Game 11: Bees 8, Riverdogs 7

For the second time in the last three games, a sixth inning Riverdog rally came up a little short as the Bees defeated the Riverdogs 8-7. The loss put the Riverdogs record at 4-7 on the season with three regular season games remaining.

Hits and runs were hard to come by in this game as the ‘dawgs could only manage nine hits and three runs over the first five innings. Finally, they cranked things up in the sixth inning with four runs on five hits to close the gap to 8-7 and make things interesting, but ultimately could not pull off the comeback.

Only three Riverdogs had multiple hits as Blake went 3-3 with 3 singles, 1 RBI and 1 run scored; Jacob went 2-2 with a double, a single, 1 RBI and 1 run scored; and Nicky D. went 2-2 with 2 singles, 2 RBI and 1 run scored. Caleb, Matthew N., Carter, Nolan, Weston, William and Nicholas A. all added a hit a piece, with the hit by Carter going for a double. Matthew N., Bobby and Carter all had an RBI each, while Matthew N., Nolan, William and Nicholas A. all scored a run each.

Defensively, Caleb and Weston received candy bars for fly ball catches in the outfield. There was also a nice heads up play where Blake fielded a ball at first, bobbled it and fell to his knees. From his knees, he quickly picked up the ball and threw over to Matthew N. who was covering at second, but the ball was thrown low and turned into a ground ball. From second base, Matthew N. was able to keep his foot on the bag and reach out to field the ball and get the force out.

After a three day break, the Riverdogs return to practice Friday night at 6:30 at Carolina Pines #2. The next game is Saturday at 6:00 against the Scrappers, with warm ups beginning at 5:00.

Game 10: Lookouts 12, Riverdogs 4

In a game where the Riverdogs recorded only 10 total hits, they lost to the Lookouts 12-4.

To put the 10 total hits in perspective, that’s the same amount of hits they had in the sixth inning comeback alone in the previous game against the Thunder. After scoring four runs in the first inning, the Riverdogs could not push across anymore runs for the remainder of the game. Of the six Riverdog offensive innings, three of those were “three up, three down” innings, and in two of the six innings the Riverdogs only sent four batters to the plate.

Only one Riverdog had multiple hits, and that was Caleb who was 2-2 with a double, a single and 1 run scored. Blake added a double and a run scored. Matthew N., Jacob, Bobby, Carter, Nolan, Weston and William added a single each. Matthew N. and Jacob scored a run each. Matthew N., Jacob, Bobby and Carter all added a RBI each.

Defensively, Weston received his second candy bar of the season for his fly ball catch in the outfield (and added his Weston dance to go along with it). Nicholas A. and Bobby teamed up for a nice double play as Nicholas A. caught a pop fly at pitcher, and threw over to Bobby at third to pick off the Lookouts runner.

The next practice is Sunday at 7:30 at Nowell. The next game is Monday at 6:30 against the Bees.

Game 9: Thunder 11, Riverdogs 10

An exciting sixth inning rally fell a little bit short as the Riverdogs lost to the Thunder 11-10 Thursday night. The loss snapped the Riverdogs two game winning streak.

The Riverdogs had a chance to strike early in the top of the first with two runners on and no outs. However the stingy Thunder defense held tight and didn’t allow any runs. That seemed to be the theme of the game as the ‘dawgs had no problem hitting the ball, they just couldn’t seem to find the gaps. Meanwhile the Thunder steadily built their lead until it was 11-2 going into the top of the sixth inning.

That’s when the Riverdog bats finally came alive and the comeback was on. Eight runs were scored in the inning on 10 hits. Of those 10 hits were two doubles and an inside the park home run. With the score 11-10, the ‘dawgs had runners on 2nd and 3rd and only one out, but again the Thunder defense held firm and recorded the next two outs to stop the come comeback and seal the win.

Leading the way offensively for the Riverdogs were Caleb who was 3-3 with a double, 2 singles, 1 RBI and 1 run scored; Blake who was 3-3 with 3 singles, 2 RBI and 1 run scored; Bobby who was 3-3 with 3 singles and 1 run scored; Matthew D. who was 2-2 with a double, a single and 2 run scored; and Weston who was 2-3 with a double, a single and a team high 3 RBI.

Registering a hit a piece were Matthew N., Jacob, Carter, Caden, Nolan, Nicholas A. and William. The hit by Matthew N. went for an inside the park home run; while Nicholas. A’s hit went for a double. Matthew N., Jacob, Caden, Nicholas A., and William all added a run each. Matthew N. added two RBI, while Carter and Caden added a RBI each.

Defensively, Bobby received his first candy bar of the season for his fly ball catch in the outfield. Caleb added a fly ball catch in the outfield as well. Caleb also turned an unassisted double play at first base. Bobby and Caleb both had heads up plays in the outfield where they charged balls that were hit to them, fielded and came up firing to second base to get the force outs.

Practice on Friday has been moved to The Performance Academy at 5:00. The next game is Saturday at 2:00 against the Lookouts, with warm ups starting at 1:00.

Game 8: Riverdogs 18, Bats 13

The Riverdogs put together their first winning streak of the season as they won the re-match with the Bats 18-13. The win improves the Riverdogs record to .500 at 4-4, and they remain currently in fifth place in the standings.

