on the 7U roster, captured the Southeast Regional championship today in Andalusia, Alabama. There is no World Series for 8U, so West Raleigh went as far as they possibly could and earned the title with a decisive win over Sarasota, Florida. Sarasota is a hotbed of Cal Ripken baseball, and their 8U team even includes the grandson of someone very familiar to West Raleigh fans. In the interest of good sportsmanship, we are not at all going to mention that Sarasota needed to get a TO, baby, or that every member of West Raleigh 8U Blue is a PTPer!

7U Blue was lucky enough to play against 8U Blue in the Top Gun All-Star Weekend in Wilmington on June 17. After that game (a 6-2 8U win), Coach Lance told his 8U team that he hoped they would get the same enjoyment out of playing the game that he saw from the 7U team on that day in Wilmington. Safe to say the 8U team got plenty of enjoyment out of beating the very best teams in the entire southeast United States. Congratulations to everyone involved, especially the players, parents and coaching staff. Every time our "little" guys (some littler than others, not that I am naming names) get to play against the "big" guys, it makes them better, and the 8U team has consistently demonstrated the right way to play--both fundamentally on the field and with good sportsmanship on and off the field.

Thought this might be a good time to revisit the "team" photo of the 7U ENC state champs and the 8U Southeast Regional champs:

Time off doesn't pay

I don't know what you are doing on your Friday night without baseball. Maybe cooking on the grill. Maybe hanging out at the beach. Maybe staying up really late, like until 9 p.m. or something.

Well, I hope you're happy with yourself. Because by virtue of not playing in the Oxford tournament this weekend, we missed seeing these uniforms on the field:

Yes, those are actual wear-them-on-the-field uniforms, including the bizarre Zubazesque pants. In case you're wondering, that's the Triangle Tribe. In a related story, Asher has been banned from ever even considering trying out for the Triangle Tribe.

In non-fashion news, congratulations to 8U Red for going 3-0 in pool play in Oxford, and further congratulations on not desecrating the baseball field with a fashion faux pas. 8U Red has now won an impressive 15 games in a row.

Photos from Saturday night

Since everyone is probably in baseball withdrawal, here's a few photos from Saturday night folks were kind enough to send along.

Courtesy of Sandy, a team shot with the trophies:

Courtesy of Megan, a much better shot than the one I had of the team sprinting out to greet Coach Sean after the game:

Courtesy of Megan, a team photo with the trophies:

Courtesy of Sandy, a photo of the team trophy:

And courtesy of Megan, a shot Coach Sean has asked to have blown up to poster size so he can identify the culprits in the cooler dumping incident:

Note how Coach Ken, being familiar with fingerprint ID procedures, makes sure to be right in the center of the action while not actually having his hand on the cooler. Plausible deniability is very important.

State tournament G6: WR 7U 20, Winterville 10

It's a testament to what an incredible season 7U Blue put together that a 20-10 win that utilized the mercy rule after five innings felt like a nail-biting, pressure-packed affair. This, finally, seemed like a close game. And from the moment Coach Lance rolled into the parking lot with a blast from the 8U Blue RV, to the last swing of the bat from Ben, it felt every bit like a championship game is supposed to feel, including the kid from Winterville who walked over to the West Raleigh dugout three separate times to inquire if 7U Blue was using illegal bats. His final trip eventually prompted Coach Eric's Hall of Fame line of the season: "No. I'm not talking to you. Go away." Simple yet effective.

West Raleigh had played from behind in the day's two earlier games, but this time they faced a 3-0 deficit going into the bottom of the first. As Coach Sean said after the game, "I loved how you guys responded. You just said, 'No big deal. They haven't seen the West Raleigh bats yet.'" The answer was an 8-run bottom of the first.

That trend continued throughout the game. Winterville scored in the top half of the first four innings, building a little momentum going into the bottom half. But then 7U Blue answered every time--in all five of the game's innings, they plated an equal or greater number of runs than what Winterville had scored in the same frame. Because of that, the visitors were never able to make any progress on trimming the lead, and West Raleigh maintained the comfortable--or at least it was probably supposed to feel comfortable--advantage.

