Beast of the East Game 1: Canes 17, Charlotte Nationals 2

Angry that the Charlotte Nationals were trying to steal Brady's B-Nat nickname by calling themselves the C-Nats, the Canes came out and took a 17-2 victory in game one of the Beast of the East in Gastonia. The game was an offensive display, as all 11 players reached base at least once and all 11 players scored at least one run...and that's in just a three-inning game. The Canes pounded out 14 hits, half of which were for extra bases.

One theory behind the offensive explosion is that everyone preferred being on the field rather than in the rather tight confines of the dugout. One more pool play game remains on Saturday before the bracket is set up, with a possible game on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

Game 1 Canes scoring plays

First inning

Jake walked and stole second, then went to third on a throwing error. He scored on Chace's single. Chace stole second and came all the way around on a pair of throwing errors. Drew tanked a homer .
Score after one inning: Canes 3, Nationals 0

Second inning

JT walked and scored on Bryce's double. Colin walked. Jake walked. Gavin tanked a grand slam. Chace singled and went to second on a fielder's choice. Chace stole third, then scored on Ben's double.

Score after two innings: Canes 9, Nationals 0

Third inning
The Canes did major damage with two outs. Colin singled, stole second, and scored on Asher's double. Elias walked. Gavin hit high tanked a three-run homer (the word of the day is "tanked"). Chace singled and stole second, then went to third on a throwing error, then scored when the center fielder couldn't locate the ball. Drew doubled. Ben scored him with a single. Andrew singled and stole second. JT walked it off with a two-run single, as the Canes scored all eight runs after having two outs and nobody on.
Score after three innings: Canes 17, Nationals 2

Pitching Performances

Drew fired two great innings and Asher finished it up at the end.

Dugout wisdom
Things you don't expect your catcher to say: "Now I know how girls feel. This nail polish won't dry!"

That's what Bryce said after the top of the first. Because he was having to give signals to the pitcher in the well-lit Gastonia home plate area, he painted his nails white so the pitcher could see the signs better. Unfortunately, it wasn't quick-dry nail polish (if such a thing even exists). 

Game 1 Web Gems

• In all honesty, the defense didn't have to do much in this game because of good pitching. Since Coach Kevin loves PFPs, we'll give this to Asher for fielding his position in the third to get the last out on a dribbler in front of the mound.

Game 1 line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
C-Nats	0	0	2	X	X	X	2	3
Canes	3	6	8	X	X	X	17	14