CHAMPS!!!



2012 8U Cal Ripken Eastern North Carolina State Champions!

Laurinburg and West Raleigh...after championship game!

Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, friends and family who came out to watch the boys play 1 game on Thursday, 2 games on Friday, 2 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday! It was very neat to have some surprise fans show up on Sunday for the semifinal game and championship game...we had the head coach and several players and their families from the West Raleigh 7U Cal Ripken State Champs team cheer on our team! I know there were some other coaches and families from other West Raleigh teams supporting us today as well! A HUGE thank you! :-)

Also, a huge thank you to Shelly Holmes and Kelli Jackson for leading the cheers! Many of us will be singing the cheers in our sleep! 

Game #7...CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!

It's deja vu from last July...championship game once again...West Raleigh vs Laurinburg...one difference...the boys are a whole year older! Once again...West Raleigh claims the Eastern NC State Championship title!!!! The score was 14-4 and we won in 4 innings with the 10-run rule. A great game against a tough Laurinburg team!

Here's how we looked DEFENSIVELY...

1st inning:
Ben caught a fly ball at left centerfield for the first two outs
Chris (pitcher) to Ian (first) for the third out

2nd inning:
A nice 1-2-3 inning!
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for out #1
Chris (pitcher) to Ian (first) for out #2
Lawson caught a fly ball at second for out #3

3rd inning:
Another 1-2-3 inning!
Lukas caught a foul fly ball at catcher for out #1
Luke (third) made a hard, backhanded stop and then threw the ball over to Ian (first) for out #2
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for out #3

4th inning:
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for outs 1 and 2
Ian had an unassisted play at first for the last out of the game!

OFFENSIVELY...

Kaden: 3-3 with 1 RBI and 3 runs scored
Lawson: 3-3 with 3 runs scored
Lukas: 2-3 with 2 doubles, 7 RBI and 2 runs scored
Luke: 3-3 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored
Riley: 3-3 with 2 RBI and 1 run scored
Isaac: 2-3 with a double and 1 run scored
Ian: 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI
Chris: 2-3 with 1 RBI
Ben: 1-3 with a double and 1 run scored
Mike: 1-3
Logan; 2-2 with 2 runs scored

ROLL BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

State Semis...Game #6

The parking lot was not as crowded today when we arrived to The Factory. With single elimination...teams go home if they don't win. The tournament started Thursday night with 22 teams and by Sunday there were the 4 teams left...West Raleigh vs North Wake and Laurinburg vs Wayne County! Both games were scheduled to start at noon.

We won 14-11 in 6 innings to move into the championship game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's how we looked DEFENSIVELY...

1st inning:
Lukas caught a foul fly ball at catcher for out #1
Kaden (shortstop) to Lawson (second) for out #2
Isaac (right centerfield) came running towards second...slid and caught the ball before it could touch the ground for the last out. What a great catch!!!

2nd inning:
Mike caught a fly ball at rightfield for an out
Kaden (shortstop) to Lawson (second) for the last out

3rd inning:
A 1-2-3 inning!
Lawson (second) to Ian (first) for out #1
Luke (third) to Ian (first) for out #2
Luke caught a foul fly ball at third for the last out

4th inning:
Ian (first) to Lawson (second) for out #1
Ian had an unassisted play at first for out #2
Logan (leftfield) to Luke (third) at third for the last out

5th inning:
Ben (left centerfield) to Kaden (shortstop) to Luke (third) at third for out #1
Kaden caught a fly ball at shortstop for out #2
Luke had an unassisted play at third for the last out

6th inning:
Isaac caught a fly ball at right centerfield for the first out
Ben caught a fly ball at left centerfield for the second out
Lawson caught a fly ball at second to end the game!

OFFENSIVELY...