The championship was clinched with a three-run bottom of the fifth, capped by Ben's RBI double that scored Joey. Coach Sean (or, as the PA announcer likes to call him, "Scene Gallagher") celebrated in his usual fashion, except instead of a lampshade on his head, this time it was a water cooler.

That was the first of two coolers dumped on him, a process that taught us all a very valuable lesson: due to the height difference, it is extremely hard for a seven-year-old to dump a cooler on an adult.

In looking through the quick snaps I took with my phone (any of the pros out there who want to send me a link to your shots, we'll put that on the blog ASAP), my favorite shot isn't even in focus. It's the moment right after the 20th run crossed the plate and the teams had shaken hands. As Coach Sean returned to the dugout, the entire team sprinted out to him to celebrate:

 
A lot of hard work by a lot of great kids went into the joy that's evident in that shot.

The next move for 7U Blue is uncertain. There might be one more tournament in their future, but Coach Sean said he wanted to give everyone a few days off to try and wash the incredibly sweaty load of laundry decompress. An email will be forthcoming from him in the next few days. In the meantime, these stats sum up the incredible run to a state championship for 7U Blue:

• West Raleigh outscored the opposition 116-13 at the state tournament.
• As a team at the state tournament, West Raleigh pounded out 137 hits and batted .634.
• For the entire summer, in games played only against 7U competition, West Raleigh outscored the opposition 197-18.

Coach Sean punctuated his postgame comments to the team with this: "I haven't been more proud of a group I've been associated with." It was evident in the way everyone lingered to take photos--literally staying until the field personnel turned the lights out (or, in this case, maybe the lights just went out)--that everyone agreed with him.

Oh, and one more thing: there is no practice on Sunday. Spend your time admiring the shine on your state championship trophy:

Championship game West Raleigh 7U scoring plays
First inning
Facing their biggest deficit since playing the 8U Blue squad in Wilmington in mid-June, 7U Blue responded with a big inning that stole the momentum right back from Winterville. Bryce reached in his leadoff spot, then came all the way around to score on JT's thunderous triple. Gavin drove in JT with a single, and then Chace singled. Jake singled, and some adventures in the Winterville infield brought home a pair. Mason's grounder to third put runners at the corners, and Joey singled home Jake. Ben picked up the first of a couple big hits with an RBI single and hustled all the way around to score to complete the scoring.
Score after one inning: WR 7U 8, Winterville 3

Second inning
JT led off with a single and moved to second on Gavin's single. Chace singled home JT, and then Jake blasted a two-run double.
Score after two innings: WR 7U 11, Winterville 5


Third inning
Gavin's two-run single scored Elias and Bryce after the inning began with a bit of a debate with the opposing scorekeeper. Luckily, everyone involved stayed totally calm. In fact, after the medication and the laughing gas, I barely even remember what happened, other than I know for darn sure that Alex was supposed to be leading off, just like he did. For those wondering what was being said during the discussion behind the plate, I believe the other coach said, "I really admire your team's full commitment to the Frogg Togg," and I replied, "I do not find that cowbell one of your fans is ringing at all annoying."
Score after three innings: WR 7U 13, Winterville 7


Fourth inning
All four runs crossed the plate with two outs. Timmy started the rally by reaching on a grounder to the left side, and then Alex singled. What happened next is a little hazy, because I was having high-level rules discussions with Coach Chris, the oracle of the baseball rulebook. I do know that Elias put the ball in play and beat it out. Winterville proceeded to toss the ball all over the field, and by the time the dust had settled, three runs were in. Bryce followed with a hard grounder that couldn't be fielded, and then JT singled in Bryce.





