Game #9: RIVERDOGS 3 Thunder 14

Pre game pep talk

Taking a moment

Coach Cailean and Coach Dave

The announcer and scorekeeper...Gavin (with hat on) and Madeline

fly ball drill

Teamwork. Sportsmanship. Having Fun. If the players on the Riverdogs team show those three, then they are winners in our book!

Here's a glimpse of what went on today...

• Lawson tagged a runner out at second base for the first out in the top of the first and then he threw the ball to Blake at shorstop for another out.
• Luke had an unassisted out at first for one out in the second. Brandon (pitcher) threw the ball to Luke at first for another out. To get the Riverdogs out of the inning...the ball was hit to Blake and then he threw it over to Luke for the final out.
• Top of the third...Christian helped take care of the first out and then Lawson to T-Man at first for another out.
• In the fourth, T-Man had an unassisted out at first. Luke caught a line drive at third for the second out and then a nice fly out to right center where John caught the ball to end the inning.
• Lawson caught a fly ball at second for the first out in the fifth followed by an out by Lawson at second base.
• The Riverdogs had a double play in the sixth. Christian caught a fly ball out in left center and then he threw the ball to Lawson for another out!
• All the outfielders played great D today. Ian held three runners at first since he kept the ball in front of him in center and threw the ball into the infield. Andrew saw a lot of action in left. Christian and John caught some fly balls out that way. Griffin and Brandon played great D out there, too.
• The catchers (Joshua and Benjamin) did a great job behind the plate on a hot afternoon!

On the offensive side...

• Josh went 1-3
• Luke went 2-2 with a double
• Tony went 1-2
• Andrew went 2-2
• Aidan went 1-2 with 2 RBI
• Brandon went 1-2 with 1 RBI
• Christian went 1-2
• John went 1-2 with a double

The Riverdogs play the Scrappers in a make up game tomorrow. First pitch is slated for 1pm on Nowell Field at West Raleigh!

Special Guests at the NC State Baseball Game Tonight: The RIVERDOGS!

The Riverdogs had an opportunity to go down to the field and watch warm ups at tonight's game against Maryland. Then, they were escorted onto the field and ran out with the players for the National Anthem. The kids represented West Raleigh AND the Riverdogs very well! They had a lot of fun together and it was just a great experience! Thank you Coach Lance and Team Mom Stephanie for having us all sit together!!!

Pre-game picture

Funny faces now

Some Riverdogs with Coach Dave in the bullpen area

Getting organized

Brandon, Christian and John

Our team does this, too!

Waiting for some Wolfpack players to give some high fives

Pitcher, First and Third

Outfield

Short and Second

Are you sure you want the Riverdogs off the field? They can help the team out!

Even Mr. Wuf came over to the DAWGS!

We'll be ready to play a big game tomorrow against the Thunder! First pitch is scheduled at 3pm, but everyone needs to be there by 2pm!

Friday, April 29...Riverdogs @ NCSU Baseball game!!

As the NC State Baseball team is introduced...each Riverdog will run out with the Wolfpack starts as they head to their positions! Then, the Riverdogs will stand during the National Anthem before returning back to the stands!

It will be an exciting time for the Riverdog Family!!! Make sure the players wear their team jerseys and hats! Everyone should arrive inside the gate by 5:50pm before the players are escorted down to the field! It'll be a great night to cheer on the Wolfpack over Maryland!

Minor League standings as of 7pm tonight (Wednesday)...

Riverdogs	8	6	2	0	0.750	86	61
Thunder	6	4	2	0	0.667	59	42
Scrappers	6	4	2	0	0.667	34	25
Mudcats	8	4	4	0	0.500	63	53
Bats	8	4	4	0	0.500	45	51
Bees	8	3	4	1	0.438	58	57
Bulls	8	3	4	1	0.438	76	66
Lookouts	8	1	7	0	0.125	24	90

Game #8: RIVERDOGS 8 Mudcats 6

Tuesday, April 26, 2011...WHAT AN EXCITING GAME!!!!!

Our defense had some action...

1st inning
Second baseman (Lawson) to first baseman, Tony for the first out
Luke made an unassisted play at third for an out
Luke caught an infield pop fly at thirs
Outfielders John, Josh and Andrew had great stops to hold runners to only one base each time!

2nd inning
3 up...3 down
Andrew saw some infield action as pitcher and caught an infield fly for out #1
Third baseman (Tony) threw the ball to Luke at first for out #2
Lawson (playing second) threw the ball to Luke at first four out #3

3rd inning
Andrew (played pitcher) to Blake at second for out #1
Infield fly to pitcher (Andrew) for out #2
Blake to Lawson for out #3
Centerfielder, Ian, stopped the ball to hold the runner at first base.
This was a big inning for the Mucats...a homerun was hit and scored 5 runs!