Kaden: 3-4 with 2 runs scored
Lawson: 4-4 with 1 RBI and 3 runs scored
Lukas: 2-4 with 2 triples, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored
Luke: 4-4 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored
Riley: 3-4 with a double, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored
Isaac: 3-4 with a double and 1 run scored
Ian: 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI
Chris: 1-3 and 1 run scored
Charley: 0-1
Ben: 2-3
Mike: 1-2
Jackson: 1-1
Logan: 2-3 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored

It's time to switch fields and face Laurinburg in the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!

3rd seed in bracket play...

There were 22 teams in the tournament. Each team played 4 games. Based on the outcomes of the pool play games...the top 2 teams from each of 4 pools were seeded for bracket play. Saturday afternoon at 4:30pm the 8 teams played. Since it's now single elimination...whoever wins...moves on. We're the 3rd seed in the tournament and we faced Northview. We won in 4 innings...15-5! Here's how we looked DEFENSIVELY...

1st inning:
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for out #1
Ben caught a fly ball in left centerfield for out #2
Kaden (shorstop) to Lawson (second) for the last out

2nd inning:
Kaden (shortstop) to Lawson (second) for outs 1 and 2
Logan caught a fly ball at leftfield for the last out

3rd inning:
Kaden caught a fly ball at shortstop for the first out
Kaden (shortstop) to Lawson (second) for an out

4th inning:
Jackson caught a fly ball at pitcher for an out
Luke (third) to Ian (first) for the last out

OFFENSIVELY...

Kaden: 3-3 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored
Lawson: 2-3 with 1 run scored
Lukas: 3-3 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored
Luke: 2-3 with a triple, 1 RBI and 1 run scored
Riley: 1-3 with a triple, 1 RBI and 1 run scored
Isaac: 3-3 with a triple, double, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored
Ian: 1-3 with 1 run scored
Chris: 2-2 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored
Charley: 0-1
Ben: 3-3 with a double and 2 runs scored
Mike: 2-2 with 3 RBI and 1 run scored
Jackson: 1-1 with 1 RBI
Logan: 2-2 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored

We'll face North Wake in the semifinals tomorrow at NOON!

ROLL BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Nice Celebration to Break Up the Day...

After our last pool play game, we all headed over to Kaden's house for some lunch and a big birthday celebration! A HUGE thank you to the Varela family for an incredible spread of food, air conditioning, drinks and good times. Thank you!!!! Happy Birthday to a very special kid...#24...Kaden or KK! :-)

End of pool play and start of bracket play...

The team was back at it this morning with the final pool play game at 10am against Winter Park-National. Yes, it was another hot day with it reaching over 100 degrees. I'm not sure how the boys made it through, but they did! We won 20-5 in 4 innings. Great work Blue!

Here's how we looked DEFENSIVELY...

1st inning:
Kaden (shortstop) to Lawson (second) at second for out #1
Ben (left centerfield) to Lawson (second) for out #2
Lawson grabbed a fly ball before the ball it the ground for the last out!

2nd inning:
A great 1-2-3 inning...
Ian caught a foul fly ball near first base for the first out
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for out #2
Ben made a GREAT catch in left centerfield...he went running towards rightfield, slid and caught the ball before it could touch the ground! GREAT!

3rd inning:
Logan had a double play...he caught a fly ball at left centerfield and then threw the ball to Lawson at second!

4th inning:
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for outs 1 and 2
Luke had an unassisted play at third for the last out

OFFENSIVELY...

Kaden: 4-4 with 1 RBI and 4 runs scored
Lawson: 4-4 with 1 RBI and 4 runs scored
Lukas: 3-3 with a homerun, 5 RBI and 3 runs scored
Charley: SAC
Luke: 4-4 with 2 doubles, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored
Riley: 3-4 with a triple, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored
Isaac: 4-4 with 4 RBI and 1 run scored
Ian: 1-3 with 1 RBI
Chris: 2-3 with 1 RBI
Ben: 0-3
Mike: 1-2
Jackson: 1-1 with 1 run scored
Logan: 3-3 with 2 runs scored

Next up...birthday party at Kaden's before we find out if we're in the bracket play this afternoon!