Score after four innings: WR 7U 17, Winterville 10

Fifth inning
Needing just three runs to clinch the state championship (due to the mercy rule), Gavin led off with a single. Chace followed with another single--the pair went a combined 8-for-8 in the title game--before Jake's fielder's choice put runners at the corners with one down. Mason's grounder scored Gavin, and then Joey's two-out single scored Jake. Ben smoked the walk-off, state title-clinching hit with a double deep to center that scored Joey and touched off a wild celebration...oh, and the kids were happy, too.
Score after five innings: WR 7U 20, Winterville 10



Championship Game Web Gems

• Against a team that wanted to make liberal use of the bunt, the West Raleigh infield defended that play very well. JT and Mason made several strong plays charging in from third base and taking away the bunt, and Asher came out from behind the plate to throw out one bunter.
• With two runners on and Winterville threatening to cut into their 8-5 deficit in the second inning, Chace stayed with a spinning grounder straight down the first base line, swallowed it up, and tagged the bag to end the threat.
• The backbreaking defense came in the fifth. Winterville put their first two hitters on base--the bottom two batters in their order. That brought up their hard-hitting top of the order. The leadoff man rocketed a shot down the third base line, but there was JT waiting for it. He snagged the ball out of the air, and without hesitation turned to fire to second to double off the lead runner.
• On the very next play, Gavin got some major air and hauled in a line drive for the third out.

Game 6 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Winterville	3	2	2	3	0	X	10	11
West Raleigh 7U	8	3	2	4	3	X	20	20

State tournament G5: WR 7U 11, North Wake 1

The trip to the movie theater was enjoyed by all. That's especially true of the dads, some of whom expressed their approval for the fine cinematography in unique ways.

Back at the field, the 5 p.m. start was pushed back to 5:30, allowing North Wake to finish off a lengthy win over Deep River. That set up a semifinal matchup against a team 7U Blue had defeated twice last weekend at districts.

North Wake hit the ball much harder than they did in those meetings, and took an early 1-0 lead. Only some stellar defense, including a key third-inning double play, kept the Rockets off the board for the rest of the afternoon. Meanwhile, West Raleigh cranked out just enough offense--you know you're spoiled when scoring 11 runs and getting the mercy rule in the fourth inning is "just enough offense"--to ice the win.

With the win, West Raleigh moved into the 7U ENC state championship game. That's heady stuff, which meant the kids mostly reacted by eating watermelon and singing Call Me Maybe, while the parents prepared in their own special ways.

Game 5 West Raleigh 7U scoring plays
First inning
Trailing 1-0 again, Gavin reached on a fielder's choice with two down. Chace blasted a long line drive to left-center that scored Gavin and tied the game, and then Jake singled through the middle. Mason's long single to left scored Chace and gave West Raleigh the lead.
Score after one inning: WR 7U 2, North Wake 1

Second inning
This time, the big inning was the second. Timmy led off with a single, and Alex reached on a grounder back through the box. Elias laid down a gorgeous bunt single to load the bases, and Bryce's fielder's choice scored Timmy. Joseph went back through the middle for a single that made it 4-1, and then Gavin launched a triple to right-center that scored two. Chace singled, and Mason mushed (that's a combination of "Mason" and "crushed") a ball to left-center that scored a pair.
Score after two innings: WR 7U 8, North Wake 1


Fourth inning
Needing just three runs to enact the mercy rule, JT led off with a line drive single to left. Gavin's double scored him, and then Chace's double scored Gavin. Jake singled to put the winning run on third base, and Mason ended it with a walk-off mush to left.
Score after four innings: WR 7U 11, North Wake 1

Game 5 Web Gems

• Bryce made a diving run-saving stop of a grounder at second base with two outs in the first, then threw to first to retire the side.
• On North Wake's leadoff man in the second, JT moved smoothly to his left to gobble up a chopper and fired to first for the out.
• On perhaps the highlight reel play of the day, North Wake had the leadoff man on second base in the third. The second man up hit a grounder to Gavin, who checked the runner back to second and rocketed a seed to first. Chace gathered in the throw from shortstop and came aggressively off the bag when he spotted the runner from second making a dash from third. JT went over to cover the bag, received the strong throw from Chace, and put the tag on the runner for a sweet 6-3-5 double play.
• Asher ended the game by tossing off his mask and gathering a pop fly at catcher.

