Weekend recap: Top Gun NCAA

To make sure you are getting your money's worth from your blog subscription price, we're going to try something new, and do a weekend recap after each tournament. Sometimes it's easy to see the recaps of each game (if you missed any, they can be found here) and think, "Oh, they played pretty well." But when you see the numbers all together, you realize how truly dominant they were.

• West Raleigh outscored the opposition by a combined 64-11.
• West Raleigh outhit the opposition by a combined 77-29.
• West Raleigh had more innings in which they reached the run limit (7) than innings in which they were held scoreless (3). Blue was scoreless in just 1 out of 10 opportunities on Sunday.
• Coach Sean and Coach Kevin had an approximately 80% success rate on kicking the infield warmup balls into the air and catching them. If you have never noticed this before each defensive inning, you need to start. I was able to get a photo on Sunday.
• Every single hitter on the roster got at least one hit in each of the last three games.
• Eleven of the 12 hitters on the roster had at least one game this weekend in which they got at least two hits.
• 8U Blue hitters had six three-hit games--and all six came from different hitters. Considering that not everyone even got three at-bats in a game, that's pretty impressive.
• Every hitter on the roster drove in at least two runs and every hitter on the roster scored at least three runs. 
• Only six times was the question, "What's the score?" asked by West Raleigh 8U Blue fans. But five of those occasions were by Giovanna, so good job by everyone else.
• West Raleigh has turned five double plays in four games. Opponents have turned zero.
• Out of 23 defensive innings, the 8U Blue defense had just one frame in which they committed multiple errors.
• For the weekend, the West Raleigh defense committed eight errors, a total that will likely go down as they get more comfortable with the positions they're playing. But of those eight errors, only one scored, and two were immediately erased by a double play.
• Coach Eric pitched his first two complete games ever without having to ice the bionic arm the next day.
• After struggling to get the measure of the pitching machine in the first game, West Raleigh hitters have now gone 109 straight at-bats without striking out--all with essentially one legitimate practice opportunity to hit off the machine as a team before this tournament. And it wasn't like they were hitting soft tappers back to the pitcher, as they hit .569 in those 109 at-bats.
• Overall, 8U Blue hitters had a .550 batting average for the weekend and a slugging percentage of .714. 

Areas for improvement next weekend in Clemmons:

• Decrease the errors and have zero innings with multiple errors.
• Put the ball in play in every at-bat.
• Zero scoreless innings.
• Get more comfortable with aggressive baserunning.
• Increase funds for Coach Regan's salary since she is now also responsible for the sprayer machine.

Top Gun NCAA Championship: WR 8U Blue 17, Mavericks 4

The 2013 West Raleigh 8U Blue all-stars won their first tournament as a team, overpowering the Mavericks 17-4 to claim the Top Gun NCAA Championship gold bracket title. With the win, 8U Blue finished the weekend 4-0, outscoring their opponents by a combined total of 64-11.

The Mavericks,  a solid hitting club, jumped out early with three quick runs in the top of the first. But West Raleigh answered with four in the bottom of the inning and never trailed the rest of the way, stretching the lead to 9-3 after just two innings. The 8U Blues pounded out a season-high 22 hits, getting a hit from everyone in the order for the second straight game, with 11 of the 12 players on the roster scoring at least one run.

Once again, though, it was the defense that was the difference. Blue's outfield play continued to be stellar--what we grew accustomed to as "routine" plays from the West Raleigh outfielders this weekend are considered season highlights by other teams--and the WR defense picked up two more double plays against the Mavericks, taking their season total to an impressive five double plays in four games.

The championship win meant this group collected their first trophy of the summer and first ever as this particular team. It also provided a unique photo opportunity. Since the West Raleigh 7U Blue claimed the silver bracket title with a win over the Storm, both West Raleigh squads were part of the same awards presentation. After picking up their trophies, they gathered for this joint photo:

Does that look familiar? It should, because it wasn't long ago that our group of now-8Us were the younger kids in a very similar photo. Remember? That seems like it was about two days ago. I vividly remember when that picture was taken, and thinking that the 8Us looked like giants and I doubted our kids would ever be that big. Does that mean that our kids are now the giants? OK, well, probably one of them isn't a giant (blame genetics), but they played a very impressive first weekend together.

Now the good news: they haven't even had their first full week of practice yet, or really even their first full real practice. Those begin on Monday night at 6:30 at West Raleigh.

