Cardinals kept from championship game by 1st inning against Level Cross

After allowing 5 runs in the first, the cardinals played great defense the rest of the game allowing no more runs to a good little team called Level Cross. Level Cross scored 7 in last weeks IBA World Series championship game against WR Red that the red team pulled out with an 8-7 win. Both Level Cross and the Cardinals found themselves in the silver bracket this week with hopes of bringing home the championship trophy. In the end, it was Level Cross that would advance as they held on to win 3-5.

After hitting well the first inning and putting 3 runs on the board in the top of the 1st, the cardinals bats went silent with the exception of Daniel who took home the MVP award for the Cardinals going 3 for 3 and making many good plays at short stop including a diving stop to throw a runner out at first. The MVP of Level Cross was the Short stop for Level Cross, Alex Ramirez.

In the bottom of the first, after Daniel retired Alex Ramirez on ground ball to Daniels left, we gave what appeared to be two easy outs, into errors that put runners on 1st and 3rd. Then the hit parade started for Level Cross and we ended the inning 5-3. Our defense then became awesome and in the top of the third, Daniel started us with a triple but we were not able to bring Daniel home.

In this tournament, Daniel went 8 for 10, Will Matejowski went 6 for 7, Ben Peterson went 6 for 10, Alex Hatcher went 5 for 8 and Ethan Oakley went 5 for 9. The cardinals had 5 hitters with 3 hits and 3 hitters with 2 hits in their first game of the series against the White Sox and went 12 for 20 in their pool play game against Level Cross but were not able to put it together at the plate on Sunday to advance to the championship game.

My son Daniel and I watched the championship game from the sidelines for the 2nd week in a row as Level Cross easily won the championship game of the Summer Showdown. The Cardinals added 8 new players this week as we lost 10 players after finishing our planned 4-5 tournaments for the summer. Will M., Anthony, and Daniel were the only core players to continue from the team we started with this summer.

Play by Play Summary of Semi-Final game against WR Red

Cardinals were in complete control on offense and defense until the bottom of the third when WR took over momentum.

Cardinals loaded the bases with one out in the first inning when Cole bounced into an inning ending double play. In spite of two errors to start the first inning, we got the next three batters out to start the game 0-0.

In the 2nd, Will M. led off with a single,and then Jackson and Rio reached on an error to bring Will home. Luke reached on a fielders choice but then we got two outs to end the inning. WR red managed one hit and Vinnie got on by an error but no more damage was done to end the inning 1-0 in the 2nd.

In the third,the Cardinals started the inning with Daniel getting a single up the middle over the short stops head. Michael reached on an error and Will Tl got a single to bring Daniel home. Payton grounded out to third pushing the runners into scoring position and then Cole reached on an error and Will M singled bringing in 2 more runs. We go into the bottom of the third confident and determined to win the inning leading the WR Red team 5-0.

The WR Red team led off reaching on an error on a grounder to third by Carter Vestal. Jacob single and Richie reached on a fielders choice. Garret singled and then Elmo reached on an error. Reid doubled. We then finally get an out and then end the inning on a double play but the WR Red win the inning and the score is tied 5-5.

In the fourth, Luke hits a grounder to third but is thrown out by the ever so steady hands of Timothy Pate. Tim Werner then singles. Chris hits a double and Tim rounds third and challenges Richie's arm at 2nd. In what was a very close play, Tim was called out at home. Jordan then grounds out to the pitcher and we end the top of the 4th without adding to our run total. WR Red start off the bottom of the 4th with two singles and then after getting two outs, an error at short and a single by Carter allow for three more runs to score. After 4 innings, WR Red now lead 8-5.

With the game on the line, Daniel steps up and does an amazing job fouling off pitches way out of the strike zone but the last pitch was too far above his head to reach with the bat so the inning starts off with a K. Michael and Will then ground out to end the 5th, 3 up and 3 down. WR red are at the top of the order and quickly go to work tacking on two insurance runs to end the 5th 10-5.

