Myrtle Beach Semifinals: Canes 10, Coastal Crush 2

Warning to those who think John is just a pretty face: in the midst of yesterday's beach day, he said, "I remember when we played the Coastal Crush at Ripken." Turns out he's exactly right: on Nov. 9, 2013, playing as Big Blue, several of this same Canes group did indeed play the Coastal Crush. Of course, Ani wants to know why John can remember a 9U baseball game three and a half years ago but can't remember what to get at the store.

Renewing the rivalry as 12U, the Canes took a 10-2 win in five innings. The offense wasn't quite as potent as yesterday, but the pitching and defense was just as good, and that was more than enough.

Wearing the sharp USA-style jerseys, the Canes advanced to the event's championship game.

Semifinal Canes scoring plays

First inning

Jake walked and stole second (copy/paste). An error moved him to third. He scored on Gavin's two-run homer, which went over a sign that said, "A homer every time," which is pretty accurate. Chace singled and moved to second on a wild pitch, then stole third. Andrew walked and stole second. Ben smacked a two-run single and took second on the throw. An error put him on third, and he scored on a fielder's choice.
Score after one inning: Canes 5, Crush 0

Second inning

Colin singled and went all the way to third on an error. He scored on a wild pitch.

Score after two innings: Canes 6, Crush 0

Third inning
Drew was hit by a pitch. A balk moved him to second. He advanced to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a wild pitch.
Score after three innings: Canes 7, Crush 2

Fourth inning
Elias was hit by a pitch, stole second, and raced to third on an error. Colin's single scored him. Colin stole second and scored on Jake's single. Chace reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, went to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch.
Score after four innings: Canes 10, Crush 2

Pitching Performances

Andrew started and went three very effective innings.

Asher finished it up with two scoreless frames.

Dugout wisdom
We're saving our wisdom for the championship game.

Semifinal Web Gems

• With runners on the corners in the third, the Crush unwisely tried to steal second, leaving them to watch helplessly as Bryce cut down the runner going for second, with Gavin placing the tag.
• Elias made a nice running catch in the left-center gap in the fourth.
• Asher picked off a runner at first for the final out of the game.

Semifinal line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Coastal Crush	0	0	2	0	0	X	2	5
Canes	5	1	1	3	X	X	10	9