As we have been accustomed to this season, when the opposing team hits first they tend to put a big scoring inning on the ‘dawgs; and that looked to be the case in this game as the Bats had a 1-0 lead with one out and runners at second and third. However, the Riverdog defense held tight by recording the next two outs and held the Bats to a single run for the inning. The Riverdogs then exploded for six runs of their own in the bottom of the inning taking a 6-1 lead. The game became a nip and tuck affair and was tied at 12 when Bobby broke the tie with a 3 run BOMB in the fourth inning to go up 15-12. The Riverdogs tacked on three more runs after and only allowed 1 more run to the Bats to seal the victory.

The Riverdogs were led by, er…who are we kidding here, Bobby was the star of the show as he recorded his second straight 4-4 hitting performance; which included his three-run homerun. Congrats to Bobby on his first career HR. Bobby also added three singles, 5 total RBI and 2 runs scored.

Five Riverdogs had three hits each as Matthew N. went 3-3 with a triple, 2 singles, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored; Jacob and Blake both went 3-4 with 3 singles, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored; Caden with 3-3 with a double and 2 singles, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored; and Weston went 3-3 with 3 singles and 2 RBI.

Three Riverdogs had two hits each as Nolan went 2-2 with a double and a single, 4 RBI and 1 run scored; Matthew D. went 2-2 with 2 singles and 3 runs scored; and Caleb went 2-4 with 2 singles, 1 RBI and 1 run scored. Carter and Nicky D. added a hit each. Carter added 1 RBI and 2 runs scored while Nicky D. added a RBI and a run scored.

Defensively, the ‘dawgs played well overall and set the tone in the first inning. However, two things stood out: in the top of the 6th with the Bats trying to mount their comeback, a Bats hitter cracked one down the right field line to the fence. The ball was fielded but over threw the cutoff man. Matthew D., who was at pitcher backed up the throw, noticed the eager Bats runner trying to get to third, and threw to Jacob at third who slapped the tag to get the out and stop the momentum.

Jacob and Nolan both received candy bars for fly ball catches in the outfield, both in dramatic fashion. Jacob caught his as he was backing another Riverdog up, while Nolan’s was the last out of the game; sealing the win.

The next practice is Sunday at 5:00 at Nowell. The next game is Thursday at 6:30 against the Thunder with warm ups beginning at 5:30.

Game 7: Riverdogs 18, Bats 17

The Riverdogs ended a three game losing streak as they defeated the Bats 18-17 in a thriller Monday night at Nowell field. The win improves the Riverdogs record to 3-4 at the half way point of the season, and currently puts them in fifth place in the standings.

In a nice reversal from the previous two games, it was the Riverdogs who attacked first by plating four runs in the top of the first. The Bats responded with six runs of their own in the bottom of the first; however the Riverdog bats stayed hot as they tied their season high with 29 hits (a feat previously accomplished against the Scrappers) and scored 18 runs, one run off their season high of 19 (again against the Scrappers).

Bobby led the way for the Riverdogs with an impressive 4-4 hitting performance; becoming the first Riverdog this season to get four hits in a game. Bobby also added a RBI and scored two runs.

Several Riverdogs had three hit performances. Matthew N. was 3-4 with a double, 2 singles, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored; Carter was 3-4 with 3 singles, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored; Caden was 3-3 with 3 singles, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored: Blake was 3-4 with 3 singles and 3 runs scored; Weston was 3-4 with 3 singles, an RBI and 2 runs scored; and William was 3-3 with 3 singles, 2 RBI and a run scored.

Caleb and Matthew D. both had two hits; with Caleb going 2-4 with 2 singles, 2 RBI and 1 run scored; and Matthew D. going 2-2 with 2 singles, a RBI and a run scored. Nolan, Nicky D., and Nicholas A. each added a hit each. Nolan and Nicholas A. tacked on a run each, while Nicky D. added 2 RBI’s and Nicholas A. added a RBI.

As much as the Riverdog defense has been an issue this season (and at times was during this game) it was actually the defense that had a major impact on this game in several ways:

- There were a season high four fly ball catches in the outfield; as Weston and Nicholas A. received their first candy bars of the season; Matthew his second, and Caleb his fourth.

- In the fifth inning when the Bats were trying to close the gap, Caleb fielded a blooper hit just short of first base, tagged the runner and fired to second where Matthew N. applied the tag on the runner headed for second base.

- On a ball hit sharply to the fence, Weston was there to back up the left fielder, then fielded the ball and instinctively fired to second base, preventing the runner from going to third.

- Carter fielded two ground balls at second where he bobbled them, but quickly recovered and FIRED to first base to get the out both times.

- A unique play where the ball was thrown home in an attempt to get a runner out but the runner was safe. Bobby quickly noticed that the runner on first was almost at second base, while another runner was standing on second base. Bobby threw the ball to Caleb at first who applied the tag on the caught runner.

- Nicholas A. and Caleb both displayed great effort in diving attempts to catch fly balls in the outfield.

The next Riverdog practice is Friday at 6:00 at Nowell field.