Top of the 6th for the Cardinals. The Cardinals who played so well to start the game don't hold their heads down but end the game on three ground outs to lose valiantly to a the WR Red Champions, the 2nd group of All-Stars out of West Raleigh when we were the 4th team chosen. Great job Cardinals and as the Chief umpire said after the game, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, you played the game the way it was suppossed to be played. If i was going to start a team, I would want a group of boys just like you." We are proud of you boys. You played the best team in the IBA World Series and had a good chance to win the game and win the World Series.

Capital City Cardinals take early lead in semi-final game but lose to WR red in IBA World Series

The Capital City Cardinals entered the IBA World Series and made it to the semi-finals to play against the WR Red team. The Cardinals loaded the bases with one out in the 1st inning but Cole hit a hard ground ball up the middle that the red team turned into an inning ending double play. The Cardinals continued to hit and play strong defense and led the game 5-0 until the bottom of the 3rd inning when a series of errors and some good hits by the red team allowed them to come back and tie the game 5-5. The Cardinals almost went ahead again in the top of the 4th with a run to make it 6-5 when Tim singled and then Chris doubled. Tim using his speed to take him home was nailed on a very close play on a good throw from the WR Red second baseman. The red team took over the momentum then with three more runs in the bottom of the 4th to make it 6-8. Will Thistle made a fine play on a throw to tag a runner out but the runner was called safe by the umpire saying he tagged him with his elbow and not the glove. Michael also had a runner tagged out at third but tagged him with the glove with the ball in the other hand. The Cardinals were not able to claw their ways back into the game and lost with dignity 10-5 to the WR Red team who went on to win the World Series championship game against Level Cross.

We entered the tournament along with 11 other teams in New Market, NC for a tournament that was delayed throughout the weekend with rain and lightning. After losing to the WR Red team in pool play 14-1 and the Seagroves All-Stars dropped out not wanting to play on Sunday, we were placed in the gold bracket instead of the silver bracket. While this meant we would possibly get a chance to play against the #1 seed WR red again, we also knew that the competition would be the toughest as well. The Cardinals were the #5 seed and the first game was against #3 seed Team Elite. After the rain delay and the field was an inch to two inches deep in water, the Cardinals coaches and parents were working to drain the field with brooms and rakes to get the game started. In what was a long game in a very long tournament, the cardinals were able to advance to the semifinals having beaten Team Elite 6-3.

After losing in the semi-finals to the WR Red team after what seemed like a game that we were going to win, the chief umpire told our kids not to hold their heads down. He said, "You guys are a class act in every way. You have nothing to hang your heads about. You play the game the way it supposed to be played. If I were starting a baseball team I would want a group of boys just like you."

All the coaches were very proud of our kids for how well they played and carried themselves on the field. The tournament revealed enough of the quality of baseball and community that we have at West Raleigh to merit a comment like that from umpire Steve Heath, someone who had not known us before. After the final game, he also looked at the WR Team and called them a class act. Hold your heads up Cardinals.

Cardinals are runner up at 2010 Nations Baseball Summer Heat Tournament

The Capital City Cardinals won the runner up trophy losing the first place trophy for the 2nd time to the Rocky Mount All Stars. This was a game that we had a few chances to win but two base running errors at 3rd base and a couple of mental errors in the field were crucial in the 6-4 loss. In a 2-1 deficit until the 6th inning, Rocky Mount took a 4-1 lead until we battled back to tie the game 4-4 to push the game into extra innings. Starting the 7th inning, the tournament rules called for a runner to start the inning for both teams at 2nd base. Although Rocky Mount was at the bottom half of their lineup which had been silent all game, we gave them a chance to come back and score 2 runs starting with an early error on a routing ground ball. We were able to get a man on 1st and third in the bottom half of the 7th but popped up to third base to end the game 6-4 for Rocky Mount.

The next game against the Holly Springs Heat was a closely fought game that ended 11-10 in favor of the Capital City Cardinals. Michael Groves got the game winning hit to drive in the last two runs for the victory.

We won the last game against a team from Oxford that had lost a lot of players because they had aged up and won 16-1 when they called the game in the third inning due to the mercy rule.

We won 2nd place on a hot day in Oxford. We hope to get another chance at the Rocky Mount All-stars who have been wanting to scrimmage us.