Mudcats Take Fall Ball Pennant

Coming into the final weekend of the fall ball season, the Mudcats needed to take care of business and get a little help if they were going to take home a regular season title. They were tied for first with the Michigan Young Guns, but had lost both head-to-head matchups, meaning that any tie-breaker would go to the Young Guns.

A window of opportunity existed, but it would require a Young Guns loss in one of their two games Sunday against the bottom two teams in the standings. That window was left cracked open when Swartz Creek upset the Young Guns before falling to the Mudcats themselves. This meant that going into the final game of the season -- a matchup with a talented Westside Panthers squad -- the title was theirs for the taking.

The Mudcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but saw the Panthers rally for four of their own to make it a one-run game. Then with one out in bottom half of the game's final inning, the Panthers tied the game and put the winning run in scoring position. The Mudcats would not be denied though, as they held them scoreless from there for a title-clinching 5-5 tie.

The post-season playoffs are next Sunday afternoon as the #1 seeded Mudcats open against the winner of the Swartz Creek/Grand Blanc Gladiators game for an opportunity to compete in the tournament's championship game.

Final regular season standings for the 2013 Greater Flint Baseball League fall session:

Mudcats in First Place by Two Games

Fall ball standings through six games...

Final Standings

A great first season comes to a close with the standings as follows:

Mudcats win one, tie one against Cyclones

Monday night the Mudcats opened up a doubleheader with the Great Lakes Cyclones with a resounding 11-2 victory. Kyle Belger went five strong innings before Christian Bender came in to finish the game off. Hitting, defense and base running were also in top form as the Mudcats were hitting on all cylinders.

In the second game, the Mudcats got off to a rocky start, allowing four unearned runs in the first, followed by two more in the second. Despite being down early, they battled back, chipping away throughout the game until the fifth inning when, with the score 7-6 Cyclones, Jack Scribner scored from third as a batter was retired at first on a dropped third strike.

In the top of the sixth inning it looked like the Cyclones were going to break on top when they had runners on first and third with only one out, but Scribner made a leaping, twisting grab on a pop-up behind the infield and threw to pitcher Devyn Hadd to double the runner off first and end the inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Brian Caine reached first on a walk and stole second base. Johnny George then hit a screamer to center that just happened to be right at the center fielder, who made the play to end the inning. The umpires called the game on account of darkness and it was declared a 7-7 tie.

Tuesday night the Mudcats host the rival Grand Blanc Gladiators at Grand Blanc High School in a battle for first place in the Harwell Division of the Greater Flint Baseball League.

Mudcats Gain Clutch 3-2 Victory

The Mudcats earned a hard-fought victory over the Fenton Crush Sunday night by a score of 3-2. Runs were hard to come by in the early going as neither team scored in the first three innings. The Mudcats finally broke through in the fourth when Max Eaton reached base and stole second. A wild throw by the catcher evaded not only evaded the infielders, but also skipped past the center fielder, allowing Max to score.

After the Crush tied the game at one in the top of the fifth, Devyn Hadd hit a towering triple in to centerfield with one out in the fifth. He then scored on Jack Scribner's bouncer up the middle.

Lon Martin had a great start, allowing only one run in five innings pitched. He then yielded to Hadd, who also pitched two strong innings in relief.

The Crush tied the game once again in the top of the seventh and threatened to do more, but Jason Caine threw out a runner trying to steal third on a strike 'em out/throw 'em out double play, with Brian Caine applying the tag.

In the bottom of the seventh, the first two Mudcat batters went down. But then Johnny George, playing with a severely injured shoulder, reached base on a sharply hit grounder. He promptly stole second and then scored the game-winner when Eaton singled to left.

With the victory, the Mudcats (7-3) moved into a virtual tie for first place with four games remaining on their league schedule.

Standings Through July 21

Standings Through 7/11

Game 12...Mudcats Defeat Owosso (6/25)

Story to follow

Games 9-11...Richfield Tournament

One win, two losses; story to follow...

Game 8...Mudcats Beat Linden; Win Fourth in a Row (6/21)

Brian Caine fires one home

The Michigan Mudcats lived on the dangerous side of things in the early going Friday night against the Linden Eagles. By the end of the evening though, they came home victorious for the fourth consecutive game.

Linden had nine runners reach base in the first four innings but failed to score, stranding seven of those runners in scoring position as pitchers Brian Caine and Max Eaton worked in and out of trouble..

The Mudcat bats were strangely silent early on as a double by Noah Trieloff and a fly out by Jack Scribner were the only balls they managed to get out of the infield in the first three innings. The bats finally woke up though with three runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

Linden scored one run late, but that was all they could manage as the Mudcats took home the win by a score of 6-1. It was their fourth consecutive win and pushed their record to 5-3 (4-1 in league games).

Kyle Genord makes the play in center

Max Eaton takes care of the pop-up

Game 7: 10-6 Win Over Owosso Runs Streak to Three (6/19)

The Michigan Mudcats rode strong pitching and a balanced offensive attack Wednesday night all the way to a 10-6 win over the Owosso Trojans. Brian Caine was 3 for 3 at the plate, leading a 16-hit barrage for the Mudcats, while Kyle Belger, Max Eaton and Lon Martin all pitched effectively.