4th inning
Shortstop (Blake) threw the ball to Tony at first for out #1
Foul out to Luke at third for out #2
Second baseman (Lawson) threw the ball to Tony at first for the third out

5th inning
Blake (shortstop) to Luke (first base) twice!
Infield fly to shortstop (Blake) to end the inning

6th inning
Tony made an unassisted play at first for out #1
Blake made an unassisted play at second for the second out (almost a double play!!!)
Flyout to Blake at shortstop to end it!

Now's let's talk about the offense...for the Riverdogs...

Josh went 1-3
Lawson 2-3
Luke 2-3 with a double
Blake 3-3
Tony 1-3 with 2 RBI
Ian 2-3 with a double and 1 RBI
Andrew 2-3 with 1 RBI
Brandon 3-3 with 3 RBI
Christian 1-3
Benjamin 3-3
John 2-3 with 1 RBI
Griffin 0-3

1st inning: 5 hits, 4 runs (Lawson, Luke, Blake and Tony scored)
2nd inning: 3 hits, 0 runs
3rd inning: 3 hits, 1 run (Blake scored)
4th inning: 2 hits, 0 runs
5th inning: 2 hits, 0 runs
6th inning: Ian, Brandon and John had RBIs to put us up 3! Also, hits by Andrew, Ben and Christian moved runners into scoring position and then Blake, Ian and Brandon scored!!!!!

Game #7: RIVERDOGS 13 Lookouts 0

I apologize for the delayed blog entry, but I was out of town for over a week. A big thanks to Sue (Andrew's mom) for keeping the stats and giving me notes, so the blog can be updated!

April 19, 2011

We'll start with our offense...

Josh went 4-4 with 3 RBI and 1 run scored
Lawson went 1-4 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored
Luke went 2-3 with a double and 1 RBI
Tony went 3-3
Ian went 1-3 with 1 RBI
Aidan went 1-3 with 1 run scored
Andrew went 2-3 with a double, 1 RBI and 1 run scored
Brandon went 2-3 with a double, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored
Christian went 3-3 with a double and 3 runs scored
Benjamin went 1-3 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored
John went 3-3 with a double, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored
Griffin went 3-3 with 1 run scored

Our defense looked like this...
1st inning: Aidan had a put out at 2nd, Josh caught a pop fly in the outfield and Tony had an unassisted out at first

2nd inning: Tony caught a line drive at first, Luke had a put out at second

3rd inning: Aidan had a put out at second and Luke caught two fly balls at shortstop

4th inning: Lawson caught a pop up at second, Tony made an unassisted play at first and Lawson finished with a put out at first

5th inning: Brandon had a put out at first, then Aidan had two put outs at first

6th inning: Lawson had two put outs at first, then Luke had a fly out at shortstop

GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring 2011 Spring Raffle...

It was very nice to go to the homepage for West Raleigh Baseball and see TWO Riverdogs' players listed as top sellers!!!!

Top Player Sellers:
1st place ($500.00) - Lawson Wheeler - Riverdogs
3rd place (200.00) -   Andrew Locke - Riverdogs

Way to go #7 and #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Game #6: RIVERDOGS 14 Bees 5

We all weren't quite sure if this game would happen because of the storms that were supposed to come into our area. But, we made it through! We left the ball park last night at around 7:15pm or so and the DAWGS came back at 10am ready to play for the 11am game against the Bees!

We scored 6 runs in the first, 1 in the second, 5 in the third, none in the fourth, 2 in the fifth and none in the sixth!

Here's what the offense looked like for today...

JOSHUA: 2-for-3 infield hits
LAWSON: 1-for-3 with 1 RBI (nice hit to the left center)
LUKE: 1-for-3 with a double to left center
BLAKE: 3-for-3 with 2 RBI...all 3 hits were doubles to left center
TONY: 2-for-3 with a triple down the first base line and 2 RBI
IAN: 3-for-3 with a double down the first base line and 2 RBI
AIDAN: 2-for-3 both were infield hits with 1 RBI (on his out)
ANDREW: 2-for-3 with 2 doubles out to left center with 1 RBI
BRANDON: 2-for-3 with a triple out to right field and 4 RBI
CHRISTIAN: 0-for-3 He'll get them next time!
BENJAMIN: 2-for-3 with 1 RBI (made it to 2nd on a passed ball)
JOHN: 2-for-3 infield hits
GRIFFIN: 1-for-3 with a hit just passed the shortstop

Now our defense...

