All-Stars Update (2)

Congratulations to Blake and the 8U Blue all-star team as they went 4-0 and won the Gold bracket championship in the Top Gun/ORSS All Star Invitational in Winterville this weekend. Good luck to 8U Blue as they head to the Cal Ripken District tournament in Hamlet next weekend.

Congratulations to Jacob, Matthew N. and the 8U Red all-star team as they won the Silver bracket championship of the Top Gun/ORSS All Star Invitational in Winterville. 8U Red compiled a 3-1 record on the weekend.

Congratulations to Caleb and the 7U Blue all-star team!! In their first ever all-star tournament in the Top Gun/ORSS All Star Invitational, they went 3-1 on the weekend, secured the #3 seed in the Gold bracket in a twenty team field, lost in the semi-finals to a strong Winterville 8U team, while beating two other 8U teams and a strong Winterville 7U team along the way and finished 3rd in the tournament. Had they knocked off the Winterville 8U team they would have played 8U Blue in the Gold bracket championship game!! Good luck to 7U Blue as they head to the Cal Ripken district tournament in Wilmington next weekend.

Congratulations to Carter, Matthew D. and the Capital City Tigers team as they went 2-0 on Saturday and secured the #2 seed in the Gold bracket in the Top Gun Zone World Series Qualifier in Fayetteville this weekend. The Tigers finished fourth in the tournament.

All-Stars Update

Congratulations to Blake and the 8U Blue all-star team as they finished runners up in the Gold bracket of the Top Gun NC State Games Zone Qualifier tournament this weekend, compiling a 3-1 record.

Congratulations to Jacob, Matthew N. and the 8U Red all-star team as they won the Silver bracket championship of the Top Gun NC State Games Zone Qualifier tournament this weekend.

Congratulations to Carter, Matthew D. and the Capital City Tigers team as they finished runners up in their division in round robin format of the Top Gun NC State Games Zone Qualifier tournament this weekend, also going 3-1.

Caleb and the 7U Blue all-star team did not play this weekend, and will have their first tournament this coming up weekend.

All-Stars Selection

Congratulations to the following players who will be representing West Raleigh and the Riverdogs in all-star competition this summer:

8U Ripken Blue: Blake

8U Pony Red: Jacob, Matthew N.

7U Ripken Blue: Caleb

Also, congratulations to Carter and Matthew D. who have been selected to play on the Capital City Tigers, a team made up of West Raleigh kids who will play some local area tournaments this summer.

Stay tuned to the blog for periodic updates on these teams throughout the summer.

Closing Ceremonies

Closing ceremonies took place Friday night, which marks the official end of the spring 2016 minor league season.

Congratulations to Nolan Jones who won the sportsmanship award for the Riverdogs.

Tournament Game 4: Thunder 4, Riverdogs 2

A day after the Riverdogs played a great five innings but faltered a bit in the sixth; the Riverdogs surpassed that and played perhaps their most complete game of the season offensively and defensively. Unfortunately, the Riverdogs came out on the wrong end of the decision, losing 4-2 to the Thunder. The loss knocks the Riverdogs out of the tournament and ends the spring 2016 season.

The ‘dawgs struck first to take a 1-0 lead, then the Thunder came back with two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead. The Thunder later added a 2 run HR to go up 4-1. The Riverdogs had no problem hitting the ball; however a stout Thunder defense would not let the Riverdogs get into a rhythm. This was evident in the fifth inning when the Riverdogs had bases loaded with no outs and only came away with one run to make the score 4-2; and in the sixth inning when the Riverdogs had runners on first and second with no outs and came away with no runs. The Riverdogs defense rose to the challenge as well. Of the 4 runs the Thunder scored, three came off over the fence home runs. Therefore other than the Thunder homers, the Riverdogs outscored the powerful hitting Thunder 2-1.

The leading hitters for the Riverdogs were Matthew N. who was 2-2 with a double, single and a run scored; and Carter who was 2-2 with two singles. Jacob added a double, while Caleb, Bobby, Caden, Weston, Nicky D. and Nicholas A. all added a single each. Bobby scored a run, while Jacob and Matthew D. added a RBI each.

Defensively, Jacob and Matthew N. received special recognition from Coach David for their play in the middle infield. Nicholas A. was praised for his diving attempt at a fly ball in right field, while William received recognition for almost catching a pop fly at catcher for the second straight game. Finally, Caleb received the final candy bar of the season for his fly ball catch in the outfield.

