Battle for the Bats Game 1: Canes 16, Dirtbags 3

The Canes opened play in the Battle of the Bats in a tournament hosted in beautiful Middle Creek Angier Dunn. Luckily for the other team, this was the Battle for the Bats and not the Battle for the Batter's Box, because it was tiny and Ashton would've won easily.

Solid pitching (two pitchers, zero walks) and a dozen-hit offense eventually powered the Canes to a 16-3 win in a game shortened to five innings. The main drama concerned whether the bases would stay in the ground. With some help, they did (pay no attention to the trouble-maker photo bombing the shot):

The Canes had a break between pool play games, giving them two full hours to enjoy all that Dunn had to offer. Or five minutes to enjoy all that Dunn had to offer and an hour and 55 minutes to kill, depending on how you look at it.

Game 1 Canes scoring plays

First inning

Jake walked and then stole second. Drew singled, and then Jake raced home on a wild pitch. Drew stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Chace doubled home Drew. Chace stole third. Andrew smacked a two-out RBI single and stole second. Ben doubled home Andrew.

Score after one-half inning: Canes 4, Dirtbags 0

Second inning

Bryce singled and stole second. Jake singled and took second on the throw. Gavin singled home Bryce and took second on the throw. Drew tripled home a pair. Drew hustled and tagged up on Chace's sac fly to second base. Ashton was hit by a pitch and stole second, then went to third on a balk. Andrew singled home Ashton. Andrew stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Ben's sacrifice fly. 

Score after one and a half innings: Canes 10, Dirtbags 2

Fifth inning
Ashton reached on a hard-hit shot to the right side. Asher singled. Ben walked to load the bases. Colin singled in a pair and took second on the throw. Elias powered a two-run single and took second on the throw. Wild pitches moved him to third and then scored him. Bryce walked and took second on a wild pitch. He moved up on Jake's fielder's choice, then scored on Gavin's fielder's choice.
Score after four and a half innings: Canes 16, Dirtbags 3

Pitching Performances

Bryce started and threw two strong innings, including retiring the final four batters he faced in order.

Asher entered with three solid innings of relief, at one point sitting down six in a row.

Dugout wisdom
Keeping the time limit is a constant source of difficulty. An unnamed person (OK, it was the umpire), said this in the third inning: "Let's see, we started at 8:30, and the time limit is an hour and 45 minutes. That means the game is over at 10:05." Uh...

Hearing is not a Canes strong suit. At one point, JT looked at the other field and said, "Those umpires have sweet camo shirts."

With a perplexed look, Andrew said, "The umpires have cameras in their shirts?"

And then, just to finish it off, Jake asked, "The umpires have camels in their shirts?"

Game 1 Web Gems

• With a runner on first in the third, JT gobbled up a grounder to third, fired to Colin at second, who then made the turn to Brady for the inning-ending double play.
• Elias made a smooth running catch in left field in the fourth.

Game 1 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Canes	4	6	0	0	6	X	16	12
Dirtbags	2	0	1	0	0	X	3	6