1st inning - Lawson to Blake for the first out, fly ball to Blake for the second, line drive to Blake for the third
2nd inning - Fly ball to Lawson for the first out, Brandon to Blake for the second, Tony to Luke for the third
3rd inning - Fly ball to Luke for the first out, fly ball to Ian for the second out, Blake to Luke for the third
4th inning - Blake to Tony at first for the first and almost had a double play back over to third, Aidan to Tony for the second, fly out to Blake for the third out
5th inning - Blake to Lawson for an out and a fly out to Blake for the final out
6th inning - Fielder's choice to Blake for the first out, Blake to Lawson for the third out

After the 9am minor league game and our 11am game...here are the standings for the League:

Land O' Frost Minor League

Team Name	P	W	L	T	Pct	F	A
Scrappers	4	3	1	0	0.750	26	15
Thunder	4	3	1	0	0.750	47	26
Riverdogs	6	4	2	0	0.667	65	55
Bees	6	3	2	1	0.583	48	44
Bulls	6	2	3	1	0.417	62	52
Bats	5	2	3	0	0.400	22	36
Mudcats	5	2	3	0	0.400	46	37
Lookouts	6	1	5	0	0.167	20	71

Next up for the Riverdogs...the Lookouts on Tuesday at 5:30pm!

Game #5: Bulls 19 Riverdogs 11

A Friday night game...what a score, right?!

Let's take a look at our defense...

1st inning - Andrew stopped the ball in left field and Lawson had a putout at second base for the first out. Ian kept the ball in front of him in center field to hold the runner to just a single. Luke had a great throw from third base to Tony at first for the second out. Then the third out came from a play that included the dynamic duo of Blake to Tony at first.

2nd inning - A fly ball to Brandon, at the pitcher's spot, for the first out. A fly ball to Blake, at shortstop, for the second. An unassisted play for Luke at first for the third out. Nice! 1-2-3!

3rd inning - Aidan was playing left center and held the batter to just a single. A fly out to Andrew in left field was the first out. Fielder's choice play to Blake...threw the ball to Luke at third for the second out. A fly out to Aidan in left center for the third out.

4th inning - John stopped the ball in the right field to hold the batter to a single. Tony had an unassisted play at first for the first out. Two great plays from Luke (at 3rd) to Tony (at 1st) for the second and third out.

5th inning - John had another great defensive play in right center to hold the batter to a single. Christian did the same play to hold the batter to just a single. Blake had an infield fly ball for an out.

6th inning - Brandon, playing second base, threw the ball to Blake to tag the runner out for the first out. Ian caught a fly ball in center to end the inning.

On the offensive side of things...

Josh Bussey: 2-for-3
Lawson Wheeler: 2-for-3 with a double
Luke Hayes: 2-for-3 with 1 RBI
Blake McCain: 2-for-3 with 2 homeruns to left center and 4 RBI
Tony Molden: 3-for-3 with 1 RBI
Ian Turner: 2-for-3 with a double (almost over the fence)
Aidan Smith: 1-for-3 with 2 RBI
Andrew Locke: 2-for-3 with 2 RBI (almost over the fence)
Brandon Gregory: 1-for-3 with 1 RBI
Christian Mosley: 2-for-3
Benjamin Stahlman: 2-for-3
John Penry: 1-for-3
Griffin Dittner: 0-for-3, but hit the ball hard to third and shortstop

At the end of this game, the DAWGS' overall record is 3-2.

Riverdogs 14 Bats 3

The DAWGS came to Nowell Field ready to play tonight! Once again every single Riverdog made it on base. I'll go right down the batting order...

Josh 2-for-3 with 1 RBI
Lawson 2-for-3
Luke 3-for-3 with 1 RBI
Blake 3-for-3 with a double and 1 RBI
Tony 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI
Ian 1-for-3 with a double and 1 RBI
Aidan 2-for-3
Andrew 2-for-3
Brandon 2-for-3
Christian 3-for-3 with 1 RBI
Ben 2-for-3 with 1 RBI
John 1-for-3
Griffin 1-for-2 with 2 RBI

For our defense...
In the top of the first we went 1-2-3! Aidan caught a fly ball at pitcher for out #1. Then, Luke threw the ball to Tony at first for the 2nd out. The third out was a foul ball caught by the third baseman, Luke!

The top of the second was also three outs in a row. Brandon, at pitcher, threw the runner out at first with Luke making the catch. Lawson caught a fly ball at second for out #2, then Brandon caught a fly ball at the pitcher's mound to make the 3rd out!

In the third, Blake caught a line drive at shortstop to get the first out. The next out was a fielder's choice and Luke took that unassisted at third followed by another unassisted play by Luke at third to finish that inning.

The fourth inning included an out with a ball hit to Lawson and then he threw the ball to shortstop, Blake, to get the runner out at second base. Lawson caught a fly ball to get us out of the inning!

In the fifth inning, Brandon threw the ball to Luke, at third, to get the runner out for the first out. After three runs scored for the Bats, Luke took an unassisted out at third for the 2nd out and then the ball was hit to Lawson at second and sent the ball over to T-Man at first for the 3rd out!