Game 5 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
North Wake	1	0	0	0	X	X	1	6
West Raleigh 7U	2	6	0	3	X	X	11	16

State tournament G4: WR 7U 25, Laurinburg 1

The single-elimination portion of the ENC 7U state tournament began with a 12:30 game against Laurinburg in Wilson. With West Raleigh in the unfamiliar home position, Laurinburg took an early 1-0 lead. Then, however, 7U Blue came to bat. They pounded out a season-high 35 hits on the way to a 25-1 win.

The win was made possible by the hard work of Coach Ken, who heard a rumor that everyone who contributed got a trophy and promptly tried to look busy:

Coach Sean seemed more impressed by the hitting than the housecleaning. "I don't think the New York Yankees could have stopped you guys the way you were hitting the ball today," he told the team after the four-inning victory that was shortened by both the mercy rule and some creative baserunning. "You killed the ball. And I'm also very proud of the way you played that game."

The win moved 7U Blue into the state semifinals, but not before a quick trip to the movie theater for the team. Coach Sean, meanwhile, had other business to take care of.

Game 4 West Raleigh 7U scoring plays
First inning
Laurinburg pushed across a run in the top of the first, marking the first time West Raleigh trailed in the state tournament. It didn't last long. 7U Blue batted around in the first inning for the third time in four games...and then they batted around again. In the same inning.

It started when Trey singled leading off. Joseph followed with a hard-hit single that ended up advancing the runners to second and third. Both scored on Gavin's single back through the middle, and Chace signaled the start of a red-hot Saturday for him with a single to right, scoring Gavin. Jake began his 4-for-4 game with a line drive to right that turned into three bases. Bryce drove him home with a single, and then Mason's hard hit to the left side was too hot to handle. Joey singled to drive in a run and Ben's fielder's choice scored a run. With the bases clear, Asher began the parade again, singling back through the middle. Back at the top of the order, Trey singled. Joseph's blast was caught for two outs, but the scoring wasn't done yet. Fourteen more runs came across with two outs.

That began with Gavin's triple to deep right-center, scoring a pair. Chace and Jake each knocked in runs, and then Mason scored two with a double. Joey's grounder to the left side scored Bryce, and Ben singled to left to score Mason. Asher's single the other way loaded the bases. Elias singled to center to drive in a run, and then Timmy did the same. Gavin picked up his third hit and third RBI of the inning with a single, and Chace did likewise (keep in mind that some of these "singles" might have been much more in a typical situation). Jake blasted yet another line drive, this time scoring Timmy, and Bryce's single scored Gavin. Alex singled in Chace to end the inning--an incredible frame in which every player on the roster got at least one hit.
Score after one inning: WR 7U 22, Laurinburg 1

Second inning
Ben singled with one out and moved to second on Asher's single. Elias got his second straight hit, and Timmy, Gavin and Chace each picked up RBI. Coach Sean also showed good creativity by "accidentally" touching Asher going around third base to get an out.
Score after two innings: WR 7U 25, Laurinburg 1

Game 4 Web Gems

• Joey continued his stellar play in left-center field, making a leaping catch of a potential extra-base hit in the first. 
• On the very next hitter, Coach Joe made a ridiculous catch on a foul ball that hit off the alleged "concession stand," where they spent most of their time gleefully counting their money from all the people who had to leave their coolers in the car. Anyway, the ball bounced off the roof, caromed to the side, and Coach Joe made a running catch, after which the PA announcer, who didn't like to hear himself talk at all, informed Coach Joe he could get a lollipop. This is a postgame photo of Coach Joe.
• Back on the field, Gavin jumped high to spear a line drive to end the second.
• In the fourth and final inning, Jake made a stellar scoop of a low throw at first base to get the second out.