Championship 8U Blue scoring plays
First inning
With one out, JT singled. Gavin smoked an RBI triple and scored on Chace's double. Jake's double put runners on second and third, and with two outs, Joey came through with a clutch two-RBI single that gave West Raleigh the lead.
Score after one inning: 8U Blue 4, Mavericks 3

Second inning
Ben led off with a single, and then Asher dropped a bunt that was heaved down the right field line, allowing Ben to score and Asher to roll all the way to third. Andrew collected a one-out RBI single, and then Blue added three more runs with two outs--JT, Gavin and Chace strung together three straight RBI doubles to activate the five-run rule.
Score after two innings: 8U Blue 9, Mavericks 3

Fourth inning
Another five-run inning, and what's most impressive is that 8U Blue did it without recording a single out, and they sent just seven hitters to the plate to get the five runs. Ben and Asher started it with infield singles, Carter blasted a two-run triple, and Andrew reached on a shot to shortstop that scored Carter. Bryce singled, JT drove in Andrew, and Gavin scored Bryce to send the fifth run across the plate.
Score after four innings: 8U Blue 14, Mavericks 3

Fifth inning
With one out, Jake doubled hard to right-center. Mason followed with a perfectly placed triple to right-center, then scored on Joey's single. Elias singled Joey to second, and then Ben loaded the bases with a single up the middle. Asher slapped an RBI fielder's choice to short to end the day's scoring.
Score after five innings: 8U Blue 17, Mavericks 3

Championship Web Gems

• With a runner in scoring position in the first and three Maverick runs already in, Ben made a sliding catch in shallow center for a big second out.
• In what felt like a decisive, momentum-turning play, the Mavericks were unable to capitalize on a leadoff runner in the second. With a man on first and no outs, Gavin gobbled up a grounder up the middle, stepped on second, and fired to a stretching Chace at first for the double play.
• Andrew made another highlight-reel play to end the third, this time running down a ball in left-center with two runners on.
• In maybe the play of the day, and the first third-to-first double play that I think I can remember from this particular group, the Mavericks put runners on first and second with no outs in the fourth. But the next batter hit a shot to JT at 3rd, who calmly grabbed the ball, stepped on third to get the force, and then fired all the way across the diamond to get the hitter by a couple of steps. 

Championship line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Mavericks	3	0	0	0	0	1	4	9
WR 8U Blue	4	5	0	5	3	X	17	22

Top Gun NCAA Semifinals: WR 8U Blue 19, Winter Park 8U 5

Sunday afternoon brought a reunion for two teams that are somewhat familiar foes, as some of the players on both teams were similar when West Raleigh 7U faced Winter Park National in a heartpounding game last year. Seriously, I had forgotten how fun that game in Wilmington was--the details are here.

It's possible that these two teams could meet again in Wilmington in two weeks, but for now West Raleigh had them on more or less the Blue home turf, with the winner advancing to the tournament championship game.

For the first time all summer (well, OK, that only spans three games), 8U Blue got on the scoreboard in the first inning, plating four runs and building a lead they would never relinquish on the way to a decisive 19-5 win.

While the 19 runs and 20 hits--everyone in the order had at least one hit and everyone in the order scored at least one run--sound impressive, the real story of the day was the West Raleigh defense, which committed just two errors and turned in a handful of highlight-reel plays.

The win meant that after a short turnaround, 8U would face the Mavericks for the tournament championship.

Semifinal 8U Blue scoring plays
First inning
Bryce led off with a hot shot to third and moved to second on JT's single. Gavin blasted an RBI double and alertly took third on the throw. Chace singled home Gavin and then likewise alertly took second on the throw (now you see why several coaches singled out the baserunning as one of the keys to the day's victories). Jake flew out to left-center, with Chace tagging and moving to third, where he could score easily on Mason's single.
Score after one inning: 8U Blue 4, Winter Park 0

Second inning
Ben led off by beating out a single, then moved to second on Asher's single. Carter crushed a two-run double to right-center, moved to third on Andrew's groundout, and scored on Bryce's sacrifice fly to left-center.
Score after two innings: 8U Blue 7, Winter Park 2

Third inning
For the third straight inning, the leadoff man reached, as Gavin ripped a grounder to third that was too hot to handle. Chace doubled, and some adventures by the Winter Park defense enabled him to come all the way around to score. Mason reached on a one-out fielder's choice and went to second on an error. Joey singled him home and moved to second on another defensive miscue. Ben ended the inning with an RBI single that invoked the five-run rule.
Score after three innings: 8U Blue 12, Winter Park 2

Fourth inning
With one out, Carter made it all the way to second on a shot to third. Andrew singled, and then Bryce singled in Carter. With runners on second and third, JT lifted a fly ball to second, allowing Andrew to make the heads-up baserunning play and tag up and score on a ball in the infield.
Score after four innings: 8U Blue 14, Winter Park 3