Game 6: Thunder 18, Riverdogs 10

On an extremely windy day at West Raleigh, the Riverdogs re-discovered the hot bats that had been missing the past two games as they pelted out 22 hits. The defense however could not match the offense as the Riverdogs fell 18-10 to the Thunder.

Following the script of the previous game against the Lookouts, the Thunder struck early by scoring seven runs in the first inning, with most of those runs coming off Riverdog errors. The Thunder tacked on another five runs in the second inning to take an early 12-0 lead. The Riverdog bats then went to work, outscoring the Thunder 10-6 for the rest of the game. However, the ‘dawgs could not quite push across enough runs to make up for the early innings.

Offensively, there were several Riverdogs with multiple hits, including three Riverdogs with three hits each. Caleb was 3-3 with three singles, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored; Carter was 3-3 with three singles, 1 RBI and 1 run scored; and Nolan was 3-3 with three singles and 1 RBI.

Matthew N. was 2-3 with two singles, a team high 3 RBI and 1 run scored; Jacob was 2-3 with two singles, 2 RBI and 1 run scored; Weston was 2-3 with two singles and 1 RBI; William was 2-2 with two singles and 2 runs scored; and Nicholas A. was 2-3 with two singles and 1 run scored. Blake, Bobby and Matthew D. each added a hit a piece. Blake and Caden added a run each, while Bobby added an RBI.

As was pointed out after the game, while there were some defensive issues, there were also several positives. Of the six defensive innings played by the Riverdogs in the game, three of those inning the ‘dawgs gave up a combined 1 run. Matthew N. received a candy bar for his fly ball catch in the outfield. Carter and Blake combined for a sweet double play when Carter snagged a hard hit line drive at second base, then fired over to Blake to pick off the runner. And William was praised by the coaches for his diving attempt to catch a foul ball at catcher.

The next practice is Sunday at 7:30 at Nowell. The next game is Monday at 6:30 against the Bats, with warm ups starting at 5:30.

Game 5: Lookouts 11, Riverdogs 5

On a chilly night at West Raleigh, the Riverdogs followed suit and suffered an 11-5 loss to the Lookouts. The loss drops the Riverdogs to 2-3 on the season; and puts them currently in sixth place in the standings.

The Lookouts jumped on the ‘dawgs early by putting across five runs in the first, and the Riverdogs could never recover as they only scored five runs for the entire game. The Riverdog defense held tight in innings 2-4 only allowing two runs, but the Lookouts struck again for four runs in the fifth to seal the game. Meanwhile, the Riverdogs only recorded 13 hits for the game (1 more than the previous game) and only two of those went for extra bases.

The ‘dawgs were led by Blake who was 2-2 with 1 double, 1 single, 2 RBI and 1 run scored; Jacob who was 2-2 with 2 singles and 1 RBI, and Caleb who was 2-3 with 2 singles. Bobby, Matthew D., Caden, Weston, Nolan, Nicholas A., and William all added a hit each, with the hit by Nicholas A. going for a double. Carter, Matthew D., Nicholas A., and William all added a run, while Nolan added 2 RBI’s.

Defensively, there were several bright spots for the Riverdogs. The defense went two innings without allowing any runs, and they were also “three up, three down” innings. Caleb got his third candy bar of the season for his fly ball catch in the outfield. Caleb also turned an unassisted double play at first base, his second unassisted double play of the season. Jacob and Caleb also combined to turn a double play, as Jacob snagged a hard hit line drive to the pitcher, then fired over to Caleb at first to pick off the runner.

The Riverdogs have practice on Thursday at 5:00 at Carolina Pines #2, as well as on Friday at 6:00 at Nowell field. These will be important practices leading up to our game on Saturday at 2:00 against a really good Thunder team.

Thanks again to Tori DeMoss for the pictures!

Game 4: Bees 8, Riverdogs 4

The hot bats the Riverdogs broke out against the Scrappers were nowhere to be found as the Riverdogs dropped an 8-4 decision to the Bees. The loss puts the Riverdogs at 2-2 on the season.

Coming off a game where the ‘dawgs pounded 29 hits and all but one Riverdog had multiple hits, the Riverdogs only recorded 12 hits as a team against the Bees, and only two Riverdogs recorded multiple hits. Of the 12 hits, only one went for extra bases (a double by Caden). The four runs scored were the second lowest total of the season thus far.

Leading the way for the Riverdogs were Carter, who went 2-2 with two singles and two runs scored, and Caleb who went 2-3 with 2 singles and 1 run scored. Matthew N., Jacob, Bobby, Matthew D., Caden, Weston, Nolan and William all added a hit each. Matthew D. added a run, while Matthew N., Caden, Weston and Nolan all added an RBI each.

Although the bats had an off night, Coach David complimented the team after the game on the defense, as they held the Bees to two scoreless innings and only 8 runs. It was also pointed out that even with the good defense, it still could be better as most of the runs the Bees did score came off Riverdog errors, many with 2 outs in the innings.

The next game is Tuesday at 6:30 against the Lookouts, with warm ups starting at 5:30.

Thanks to Tori DeMoss for the pictures!