The loss ends the minor league careers for seven 8 year olds and three coaches, as Blake, Matthew N., Jacob, Carter, Nolan, Weston and Bobby all move up to Burke field and the Rookie League, while Coach David Gray, Coach Jesse and Coach David Vestal will also be moving up.

The next outing is closing ceremonies on Wednesday night after the Minor League championship game, weather permitting.

Tournament Game 3: Riverdogs 10, Bats 7

In probably the most complete five innings of the season, the Riverdogs built a 10-3 lead over the Bats.

What? The game is six innings? Yeah, we’re going to pretend that sixth inning didn’t happen.

Actually it did happen, and the Riverdogs held on for the 10-7 victory to advance in the tournament. After the Bats struck first to take an early 2-0 lead, the Riverdogs fired back with 5 runs in the bottom of the first to go up 5-2. Behind some great hitting and some exceptional defense the ‘dawgs steadily built a 10-3 going into the last inning. Although the defense fell apart a bit in the sixth inning, the Riverdogs ultimately pulled through and held on for the win.

Offensively, Caden was 3-3 with a double, 2 singles, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored; while Matthew D. was 3-3 with 3 singles and 2 RBI. Five Riverdogs had two hits each as Matthew N. was 2-3 with a double, a single, 2 RBI and 1 run scored; Jacob was 2-3 with a double, a single, 1 RBI and 1 run scored; Carter was 2-3 with 2 singles, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored; Caleb was 2-3 with 2 singles, 1 RBI and 1 run scored; and Nolan was 2-3 with 2 singles and 2 RBI.

Blake and William both added a double each, while Nicky D. and Nicholas A. added a single each. Blake, William and Nicholas A. all scored a run each.

As stated, the defense in this game was exceptional (especially considering the previous game against the Scrappers). Matthew N. led the way at shortstop making great throws to get outs, completing a nice double play where he fielded the ball up the middle, stepped on second to get the lead runner, then fired to Blake at first to complete the play. He also earned a candy bar when he went back into the outfield for a diving catch. Caden also got a candy bar for his fly ball catch in the outfield. Finally, William received a prestigious two candy bars for his fly ball catch at the catcher position, where he perfectly shed the mask, turned his back to the infield and made the catch to get a crucial out.

The win advances the Riverdogs to a match with Thunder on Monday at 7:30 PM, with warm ups beginning at 6:30 PM.

Tournament Game 2: Riverdogs 13, Scrappers 10

In a game that was a bit too close for comfort, the Riverdogs came from behind to defeat the Scrappers 13-10.

The Scrappers struck first by scoring two runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead; however the Riverdogs responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to go up 4-2. Some shaky Riverdog defense throughout the game allowed the Scrappers to go up 9-4, forcing the Riverdogs to scrap (no pun intended) away at the lead to eventually go up 13-10 after five innings. The Riverdogs held the Scrappers scoreless in the sixth to secure the victory.

Leading the way for the Riverdogs were Nicky D. who was 3-3 with a double, 2 singles, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored; and Nolan who was also 3-3 with 3 singles, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Six Riverdogs had two hits each as William was 2-3 with a double, a single, 3 RBI and 1 run scored; Jacob was 2-3 with a double, single, 2 RBI and 1 run scored; Blake and Caleb posted identical stats as both were 2-4 with a double, single and 1 run scored; Matthew N. was 2-3 with 2 singles, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored; and Caden was 2-3 with 2 singles, 1 RBI and 1 run scored.

Matthew D., Weston and Nicholas A. all added a hit each. Matthew D. and Weston scored a run each, while Matthew D. and Nicholas A. each added a RBI.

There wasn’t much you could say about this game defensively, as the Riverdogs made numerous errors throughout the game (which allowed the Scrappers to build their lead) and there were no fly ball catches in the outfield. However, Caden did spear a hard hit line drive back at pitcher, and Nolan snow coned a hard hit line drive at third base to end the game. In a nice gesture, the umpire gave Nolan the game ball for that big time catch.

The win advances the Riverdogs in the loser’s bracket to a matchup with the Bats on Sunday at 12:00, with warm ups beginning at 11:00 AM.