Fifth inning
Chace led off with a deep double and scored on Jake's single, with Jake moving up to second on the throw. Mason singled and hustled to second when Winter Park threw the ball around, putting runners on second and third for Joey. That was the perfect place for them, as Joey drove them both in with a two-run single. He moved up to second on Elias's single and scored on Ben's single. Asher singled home Elias to enact the five-run rule for the second time in the game.
Score after five innings: 8U Blue 19, Winter Park 3

Semifinal Web Gems

• The West Raleigh outfield was stellar all game, and it began in the first, when Joey raced over near the line and grabbed the third out, taking away a potential extra-base hit.
• With the leadoff man on first base in the third, JT ranged up the middle from his second base position, dove to knock down a hot grounder, then flipped to Gavin covering the bag for the force.
• On a deceptively tough play in the fifth, Gavin charged in from shortstop, cleanly fielded a one-hopper that had some spin on it, and threw to E-Lastic stretching at first to retire the hitter.
• Andrew ended the game in style, as he did a terrific job of opening his hips and racing back into deep left-center to make a diving catch on a long drive that looked destined for a double or even more. 

Semifinal line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Winter Park 8U	0	2	0	1	0	2	5	11
WR 8U Blue	4	3	5	2	5	X	19	20

Top Gun NCAA Weekend Game 2: WR 8U Blue 16, WR 8U White 1

Just like the first game of the day, the 8U Blue offense started slow. In the first game, it was because the pitching machine's velocity was much slower than normal. But between games, the old machine was switched out for a brand new machine, which put much more heat on the pitches. As the Blue bats adjusted to the new speed, the first inning was once again scoreless.

That zero-spot in the top of the first meant Blue trailed for the first time this summer when 8U White scored a single run in the bottom of the frame (good defense kept what could've been an even bigger inning to just the single run). The 8U Blue response to the deficit? Sixteen unanswered runs, on the way to a 16-1 victory that put them at 2-0 in pool play and in good position to grab the tournament's top seed for Sunday's bracket play.

As the temperatures began to warm up at Middle Creek, it was officially time for the first unique Frogg Togg-wear of the season. This one belongs to Ben, who went with the ninja look:

As you would expect, this stylish new look soon caught on in the dugout, with various 8U players showing varying ninja looks of plain ninja, ninja-with-a-hat, and ninja-with-a-backwards-hat.

After the win, Coach Sean and GM Liz bravely invited the entire team back to their house for a cookout. Having just played three hours of baseball, and with a beautiful pool wide open to them, you probably know exactly what the 8U Blue players did with their afternoon:

Played more baseball, of course. This is the living-in-the-South version of stickball in the street, with the rules evidently made up on the fly, teams constantly changing, and lots of chasing home run balls over the fence.

While the players were playing yet another game, Coach Sean and Coach Kevin fired up the grill and cooked lunch. They were ably assisted by Coach Adam, shown here hard at work:

Bracket pairings will be announced later Saturday evening, or as soon as someone wakes up Coach Adam and reminds him to check the website.

Game 2 8U Blue scoring plays
Second inning
Chace smacked a leadoff single, and moved to second on Jake's ball to shortstop. With one out, Elias went the other way to drive in Chace. Joey blasted a double to right-center that scored a pair.
Score after one and a half innings: 8U Blue 3, 8U White 1

Third inning
8U Blue picked up its second five-run inning of the day. This one began with Andrew's single to left. With one out, Bryce singled to left. JT singled through the middle to score Andrew. Gavin knocked an RBI single to left, and then JT scored on Chace's ball to short. Jake powered an RBI single, and Mason invoked the five-run rule with his contact that scored Chace.
Score after two and a half innings: 8U Blue 8, 8U White 1

Fourth inning
On his way to a 3-for-3 game, Joey scalded a one-out single. Ben hustled out a single in the middle of the field, and then Carter loaded the bases with a single to the left side. With two outs, Asher lifted a two-RBI single to center.
Score after three and a half innings: 8U Blue 10, 8U White 1

Fifth inning
JT hustled to second on a White miscue. Gavin blasted an RBI double to left, then showed great awareness on the bases, as he raced to third when White left the bag uncovered. That put him in position to score on a fly ball, which is exactly what happened--when Chace flew out to first, Gavin was able to hustle home.
Score after four and a half innings: 8U Blue 12, 8U White 1

Sixth inning
Joey led off with a perfectly placed triple to right-center, and immediately raced home when Ben singled. White got a force out at second, but Andrew singled to put runners on first and second. Asher doubled to center, scoring Carter, and then Bryce doubled home a pair.
Score after five and a half innings: 8U Blue 16, 8U White 1