The victory ran the Mudcats' winning streak to three games and improved their season record to 4-3 (3-1 in league games). Next up is another league contest Friday night against Linden at the American Legion Fields.

The shadows lengthen as Max Eaton pitches

Kyle Belger on the mound

Standings

Greater Flint Baseball League standings including games played Tuesday, June 18:

Game 6: Mudcats Hold on for 9-7 Win (6/18)

It looked like it was going to be a tough one Tuesday night for the Mudcats when the Frankenmuth Eagles jumped on them for four quick runs in the top of the first. But pitcher Devyn Hadd settled in and retired three straight batters with the bases loaded, and the Mudcats answered with eight of their own in a first inning that lasted 45 minutes.

The Eagles chipped away at the lead and closed the gap to two runs at 9-7 in the fourth. With one out and runners on second and third, it looked like the lead might vanish altogether as a Frankenmuth batter lifted a Max Eaton pitch to left-center. But Noah Trieloff drifted over to make the play and then make a quick throw into the infield where Lon Martin's relay to Brian Caine at third retired the runner trying to advance from second, completing a double play and ending the Eagles' rally.

Lon Martin came in to shut down the Eagles in the fifth and final inning, striking out the final two batters. After the Mudcats batted the game ended on account of time with the Mudcats taking home their second straight 9-7 victory. The win raised their record to 3-3 on the season, including a mark of 2-1 in league games.

Next up for the Mudcats is another league contest Wednesday against Owosso at Legion Field #2.

Hitting the Books, Part 2

A couple weeks ago we recognized the academic achievements of a trio of Mudcats at Grand Blanc East Middle School. Congratulations are also in order for Jason & Garrett who were recently recognized for their academic performance at Grand Blanc West Middle School. Way to go, guys!

Games 3-5: Mudcats Take One of Three in Brighton (6/15-6/16)

The Mudcat Faithful

Over the weekend the Michigan Mudcats played three games in the 2013 Brighton Classic. On Saturday, the starting pitching was strong from Devyn and Lon, but the bats just couldn't get going. As a result, it was a tough day, with losses to the Ann Arbor A's by a score of 10-2 and to the LCB Legends 7-0.

Sunday was a different story though as the bats finally came alive. Brian pitched four strong innings and Christian closed out the game on the mound as the Mudcats earned a hard-fought 9-7 victory over the Canton Bombers to cap off the tournament and move to 2-3 on the season.

Up this week are league games against Frankenmuth, Owosso and Linden (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at the Legion Fields), followed by action in the Richfield Tournament next weekend.
 

Ready to play

Heads up!

Looking for (More) Mudcats Gear?

If you were at the games this weekend, you saw how sharp folks looked decked out in their Mudcats gear. Odds are you'd like to order some for yourself and were wondering if you still could. If that's true of you, please talk to Coach Joe or send an email with what you'd like to get to MichiganMudcats@hotmail.com. If enough people are interested (and I'm sure they will be, right?), we can still place an order.

Game 2: 20-5 Rout of Fenton Crush (6/6)

Kyle takes a first inning lead

Thursday night the 13u Michigan Mudcats brought home their first victory with a 20-5 win over the Fenton Crush. Six runs in the first inning got the team off to a great start and then, after their lead had been whittled down to 7-5, a 13-run explosion in the sixth inning put the game away.

Lon Martin started on the mound and went three strong innings, striking out six. Meanwhile on offense, Devin Hadd and Jason Caine each had three hits and three RBIs, keying a balanced offensive attack in which every player got at least one hit or RBI.

Next up for the Mudcats will be the Brighton Tournament the weekend of Father's Day.

Lon struck out six in three innings pitched

Johnny slides into third

The Mudcat defense makes the play

The Mudcats leave the field victorious

Spirit Wear Still Available

Remember, if you'd like to order Spirit Wear, you still can. Talk to Joe or send an email to MichiganMudcats@hotmail.com with your order.

Season Opener vs. Grand Blanc Gladiators (6/3)

Ready to play ball!

In the inaugural game for the Mudcats Monday night, we fell to a talented Grand Blanc Gladiators squad by a score of 11-9 at Grand Blanc High School. A tight game throughout, it could have easily gone either way as the Mudcat defense repeatedly came up big, turning three double plays. In the end though, the Gladiators had just a little too much firepower. 

Devin Hadd was impressive on the mound, going four strong innings and Max Eaton reached base all three times he came to the plate. 

Keeping an eye on the action

What made this game all the more interesting was the fact that just two weeks ago, many of the players on the two teams were teammates playing for the Grand Blanc East and Grand Blanc West middle school teams! The Mudcats and Gladiators will match up again at the end of the season. In the meantime, next up for the Mudcats is the Fenton Crush, 6:30 Thursday night at the Union City Ballfields.

Hitting the Ball and Hitting the Books

Congrats to Jack, Johnny and Max. This trio of Michigan Mudcats was honored Monday at Grand Blanc East Middle School for their academic achievements this year!

Welcome to the Website!

This is the team website for the 2013 Michigan Mudcats 13u baseball team. We hope to post all sorts of team information and pictures here throughout the season. Please let us know what you, our fans, would like to see in this space and we'll do our best to include it in the future!