Game 4 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Laurinburg	1	0	0	0	X	X	1	5
West Raleigh 7U	22	3	0	X	X	X	25	35

State tournament G3: WR 7U 17, Southern Pitt 0

I assume you're here to read about Friday's baseball game. But by this point in the season, 7U is accustomed to playing two (or more) games on any given day. So playing just one game on Friday meant the team had to find other ways to entertain itself. That included:

• Gavin leaving for pregame practice with his usual game face on. In addition to wearing his game face, however, he was also wearing two left cleats. It takes longer than you might expect to deduce which other West Raleigh 7U player was walking around with two right cleats. We don't believe in naming names, of course, but the other player's name rhymes with "Elias."
• A team bowling trip revealed a long-held secret from one of the players: every night when he leaves practice, Asher goes to the bowling alley to practice. That's the only possible explanation for his four strikes in a row. Luckily, cameras were on hand to capture his very reserved, very classy celebration.
• There may or may not have been an impromptu team dance party to such hot tunes as Call Me Maybe and Boyfriend before and after the pregame BP session. All I can say is the Harvard baseball team better look out.
• During that BP session, the team was able to see tremendous defensive performances from Coach Ken and Coach Kevin, who were trying to live up to the high standards set by Coach Joe. Coach Eric handled the tee work, giving each player 20 10 5 hey, it was hot swings. In reality, however, any coaches in attendance (even Coach Bruce) were unnecessary, because Coach Bob was on the pitching machine.

Oh, and there was also a baseball game. West Raleigh defeated Southern Pitt 17-0 to finish 3-0 in pool play and earn the top seed in Saturday's single-elimination tournament.

After much discussion, during which Coach Sean made a very persuasive case, it was determined that West Raleigh will begin play on Saturday at 12:30 against the Laurinburg-Washington winner. The seeds are as follows:

1 West Raleigh
2 Winterville
3 Wayne South
4 North Wake
5 Deep River
6 Southern Pitt
7 Hillsborough
8 Laurinburg
9 Washington

Game 3 West Raleigh 7U scoring plays
First inning
For the second straight day, West Raleigh batted around in the very first inning. Bryce started with a single, and Joseph put Blue on the board immediately with a triple to deep left. Gavin scored JT with a single the other way. With one out, Jake's single up the middle scored Gavin and made it 3-0. Then, repeating a theme from Thursday, WR did significant two-out damage, plating six more runs. Joey's line drive single the opposite way scored Mason and put runners at the corners. Asher's single the other way scored Ben, and then Trey ripped the second pitch he saw back through the middle for another RBI. Bryce's single through the middle caused some major Southern Pitt defensive issues, as Bryce's aggressive baserunning forced a couple bad throws, eventually allowing the West Raleigh leadoff man to come all the way around to score.
Score after one inning: WR 7U 9, Southern Pitt 0

Second inning
This may sound familiar: in the second inning, West Raleigh batted around. This time, a dozen hitters came to the plate. Gavin started the outburst with a deep triple to right. Chace made it a case of rare back-to-back triples, as he also delivered a three-bagger to right. Jake's single to left scored Chace, and then Timmy singled to put runners at first and second. Ben's single scored Jake, and then Alex's single loaded the bases. Elias singled through the left side to bring home Timmy. Batting for the third time in two innings, Bryce picked up an RBI fielder's choice, and then JT singled deep to left. Gavin completed the scoring with a two-run double.
Score after two innings: WR 7U 17, Southern Pitt 0

Game 3 Web Gems

• In the tone-setting play of the game, Mason snagged a bullet of a line drive with a runner on first and one down in the top of the first. Since the runner assumed no mortal could catch the ball, he was sprinting towards second, so after catching the rocket, Mason fired to Chace at first to get the double play.
• A twisting grounder to first leading off the third looked ticketed for right field when it took a bad hop, but Chace stayed with it and got the out.
• Two batters later, Trey sprinted off the mound to pick up a swinging bunt and made a strong throw to first to get the out.
• Coach Ken made a leaping, juggling catch in deep center field during pregame warmups. He was then heard to mumble something about needing to have his jersey retired. Instead, he was awarded his actual West Raleigh game hat with his number on the back--on the second day of the state tournament, which is the equivalent of putting up your Christmas decorations on Dec. 27.

Game 3 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Southern Pitt	0	0	0	0	X	X	0	5
West Raleigh 7U	9	8	0	X	X	X	17	18

Photos from Thursday

Some teams travel with a masseuse or a trainer. West Raleigh 7U travels with its own photographer. Make sure to check out the photos of Thursday's games, courtesy of Sandy.

Either we are very popular guests or someone also spent their evening decorating the players' room doors at the hotel.

Thanks to everyone for their part in making it a fun weekend. As Asher said, "I was NOT expecting that. That is AWESOME." For those that don't know, "awesome" is pretty much the highest compliment that can be received, second only to "Coach Ken-esque."

State tournament G2: WR 7U 9, Deep River North 1

In a well-played defensive game on both sides, West Raleigh earned a 9-1 win over Deep River North and moved to 2-0 in pool play at the state tournament. The win assures that 7U Blue will be part of the single-elimination tournament on Saturday.

Coach Kevin astutely called the two-game performance "some of the best defense all year." In fact, West Raleigh didn't allow an opposing runner to reach third base all day until the sixth inning of the game against Deep River.

Sanford, a familiar opponent after the scrimmage two weeks ago, forced 7U Blue to make plays. They did not record a strikeout, but most every ball they put in play found a West Raleigh glove.

The remaining game in pool play is Friday at 3 p.m. against Southern Pitt, which lost a 5-4 decision to Deep River North on Thursday morning. It's possible--and even likely--that Saturday game times and opponents may not be determined until much later Friday night, conceivably even after the 8 p.m. game is completed.

Game 2 West Raleigh 7U scoring plays
Second inning
With one out, Joey motored to second on a hard-hit ball down the third-base line. Timmy singled, and with two outs, Alex went the other way to drive in the first West Raleigh run of the day. Elias singled to left, and then Bryce loaded the bases with an infield single. Joseph nearly cleared the bases with a two-RBI single to left, and then Gavin scored Bryce with a single. Chace finished off the scoring with a laser to right that scored a pair and turned into a triple when he hustled all the way into third.
Score after one and a half innings: WR 7U 6, Deep River North 0

Sixth inning
West Raleigh added some key insurance runs, and once again did it with two outs (for the day, 26 of 7U Blue's 43 runs scored with two down). Bryce singled back through the middle and moved to second on Joseph's single down the left-field line. Gavin drove in a pair with a triple to right-center that rolled all the way to the fence. Chace finished the outburst with a single back through the middle.
Score after five and a half innings: WR 7U 9, Deep River North 0

Game 2 Web Gems

• After Deep River's leadoff man advanced to second and they had two on with none out, Bryce made a great play backing up on a pop fly that appeared to be just over his head at second base, then fired to first to nab the unsuspecting baserunner with a big double play.
• Joey made three consecutive good catches, all against the same hitter, in left-center. Two of those catches came with runners on and robbed hits that otherwise would have scored runs.
• In the fifth, in a relatively tight 6-0 game, Chace came off the bag to field JT's throw, then turned and applied the tag to the runner to get the out.
• Although he didn't make the catch, JT made a phenomenal sprawling effort going towards the fence in foul territory behind third base.

Game 2 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
West Raleigh 7U	0	6	0	0	0	3	9	15
Deep River North	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	8

State tournament G1: WR 7U 34, Wayne North 0

Just go ahead and skip straight to the scoring recap. That's the story of the opening game of the state tournament, won by West Raleigh 34-0 over Wayne North.

The victory gave 7U Blue a 1-0 start to pool play in the Central Division (the top three teams advance to Saturday's single-elimination tournament).

