Top Gun Battle for the Bats Game 1: 919 Nationals 15, Elite Gone Mad 8

The 10U era began bright and early in Rocky Mount, with a 9 a.m. game against Elite Gone Mad. Everyone must have slept well, because 919 put ten first inning runs on the scoreboard on the way to a 15-8 victory.

The ten-run first turned out to be plenty, as the Nationals offense showed little ill effect from going nearly two months between games. All eleven players reached base at least once, and ten different players scored a run.

Although 919 took a slight mid-game slumber, they woke back up in time to tack on three insurance runs in the top of the fifth, providing a little cushion for a game that had quietly gotten much tighter, with EGM outscoring the visiting Nationals 8-2 between the second and the fourth.

Game 1 Nationals scoring plays

First inning

Bryce and JT led off with back to back singles. Gavin’s single scored Bryce, and then an error on the same play scored JT. With Gavin on second, Chace went through shortstop to score Gavin. A fielder’s choice moved Chace to third, and then he scored on a single by Banks. Ben singled. Joey reached on a fielder’s choice, and an error scored Banks. Elias walked. A passed ball scored Ben. Elias stole second to put two in scoring position, and then Andrew singled home Joey, with Asher’s fielder’s choice scoring Elias. Bryce reached on an error by the shortstop that scored Andrew. After Bryce stole second, JT singled him home to complete the ten-run inning.

Score after one-half inning: 919 Nationals 10, Elite Gone Mad 0

Second inning

With two outs, Banks walked. Ben reached on a ball to short, putting runners at first and third, and then Ben and Banks worked the first and third play to perfection to score Banks.

Score after one and a half innings: 919 Nationals 11, Elite Gone Mad 0

Fourth inning

Gavin reached on a ball to the left side of the infield and stole second. Chace walked. Brady reached on a fielder’s choice that featured great hustle by Chace to beat the play at second, and then turned into a run when Gavin motored hard into third and kept going, crossing the plate before the defense could react.

Score after three and a half innings: 919 Nationals 12, Elite Gone Mad 6

Fifth inning

With one out, Andrew singled and stole second. Asher scored him with an RBI single and took second on the throw. A fielder’s choice moved Asher to third with two outs, and a wild pitch scored him. JT walked, stole second and scored on Gavin’s double.

Score after four and a half innings: 919 Nationals 15, Elite Gone Mad 8

Pitching Performances

Joey worked a scoreless first.

Banks pitched the Nats out of some trouble in the second.

Chace cruised through two innings of solid work.

Asher closed it with a 1-2-3 fifth.

Game 1 Web Gems

•    On a single to right field in the first, Ben came up throwing from right trying to get the hitter at first. His throw skipped by the bag, but Asher was there backing up from catcher to save the extra base.

•    Banks and Brady had good communication on a dribbler down the right field line in the second. Banks ran all the way over to the foul line, picked up the ball, and flipped to Brady to end the inning.

•    Bryce made a nice play on a grounder up the middle in the third, retiring the hitter with a strong throw.

•    Later in the third, the Nats made another play on a hard hit ball to right. This time, it was Andrew in right, and he came up throwing and fired to Banks at first for the out.

•    With a runner on third and nobody out in the fourth, Elias camped under a fly ball to center, then made a strong throw to the plate to prevent the runner from advancing.

Game 1 Book Gems

• ·      Coach Adam was summoned from the dugout to review the scorebook after a discrepancy in the 919 half of the fourth. After an in-depth conversation between the respective scorekeepers and the home plate umpire, 919 emerged victorious, thereby marking the first productive thing Coach Adam has done on a baseball field since approximately 1989.

Game 1 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
919 Nationals	10	1	0	1	3	X	15	11
Elite Gone Mad	0	5	1	2	0	X	8	4