To end the game, the Riverdogs went 1-2-3. The ball was hit to the pitcher, Aidan, who threw him out at first (great work T-Man!). Next, the batter hit the ball to Luke at 3rd, but Luke had a power throw over to T-Man to get the runner out at first. For the final out...pop fly to first base with T-Man making the catch!

Wednesday's line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
Bats	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	12
Riverdogs	2	1	5	4	2	X	13	26

We are heading into Friday's night game against the Bulls with a record of 3-1!

GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday is Game #4

I forgot that our make up game with the Scrappers isn't until May 1, so Game #4 is scheduled for Wednesday! We were able to have practice for one hour before the rain came in tonight. Looking forward to a great game tomorrow night!

It's the Riverdogs vs the Bats!



Riverdogs 9 Bulls 8

It was a close one for sure! The Riverdogs showed such incredible sportsmanship throughout the entire game and kept their composure. Great job boys! They had to run fast around the bases to stay dry! I believe Coach Wayne told the players that in the dugout. We had some rain throughout the game, but the players didn't seem to mind!

Hopefully at the next game the stats will look a bit different since we'll have access to an online stats program! But, I went with the paper/pencil method for today.

Here's a recap of our offense...

In the first inning, Luke Hayes started the Riverdogs off with a single to left field. Blake McCain goes up to the plate and on the fourth pitch he sent one over the leftfield fence to make the score 2-0. We all enjoyed watching the Dawgs gather around home plate waiting for their teammate to make it around! The hits continued with Tony hitting it to the left center field and Ian's hit to advance the runner.

Andrew Locke started us off in the second inning with a single to left center. Christian Mosley hit a beautiful double to left center followed by a fielder's choice hit by Benjamin Stahlman to bring in a run. John Penry was next up and made it to first base, but ran to second base on a passed ball, which brought in a run.

We'll fast forward to the fourth inning now. Tony Molden hit a single to third base, Aidan Smith hit a nice single to left center followed by Andrew Locke's hit to shortstop. Then, Brandon Gregory hits a double to right field with 2RBIs!

Benjamin Stahlman and John Penry had singles in the fifth inning, but we were not able to bring in any runs this inning.

Then, the sixth inning! Wow! Blake McCain hits a double out to right field. Tony Molden hits a double to left center to bring Blake home. Ian Turner hits right down the center for a single. Aidan Smith hits it hard out to left center, but the ball was caught for the second out. However, Tony scored to tie the game! Andrew Locke hits it out to the left center field, which brought Ian Turner home!

On the defensive side...I didn't take a picture of that side of the books!

Some Riverdogs who earned bones for their helmets for their defensive plays included Andrew Locke and Ian Turner with their strong work in the outfield. Blake McCain, Tony Molden, Lawson Wheeler, Brandon Gregory, Luke Hayes, Aidan Smith. Outfielders Christian Mosley, John Penry and Griffin Dittner had a workout in the outfield during the Bulls' hitting rally with their doubles. Joshua Bussey and Benjamin Stahlman took turns behind the plate and did a great job keeping the ball in front of them. 

After tonight's game...the Riverdogs' overall record is 2-1.

GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!

Game #4...This Saturday!

The Riverdogs will play at the Bulls this Saturday at 5:30pm! There is a time change due to our 4pm team pictures! GO DAWGS!!!!

Game #3 Postponed

We were excited to play the Scrappers tonight with the first pitch scheduled for 5:30pm, but Mother Nature didn't want us to play I guess. If you are not from our area, then you wouldn't know that we had high winds this morning with rain. The sun didn't come out until later in the day, so West Raleigh canceled the game very late in the day.

The make up game is scheduled for SUNDAY, MAY 1 AT 1PM!
The Riverdogs, now 1-1, will have one practice this Thursday at 5pm back on their home field at Ephesus Church.

Opening Weekend

Opening Ceremonies...11am on Saturday! Thanks to Andrew's mom, Susan, for these pictures...
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcsWrZqyaMO4

The Riverdogs played against the Thunder Saturday at 5pm and let's just say that they had the first game jitters! ;-) I kept the books for the team, so you would think I could remember what everyone did during the game. BUT...nope! So, this is from memory! At the plate Blake and Luke both went 3 for 3, Josh went 2 for 2 and then Brandon, Griffin, John, Aidan, Christian, Ben and Tony all had hits for the Riverdogs! In the third inning we were able to make a double play on the defensive side of things.

Sunday was awesome!!! It was a make up game against the Mudcats (scheduled for last Wednesday, but it rained) and we won, 14-6. Once again I don't have the stats with me, but every Riverdog hit the ball and made it on base! There were some GREAT defensive plays by our own, too! I'll remember next time to write down the stats before I turn the book over to Coach!!! I don't want to forget anyone!

Here's a short video clip of the Dawgs during the post game...