Some very quick offensive highlights: nine different players (Trey, Joey, Gavin, Chace, Bryce, Joseph, Mason, Ben and Asher) had at least three hits apiece in the game, and three different players (Gavin, Chace, Asher) had at least three RBI. Every player on the roster scored at least one run. In other words, it was an impressive team offensive explosion from up and down the order.

Game 1 West Raleigh 7U scoring plays
First inning
You might want to get comfortable. This was West Raleigh's biggest inning of the season and featured 23 hitters coming to the plate, 13 hits and 18 runs. Every player in the West Raleigh order scored at least once. It all began with a double from Trey. Joey followed with a single to left, and then Gavin drove in the first two runs of the day with a two-run single. He took second on the throw home, enabling him to score on Chace's double to right-center. After Jake's line shot to the right side, Bryce drove in a run with a grounder up the middle. Joseph's hard grounder was too hot to handle and scored another run, and Mason lined a single to left. Ben singled to right-center, driving in JT, and then Asher singled the other way to score Mason.

If you're keeping score at home, that's 10 West Raleigh hitters, nine runs, and zero outs. There were almost more West Raleigh runs than there were bugs at the field...well, I wouldn't go that far.

Trey singled to right, Joey beat out a grounder to the left side, and Gavin singled to score Asher. Chace lined a two-run single. Bryce beat out another ground ball before JT picked up his second RBI of the inning. Mason hustled out a solid hit to the left side, and Ben beat out a single in the middle of the infield. Asher singled back through the middle to score JT. The inning eventually came to an end after Alex and Joey picked up run-scoring hits on the third time through the order.
Score after one-half inning: WR 7U 18, Wayne North 0


Second inning
Timmy led off with a shot through the left side. Jake roped a single to right, and Bryce loaded the bases with an opposite field single. Elias started the two-out scoring with an RBI single, and then Asher drove in a pair with a single that hugged the third-base line. Alex singled to right, and Joey hit a long RBI single to left. Gavin drove in two--bringing him to five RBI in the first two innings--with a double to deep center.
Score after one and a half innings: WR 7U 24, Wayne North 0






Third inning
With the bases loaded, Asher singled in JT.
Score after two and a half innings: WR 7U 25, Wayne North 0

Fourth inning
Joey led off with a single back up the middle. Gavin doubled, and then the two-out scoring began again (17 of the 34 runs came across with two outs). This time it was consecutive RBI singles from Bryce, Joseph, Mason, Ben, Asher, Trey, Gavin, Timmy and Jake that ignited the offense. 
Score after three and a half innings: WR 7U 34, Wayne North 0


Game 1 Web Gems

• JT went over to the line to field a ground ball in the second inning and made a strong throw all the way across the diamond to Timmy, who made a good stretch to get the out.
• The West Raleigh infield overall was very solid, with just one error combined.
• Asher and Ben worked hard behind the plate on a very warm day.

Game 1 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
West Raleigh 7U	18	6	1	9	X	X	34	33
Wayne North	0	0	0	0	X	X	0	2

Cannonball contender 8: Jake

Jake goes with full eye black and batting gloves and demonstrates the correct way to lay down a cannonball bunt:

Practice is tonight from 5-7 at West Raleigh, except for Jake, who has to stay until 9 so he can work on keeping the head of the bat above the handle on his sacrifice bunts.

Cannonball contender 7: Alex

Cannonball contender 6: Timmy

Credit to Timmy for going with the video:

Weekend schedule released

The schedules for this weekend's state tournament are out. As you already knew, we need to be in Wilson at 10 on Thursday for opening ceremonies. Our other games are: Thursday at 12:30 vs Wayne North, Thursday at 530 vs Deep River North, and Friday at 3:00 vs Southern Pitt. That concludes pool play. A single elimination tournament will be held all day Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. and concluding with a scheduled 8 p.m. championship game.

Cannonball contender 5: Joey

Cannonball contender 4: Chace

Cannonball contender 3: Asher

No props, just a goofy face. Oh wait, that's his normal face.

Cannonball contender 2: Elias