Game 9: Braves 9, Yankees 2

The Braves have some excellent players, but no one is The Man. Actually, when it comes to Braves, any player can be The Man on any given play. The team's 9-2 victory over the disciplined and well-coached Yankees is the latest evidence of that.
The Braves batted first. With one out, Evan singled past the shortstop, Nick singled to center field, and Connor drew a walk, loading the bases. Ryan drove in Evan with an RBI groundout to short. 1-0, Braves.
The Yankees battled back to tie the game in the first through a combination of walks and an error, but catcher Ryan ended the Yanks' rally by throwing back to pitcher Connor to tag a runner out at the plate. 1-1.
In the top of the second, Tyler, Will & Jack all walked to load the bases. Anthony singled to drive in Tyler. Scott hit a fielder's choice to short, driving in Will. Liam singled through the right side, but Yankees third baseman Jack Friesch grabbed a line smash by Alec to end the inning. 3-1, Braves.
After his first-inning jitters, Connor found his command in the second inning, striking out the side around a harmless walk.
The Braves broke through in the third with a big timely hit. Evan singled sharply up the middle. Nick pushed him over to second with a groundout to the first baseman. Connor singled through the left side, then Matt walked to load the bases. Lefty Tyler then smashed a double to center field, driving in all three runners. 6-1, Braves.
Connor's infield defense supported him in the bottom of the third. The first batter grounded into the hole on the right side of the diamond, but Nick ranged over quickly to vacuum it up and throw him out. Then, with runners on first and second and two outs, third baseman Jack fielded a grounder and calmly fired a seed to first for the third out. Folks, a Little League third baseman throwing out a runner at first is not a given! Excellent play by Jack.
In the top of the 4th, the Braves took advantage of some Yankee generosity to extend their lead. With two outs, Scott and Liam both drew walks. Alec's single to right field plated Scott. 7-1, Braves.
This is a good place to point out that at-bats can be good even when they don't produce hits. Nick, Ryan and Evan all had at-bats where they fouled off multiple pitches, running up the opposing pitcher's pitch count.
The Braves shut down the Yankees in the bottom of the 4th with more good defense, including Evan snatching a fly ball at third.
In the top of the fifth inning, Nick singled sharply over the first baseman's head. Then Connor crushed his sixth homer of the season over the center field fence. 9-1, Braves.
Will relieved Connor on the mound with one out in the bottom of the fifth. He pitched effectively to contact, inducing a grounder for the second out and grabbing a comebacker and firing to first base to finish off the inning.
After the Braves failed to score in the top of the sixth, Will came back out to the mound. With one out, a Yankee runner reach first on an error. When he tried to go to third on the ensuing batter's hit, centerfielder Matt fired a perfect throw to Jack at third base to tag the runner out. A subsequent batter drove in a run, but the game ended with shortstop Connor spearing a line drive. 9-2, Braves.
Next game: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday vs. the Red Sox at Water Tower. Please have your Brave there by 5:30 p.m.