Games 2 and 3 at States on Friday

A huge thank you to all the family and friends who took time off from work or rearranged their work schedules to cheer on the boys today! With temps over 100 degrees...the boys played well. It was HOT!HOT!HOT!

Game 2: WR 8U BLUE 12  Sandhills 11

We won our 11am game in the bottom of the sixth! Wow! Way to fight back boys!

Here's how we looked DEFENSIVELY...

1st inning:
Ben caught a fly ball at left centerfield for the first out
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for out #2
Logan caught a fly ball at leftfield for the last out

2nd inning:
A nice 1-2-3 inning...
Logan caught another fly ball at leftfield for out #1
Ben caught a fly ball at left centerfield for the second out
Chris caught an infield fly ball at pitcher to end the inning

3rd inning:
Another 1-2-3 inning...
Luke caught foul fly balls at third for outs 1 and 2
Lawson (second) to Ian (first) for the last out

4th inning:
Luke caught a fly ball at third for out #1
Lawson caught a fly ball at second for out #2
Luke (third) to Ian (first) for the last out

5th inning:
Luke (third) to Isaac (catcher) for out #1 at home plate
Ian caught a foul fly ball at first for out #2
Lawson (second) to Ian (first) for the last out

6th inning:
Isaac caught a fly ball at right centerfield for the first out
Logan (leftfield) to Luke (third) at third for out #2
Lawson had an unassisted play at second for the last out

OFFENSIVELY...

Kaden: 4-4 with 1 RBI
Lawson: 3-4
Lukas: 2-4 with 1 RBI
Luke: 2-3 with 1 RBI
Riley: 3-3 with a double and 1 RBI
Isaac: 2-3 with a double and 1 RBI
Ian: 0-2 with 1 RBI
Chris: 2-3
Ben: 3-3 with a triple, double and 1 RBI
Mike: 0-1
Jackson: 0-1
Charley: 1-1
Logan: 1-3 with a triple and 4 RBI

After the game, the team headed out to the players' lounge (a.k.a. Coach's RV) for a break in some air conditioning and to have a bite to eat!

At around 2pm, the coaches and players headed back out to the field area to get situated on field #3...our home away from home for the weekend. First pitch was on time at 3pm. We won the game against Southern Pitt in 4 innings...22-2! Here's how we looked DEFENSIVELY...

1st inning:
Luke caught a fly ball at third for out #1
Lawson (second) to Ian (first) for out #2
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for the last out

2nd inning:
A 1-2-3 inning...
Kaden (shortstop) to Ian (first) for out #1
Chris (pitcher) to Ian (first) for out #2
Lawson (second) to Ian (first) for out #3

3rd inning:
Another 1-2-3 inning...
Mike (pitcher) to Ian (first) for out #1
Mike caught a line drive at pitcher for out #2
Mike (pitcher) to Ian (first) for the last out

4th inning:
Lawson (second) to Kaden (shortstop) at second for out #1
Kaden had an incredible play...he did a sideways dive towards third base and caught the ball backhanded for an out! Another amazing play by Kaden!

OFFENSIVELY...

Kaden: 3-4 with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored
Lawson: 3-4 with a double and 3 runs scored
Lukas: 2-3 with a grand slam homerun, 6 RBI and 2 runs scored
Luke: 3-3 with a triple, double, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored
Riley: 2-3 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored
Isaac: 3-3 with 2 triples, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored
Ian: 2-3 with a triple, RBI and 1 run scored
Chris: 2-2 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored
Mike: 0-1
Ben: 3-3 with a double, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored
Charley: 1-2 with a double, 2 RBI and 1 run scored
Jackson: 1-1
Logan: 3-3 with 2 RBI and 1 run scored

Next up will be a 10am game tomorrow for our final pool play game against Winter Park!

ROLL BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!