Game 6: Braves 24, As 5

The Braves rapped out 23 hits and ran the bases aggressively on the way to a 24-5 victory Saturday afternoon at the occasionally fog-shrouded Water Tower Park.
Each Brave got at least one hit and scored at least one run. Will drove in 5 runs, and Jack was 4 for 4.
In the bottom of the 1st inning, Evan singled, and moved around the bases on wild pitches. Anthony drove him in with a groundout. With two outs, Alec singled, and Scott drove him in. After Nick and Connor walked to load the bases, Will cleared them by crushing a double into the outfield and kept running until he scored himself. 6-0 Braves, after 1.
After pitcher Connor shut down the As in the second, the Braves turned the hit machine back on. Jack, Evan, Anthony and Alec all singled; Nick tripled, and came home on a wild pitch. 11-0 Braves.
In the top of the third Evan, who was pitching, working around a single and a walk to shut the As down.
In the Braves half of the inning, Ryan and Jack doubled, then Liam singled, coming around to score himself on Anthony's single. 14-0, Braves.
The As put up 4 runs in the fourth inning. It could have been more, but Will alertly tagged a runner who approached 3rd base when he had the ball.
In the bottom of the fourth, Connor tripled with one out and stole home on a wild pitch. Will singled. Ryan was hit by a pitch. Jack drove in Will with a single; Liam drove in Jack; Evan plated Liam. 18-4, Braves.
Anthony made his season debut on the mound in the 5th inning, posting two strikeouts and limiting the As to a single run.
The Braves batted around in the bottom of the 5th, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring 6 times, with Will's double to center field the big hit.
On the mound, Connor closed out the 6th and final inning impressively, striking out the 3 batters he faced. Braves 24, As 5.
Next game: 6 p.m. Monday May 24 against the Rays. Please have your Brave to Water Tower at 5 p.m.

Game 5: Braves 8, Cubs 1

Led by strong pitching and fueled by a big inning, the Braves defeated the Cubs on a chilly night at Water Tower.
The Braves made excellent contact, striking out only once in the game. Liam thumped a single and a double. With one out in the bottom of the first, Alec doubled to left field, Nick walked, and Connor's RBI single drove in Alec. 1-0, Braves.
Connor pitched around some errors to shut the Cubs through 3 innings. Meanwhile, Cubs shortstop Carter Heston kept his team in the game with several dazzling defensive plays. The Cubs tied the game in the fourth.
But in the bottom of the inning, the Braves put 7 runs on the board while batting around. Scott singled, Tyler walked, Anthony moved the runners over. Liam singled, Matt walked,
Alec doubled, Nick singled up the middle, Connor singled, Evan doubled to drive in Nick and Connor. Braves 8, Cubs 1.
Alec closed on the mound, knocking down a hard shot and throwing the runner out, then striking out the final batter.
Notes: While pitching, Connor had an epic battle with Cubs slugger Evan Miller. Evan fouled off several good pitches before Connor got him to miss a change of speed -- not the goofy changeup some kids are throwing, but a modest variation in speed that nonetheless disrupted the batter's timing.
Both teams grasped the importance of pitchers covering home on wild

pitches and passed balls, as both teams tagged runners out at the plate.
Karen Kimple, Connor's mom, celebrated her birthday at the park with a
surprise cake.
Next game: Saturday May 22, 3 p.m. at Water Tower, vs. the As. Have your Brave there by 2 p.m., please.

Game 4: Braves 16, Athletics 7

Shaking off rust that built up after two rainouts, the Braves defeated the determined As 16-7 Saturday morning at Water Tower.
Connor led the parade of lumber-thumpers with 4 hits, including two homers, and six RBIs. Nick scored three times, and Evan was 4 for 4 with two doubles. Many players contributed today on offense with their legs as well as their bats.
The Braves took a 4-0 lead in the first inning through a combination of singles and aggressive baserunning. But the As took a 5-4 lead in the second inning, hustling to take advantage of a few Braves miscues. The Braves tied in the third by manufacturing a run with 2 outs: Nick singled, stole second and scored on Connor's single.
In the top of the 4th, Evan tomahawked a double into the outfield, and scored on Ryan's hit. Then Tyler ripped a fly ball into the right field that the As outfielder couldn't handle. Tyler zoomed around the bases to score. While an official scorer in major-league baseball might rule that as a single and a three-base error, I am not going to be the one to tell Tyler it wasn't an inside-the-park home run.
The As scored two in the bottom of the fourth to make it 8-7, but that's as close as it would get. In the fifth inning, Alec reached safely, then Connor brought him by crushing a homer to center field. With two outs in the same inning, Evan doubled again, stole third on a passed ball and scored on another Ryan single. 11-7, Braves.
Alec took the mound in the 5th, bringing the Big Red Express with him. Stridingly confidently toward the plate, he pounded the strike with fastballs. Will speared a liner at second base to contribute to Alec's one-two-three inning.
The Braves broke the game open in the 6th. Will, Matt and Alec all reached safely. Then Nick ripped a triple into the right-center gap. Connor followed with his second homer of the game, a booming shot over the right-center fence.
Alec closed out the game in the 6th, with Nick knocking down a line smash and stepping on first base for the final putout. (Alec needed only 16 pitches over the final two innings.)
In pitching notes, Matt and Tyler picked up the Braves in the middle innings. Through no fault of his own, Tyler found himself pitching with the bases loaded and no outs, but kept his composure. He induced two grounders to third that the sure-handed Anthony grabbed and threw home to induce forceouts.
Former Braves skipper Dave Pritchard watched our game this morning. He promises an update on Braves alums Chris and Jason in the near future.
Probable talking points from the game:
Good: Only two called third strikes on the Braves today. The boys took Coach Ross' exhortation to swing the bats to heart, and it showed.
Less good: This is my opinion, not the coaches. Boys needs to remember to run everything out, whether it is a fly ball to the outfield, a pop-up near the plate or a grounder to an infielder. This is Little League. You can never assume the other kid will make the play and give up. The very act of running as hard as you can might make an opponent drop a ball or throw it wildly.
NEXT GAME
It's 6 p.m. Monday May 17 vs. the Cubs. Coaches ask that your Brave be at Water Tower by 5 p.m.

Braves Rainout Theater, Round 2

With Tuesday's game a washout, our next scheduled game is 9 a.m. Saturday May 15 at Water Tower, vs. the As. Expect Coach Ross Harmsen to request that players be at Water Tower at 8 a.m. Saturday.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, another round of Braves Rainout Theater: