Angels in the Outfield semifinals: Canes 15, Carolina Rage 0

The Canes took a 15-0 semifinal win over the aptly-named Carolina Huckleberries Rage and then were declared the tournament champions after a monsoon.

The semifinal victory was shortened to three innings by the run rule and by the fact that the Rage was running out of coaches. As it turned out, of course, they outsmarted us all, because they got an early start on the walk to the parking lot that we all had to make once the thunderstorm arrived.

The dugout antics didn't overshadow another stellar performance from the Canes pitching (a one-hitter), defense (no errors) and offense (15 runs in three innings). In the three completed games played in New Bern, the Canes outscored three opponents by a combined 45-2 and outhit them 38-6. Canes pitchers issued just four walks in 12 innings--not bad for the first tournament of the "fall." 

History should also reflect that the championship game was briefly started. After the Titans took an early 1-0 lead, leadoff man Jake went the other way for a game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the first just before the clouds opened. By virtue of the tie and the top seeding, the Canes were crowned champions for the weekend.

Semifinal Canes scoring plays

First inning

Gavin hit a one-out single and stole second. Drew doubled him home. Chace's RBI single scored Drew. Chace stole second and went to third on a passed ball. Ashton walked and stole second. Bryce walked. All runners moved up, including Chace scoring, on a throwing error by the catcher caused by Chace's aggressive base running. Ben walked. JT worked an RBI walk. Asher got a two-out RBI walk.

Score after one inning: Canes 5, Rage 0

Second inning

Drew singled and went to second on the throw. A wild pitch put him on third. Chace walked. Ashton blasted a three-run homer.

Score after two innings: Canes 8, Rage 0

Third inning
Asher stroked a one-out double. Andrew walked. Gavin cranked a three-run homer. Drew doubled and went to third on a wild pitch. Chace lifted a two-run homer. Bryce reached on a fielder's choice. Elias dropped the ball perfectly behind the right fielder. JT lined a walk-off RBI double.
Score after three innings: Canes 15, Rage 0

Pitching Performances

Ashton threw three innings of one-hit ball, and retired seven of the final eight batters he faced.

Dugout wisdom
A handful of players were discussing ways to shorten a game. Coach Sean's frequent habit of grabbing baserunners going around third when the opponent is in need of an out was mentioned. Coach Sean, who happened to be standing nearby, took offense. "Are you guys saying I cost you runs?!?" he asked with mock indignation.

"You touch us," Jake said.

Some very awkward silence followed, as Jake's comment hung in the air. It was broken by Gavin, who said, "It just got really weird."

Semifinal Web Gems

• After a leadoff walk in the top of the first, Bryce gunned down the runner trying to steal second, with Gavin applying the tag in a momentum-changing play.
• In the fairly commonplace 7-3 putout, Bryce gunned down the batter from left field. He snared a short-hop liner charging in, then threw to Chace at first. The hitter, doing what a normal hitter would do, thought he should round the bag. That was a bad choice, and Chace tagged him out.
• With a runner on first, Drew snagged a hard grounder to third. He tossed to second, where the runner was called safe, and then the runner was also safe at first on the relay. But the runner on second had delusions of grandeur and tried to go to third, only to find that Chace had thrown back across the diamond to Drew, who made the tag.
• Stellar play all weekend by a mixture of Canes catchers. Opponents did not advance a single base on a wild pitch or passed ball all weekend, which is almost unheard of in 12U baseball. Just for comparison, the Canes took four extra bases on wild pitches in Sunday's semifinal alone.

Semifinal line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Rage	0	0	0	X	X	X	0	1
Canes	5	3	7	X	X	X	15	11

Angels In The Outfield Game 2: Canes 12, Carolina Marlins 2

For the second straight games, the Canes put up a seven-run third inning that essentially put the game away, rolling to a 12-2 win over the Carolina Marlins. The game was shortened to five innings by the run rule.

This one featured even more offense, as Evoshield piled up 27 hits in nine innings of Saturday play. Every player on the roster had at least one hit in the two victories. Never one to rest on his laurels, however, Coach Sean wasn't content just to have put together such a potent offense. Nope, he was in such a hurry to get back to working on his Sunday scouting reports that he blew off the postgame team meeting and rushed right back to watch film and prepare his gameplan. Here's a live shot of his preparation:

Game 2 Canes scoring plays

First inning

Jake walked (which led Eli to correctly observe, "When he walks, he should just go straight to second. He's going there anyway.") and stole second. Wild pitches moved him to third and scored him. Gavin walked, went to second on a throwing error, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Ashton's two-out single.

Score after one-half inning: Canes 2, Marlins 0

Second inning

JT walked and took second on a passed ball. He moved to third on Eli's grounder and scored on Asher's two-out single.

Score after one and a half innings: Canes 3, Marlins 0

Third inning
Jake walked and stole...well, you know. Gavin singled and stole second. A wild pitch scored Jake and put Gavin on third, and he then scored on another wild pitch. Drew walked, and a pair of wild pitches put him on third. In a slightly confusing sequence, Drew then stole home. Brady was hit by a pitch. JT doubled. Andrew singled home Brady. Elias singled home a pair. Asher singled, and then Jake doubled in Elias.
Score after two and a half innings: Canes 10, Marlins 0

Fourth inning
Ashton doubled and trucked around to score on Brady's single.
Score after three and a half innings: Canes 11, Marlins 0

Fifth inning
Andrew singled and went to second on a fielder's choice. Colin singled, and then Gavin's sacrifice fly scored Andrew.
Score after four and a half innings: Canes 12, Marlins 2

Pitching Performances

Gavin started and spun two shutout innings.

Colin struck out the side on 13 pitches in the third.

Ashton closed it out with a scoreless frame.

Dugout wisdom
It's not all fun and games in the dugout. Midway through the game two win, Colin walked up to me holding out his hand. I thought maybe he wanted a high five. Instead, he said, "Is this a seed or a tooth?"

The answer, when I looked into his open palm, was that he was holding part of his tooth, which had fallen out. It also left me with another important question, which is: exactly what kind of seeds are they buying in the Kimball household?

Game 2 Web Gems

• Jake made a terrific play in the hole between first and second and then threw to first to retire the leadoff man in the first inning.
• Gavin made a sweet diving play off the pitcher's mound in the second inning, and finished it off with a strong throw to first.
• With a runner on first in the fourth, the batter hit a deep drive to the fence in center. And what that earned him in the scorebook was a fielder's choice, as Gavin raced back to retrieve it, then threw a rocket to Jake covering second for the force.
• Brady speared a tough hopper on the first-base line to end the game.

Game 2 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Canes	2	1	7	1	1	X	12	12
Marlins	0	0	0	2	0	X	2	4

Angels In The Outfield Game 1: Canes 19, Morehead City Mavericks 0

Well, sports fans, here's how the fall 2016 season began for the 12U Evoshield Canes:

It's pretty self-explanatory what's happening in that photo...Coach Sean is changing his flat tire while John looks for his pants.

Coach Sean eventually did show up for the game, just in time to coach the Canes to a 19-0 victory that avoided all the "wheels fell off" puns being used in the blog. The season-opening victory over the Morehead City Mavericks was shortened to four innings by the run rule, and it was a fairly complete performance: three pitchers combined on the shutout, 11 of the 13 players on the roster reached base, and the defense committed zero errors. 

Game 1 Canes scoring plays

Second inning

Drew doubled, and then hustled all the way home on Ben's fielder's choice. Brady doubled and scored when Colin smacked it through the left side.

Score after one and a half innings: Canes 2, Mavericks 0

Third inning

Asher singled and stole second. Bryce singled him home. Bryce stole second. Chace lined a one-out single and took second on the throw. Drew doubled home a pair, then alertly tagged up and went to third on a pop to first. Andrew went through the left side to score Drew. Brady singled and stole second. Colin went oppo for a three-run homer.

Score after two and a half innings: Canes 9, Mavericks 0

Fourth inning
Asher went back through the middle and stole second. A wild pitch put him on third. Bryce walked and stole second. A wild pitch scored Asher and moved Bryce to third. JT walked. A wild pitch scored Bryce and advanced JT to second. Chace doubled in a run, then stole third. Ben's single scored Chace and went to second on a misplay in the outfield. Ashton dropped it in front of the left fielder. Brady singled home Ben. Jake lined a two-out RBI double. Asher ripped a two-out RBI single. Bryce walked, then JT worked an RBI walk. Chace and Drew hit RBI singles before Coach Sean got a little overaggressive in the third base coaching box and was called for interference, making the third out of the inning.
Score after three and a half innings: Canes 19, Mavericks 0

Pitching Performances

Andrew, Brady and JT teamed up on a two-hit shutout, striking out a combined seven hitters and at one point collectively retiring nine batters in a row.

Dugout wisdom
When the lead grew to 15-0, the players in the dugout began discussing how they could move the game along a little more quickly. Chace offered, "When I'm at bat, if the first pitch is in there, I'm going to swing at it."

Drew stared at him for a second, and then replied, "Uh, Chace, I think that's what you're supposed to do."

Game 1 Web Gems

• After a leadoff single, the Canes got some timely assistance from the field umpire, who deflected a line drive to Gavin, who stepped on second and then pegged to first for the double play.
• With runners on first and second in the fourth, the Mavericks got aggressive, but JT alertly fired to Ashton at third, who slapped on the tag. 

Game 1 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Canes	0	2	7	10	X	X	19	15
MC Mavericks	0	0	0	0	X	X	0	2