Super NIT Championship: Canes 15, GBI Express Blue 14U 2

The Canes finished up a remarkable 5-0 run to the Rawlings Super NIT championship with a 15-2 bludgeoning of GBI Express Blue. Playing up in a 14U tournament, the Canes recorded more hits in the four-inning championship game (16) than they allowed as a pitching staff in the 27 defensive innings of the entire tournament (12). 

The title game wasn't much in doubt after a five-run first, but then, just to make sure, the Canes scored five more in the second and four in the third. That was more than enough to support another outstanding effort on the mound, as three pitchers combined to allow just four hits.

Playing in just the team's second ever tournament on the big field, the Canes outscored five opponents  40-7 and beat three teams in elimination bracket play by a combined 28-3. Nine pitchers saw action in the five games, and they limited opponents to a combined .130 batting average. 

Played up: ✅ 5-0: ✅ 🏆: ✅ Goofy selfie: ✅ #bigdaddyhacks #chickenwings #lotterytickets #rolltom

A post shared by Canes-Gallaher (@canesgallaher) on Sep 17, 2017 at 1:00pm PDT

Championship Canes scoring plays

First inning
Jake walked and stole second. Gavin walked. Drew smacked an RBI double. Chace singled home Gavin. Macon's two-out single scored Chace. Colin and Andrew walked. Bryce singled home a pair.
Score after one-half inning: Canes 5, GBI 0

Second inning

Jake singled and Gavin doubled. Drew singled in Jake. Chace hit a sacrifice fly. Bennett doubled. Macon hit a two-run single. Colin singled, and then Andrew singled home Macon.
Score after one and a half innings: Canes 10, GBI 0

Third inning
Ty singled. Gavin hit his second double. A wild pitch scored Ty and moved up Gavin. Elias walked and stole second. Chace singled home Gavin. Bennett walked. Macon hit another two-run single.
Score after two and a half innings: Canes 14, GBI 1

Fourth inning
Bryce singled and went to second on a wild pitch, then scored on Gavin's ball past short.
Score after three and a half innings: Canes 15, GBI 1

Pitching Performances

Bennett started and gave up just one hit in two innings.

Ty threw a hitless third.

Elias closed it out in the fourth.

Jake warmed up in the bullpen, causing his mom a rogue parent to heckle the coaching staff about whether they knew what they were doing.

Dugout wisdom
With Coach Kevin II calling the pitches and Elias on the mound in the fourth, there wasn't a lot of time to go over pitch selection. So as Coach Kevin signaled for pitches to the first hitter, he asked, "Does Eli have a curve ball?" The ever-helpful Coach Sean replied, "Let's find out."

Turns out, after Coach Kevin II gave the signal for a curve, that Eli does indeed have one, in case you were wondering.

Also, you probably had to be there, but Bennett correctly pointed out that this water spot in the dugout looked exactly like the state of North Carolina.

That's Bennett's shoe pointing out Raleigh. Important stuff happens in the dugout, folks.

Semifinal Web Gems

• Gavin, Colin and Chace teamed up on a quick 6-4-3 double play to end the first.
• Ty with a nice bit of PFP to end the third.
• Ty ended the game by smoothly fielding a grounder at third and stepping on the bag to finish off the win.

Championship line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Canes	5	5	4	1	X	X	15	16
GBI Express Blue 14U	0	1	0	1	X	X	2	4