919 once again paired the big-hitting offense with one-inning-at-a-time pitching, as four different players took the mound in the four-inning game, with all throwing well. An underrated part of Saturday's solid play was the defense, as the Nationals defense made just two errors in nine innings of play on the Ripken turf fields.
The early finish to Saturday meant a return to the hotel, where the moms organized a team photo in uniform on the beach, which at some point we might be able to see on the blog IF SOMEONE WOULD SEND IT TO ME. If not, it will just live on in our imaginations. Until then, you will just have to work up some sympathy for me, because this is the view from the team hotel as I write the blog:
Blogging ain't easy.
The victory gives the Nationals the top seed in their pool, with an 11:15 semifinal game on Sunday morning against the winner of the East Johnston Bandits-Diamond Dawgs game.
Game 2 Nationals scoring plays
First inning
Bryce coaxed a leadoff walk and stole second. Andrew scored him with a double, then Gavin made it back-to-back RBI doubles. Chace singled in Gavin, took second on an error by the left fielder, and went to third on Brady's fielder's choice. A wild pitch scored Chace.
Score after one inning: 919 Nationals 4, Crush 0
Second inning
Grab a snack before you start this one. Ben led off with a single and stole second. Elias worked a walk. Joey's shot through short scored a pair. Asher walked. Asher and Joey stole second and third, respectively. Bryce singled in two, then hustled all the way around to score on Andrew's single, with Andrew moving up to second on the play. Gavin's single put runners at the corners, and a balk brought home another run. Chace blasted an RBI triple, then scored when the ball kicked away. Brady started it up again with a walk. Banks walked. A passed ball put two runners in scoring position. With one out, Ben singled home Brady. Elias singled in Banks. Joey's RBI groundout scored Ben to complete the 10-run inning.
Score after two innings: 919 Nationals 14, Crush 2
Third inning
Bryce walked and went to second on a wild pitch. Andrew's single scored him. Gavin smoked a triple. Chace walked, and then Brady crushed a ball to deep left that scored two, and then Brady raced all the way home too.
Score after three innings: 919 Nationals 18, Crush 2
Fourth inning
Joey walked, and everyone was safe on Asher's ball to the right side. A wild pitch moved up both runners. Bryce singled home Joey, Andrew walked, and then the umpire helpfully noticed that the time limit had expired.
Score after four innings: 919 Nationals 20, Crush 3
Pitching Performances
Banks started and struck out two in a hitless first.
Brady battled some control issues but also recorded a strikeout in the second.
Chace got a strikeout to end the second, then faced the minimum in the third.
Gavin closed it out in the fourth.
Brady battled some control issues but also recorded a strikeout in the second.
Chace got a strikeout to end the second, then faced the minimum in the third.
Gavin closed it out in the fourth.
Game 2 Web Gems
- Playing center, Andrew did a great job of backing up Bryce, and was able to scoop up a shot to center and throw to JT at third for a force out in the second.
- Joey threw out a runner stealing second in the third.
- Elias clearly was hampered by a faulty GPS that had him take the longest possible route to a pop up at second base in the fourth, but eventually made a running grab.
- Coach Bruce, who has been begging Coach Sean over and over to coach third base this fall, was finally given his opportunity, and responded with a timely call of timeout when Gavin needed to tie his shoe. Coach Sean was heard to mutter, "I could've made that signal for time" under his breath.
Game 2 line score
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
R
|
H
|
Fuquay Crush
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
X
|
X
|
3
|
3
|
919 Nationals
|
4
|
10
|
5
|
1
|
X
|
X
|
20
|
14
|
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