Game 2 Web Gems

• With a runner on third and just one out in the first, with White already having scored the first run of the game, Mason navigated his way around the pitching machine to gather a pop fly at pitcher. It sounds like an easy play, but it's actually tougher than it looks, especially considering Mason hadn't played a game with the pitching machine on the field since last fall. Asher also later made a good catch of a very similar pop fly, as 8U Blue got solid defense from the pitcher position all day.
• After an 8U White hitter roped what looked like an apparent single to right, he quickly found out that you don't test Jake's arm. Jake got to the ball quickly, released it even more quickly, and hosed the hitter at first for the force out on what should have been a base hit.
• Elias pulled an unassisted double play in the third, catching a line drive at first and then tagging the bag, where the runner had strayed too far off the base.
• Bryce showed a ton of range going up the middle in the fifth with a runner on first, as he knocked down a ball near the bag and flipped to second for the force out.
• The play of the day came in the fifth, as White put a runner on first with one out. The next hitter cracked a hard shot that looked ticketed to go up the middle, but Ben stabbed it at pitcher. Without hesitating, he turned and fired to second, where Joey was covering. Not taking just the one out for granted, Joey caught the throw from Ben, stepped on the bag, and whizzed the ball over to Eli/E-Lastic, who was stretched out at first to receive the throw and complete the third 8U Blue double play in two games.

Game 2 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
WR 8U Blue	0	3	5	2	2	4	16	20
WR 8U White	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	7

Top Gun NCAA Weekend Game 1: WR 8U Blue 12, South Wake Storm 1

Just before the sun rose, West Raleigh 8U Blue began the 2013 summer season with the opening game of the Top Gun NCAA Weekend. With only one practice having been held, and with only about 45 minutes of that particular practice being on the field, there was some concern about how the coaches players might respond.

Keep in mind that on Friday night at practice, the players hit off a machine that was throwing roughly 45 miles per hour from 40 feet. At Saturday's early game, the machine was at 42 feet and was throwing so slowly the radar gun just flashed "HA HA HA" when we tried to time it. Of course, considering that this particular machine had been manufactured in 1951, it was doing well just to be operational.

After a scoreless top of the first (Coach Sean lost the coin toss for the 413th consecutive time), Jake gave 8U Blue the momentum with a sweet double play in the bottom of the inning. Then the bats slowly came to life in the second, and the offense finally caught fire in the fourth.

The game was stopped early due to...well, no one is exactly sure why the game was stopped early, but it was. The 8U Blue defense committed just one error in four defensive innings and allowed only one Storm runner past first base.

The win moved 8U Blue to 1-0 in pool play as they prepared for the quick turnaround to face the West Raleigh 8U White team in the day's second game.

Game 1 8U Blue scoring plays
Second inning
Jake led off with a single, then moved all the way to third on Mason's grounder to short. That put him in position to score easily on Elias's single. With one out and the bases loaded, Carter's hit to shortstop scored Mason.
Score after one and a half innings: 8U Blue 2, Storm 0

Third inning
Bryce led off with a single through the left side. His aggressive baserunning then forced a Storm miscue and allowed him to go to second with one out. Gavin singled back through the middle to put runners on the corners, and then Chace scored Bryce with a single. Mason's two-out single plated the second and final run of the inning.
Score after two and a half innings: 8U Blue 4, Storm 0

Fourth inning
The floodgates finally opened in the fourth. Joey reached on a ball to shortstop and motored all the way to second. Ben's ball up the middle forced another Storm miscue and scored Joey. Carter singled in Ben. Andrew reached on a one-out fielder's choice, then moved to second on Asher's single. With two on, Bryce drove in a pair with a shot down the third-base line. JT invoked the five-run rule with a single to center that scored Bryce.
Score after three and a half innings: 8U Blue 9, Storm 0

Fifth inning
Gavin cracked a leadoff double. Chace's single to left was too hot to handle, and Gavin scored while Chace moved up to second. Jake crushed a ball to right field that scorched the right fielder, and Elias smashed a two-run single that somehow invoked the mercy rule that doesn't actually exist.
Score after four and a half innings: 8U Blue 12, Storm 1

Game 1 Web Gems

• With no outs and a man on first in the first, Jake came barreling in from right field to spear a sinking liner near his (sizable) shoetops. He then alertly fired back to Chace at first to double off the runner, the first 8U Blue double play of the young summer.
• Chace hustled after an overthrow that went past first base in the second, and because he recovered the ball so quickly, the runner was unable to take the extra bag.
• JT used his brain and his quickness to make a web gem in the fourth. First, he was paying enough attention to realize that the third-base coach had called for the hitter to watch the signals. Without being prompted by the dugout, JT took a couple of steps in front of the bag, expecting a bunt. That's exactly what happened, and because he had positioned himself correctly, he was in the right spot to pounce on the bunt down the third base line and fire to first for the out.

Game 1 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
WR 8U Blue	0	2	2	5	3	X	12	15
Storm	0	0	0	1	X	X	1	2