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Wilmington 5, Carolina 1 Mudcats Drop Series Opener 5-1 in Wilmington Marcos Diplan walked five and took the loss in Monday's series opener in Wilmington Marcos Diplan with a poor outing and the bats couldn't move enough players around the bases to compensate. Robie Rojas went to Colorado Springs to replace Jacob Nottingham, who was called up to the Brewers. Cooper Hummel is still around as the backup. I highly doubt we will see Clint Coulter back behind the plate. Rob Henry was activated in Carolina to take Rojas' spot on the roster. Marcos Diplan 2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 2 K Conor Harber 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K Miguel Sanchez 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K Keston Hiura 3-5 Clint Coulter 1-1, 2B, 2 BB Ronnie Gideon 1-5, 2B Carolina Box Score Carolina Log

Robie Rojas has been bumped up to Colorado Springs per Mudcats' broadcast. Rob Henry activated from AZ Brewer roster to take his place and is starting in LF today.

Carolina 6, Winston-Salem 2 Carroll & Rojas Lead Mudcats to First Road Win Dallas Carroll and Robie Rojas both scored twice and had two hits in Carolina's 6-2 win versus the Dash Tucker Neuhaus got a run out at shortstop today with Weston Wilson at 2nd. Just resting Luis Aviles and Clint Coulter. The game was shortened by rain, preventing another comeback from Winston-Salem. Braden Webb with the win and Nattino Diplan finished. Braden Webb 5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K Nattino Diplan 1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, Save Dallas Carroll 2-3, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB Robie Rojas 2-3, 2B Tucker Neuhaus 1-4, 2B Keston Hiura 1-2, BB, RBI Carolina Box Score Carolina Log By the way, if I happen to mention "Dallas Green" or "Cookie Rojas", it was just a slip of the fingers on the keys. Carolina Top of the 6th Dallas Carroll walks. Keston Hiura strikes out swinging. Dallas Carroll steals (1) 2nd base. Pitching Change: Matt Foster replaces Jimmy Lambert. Tucker Neuhaus doubles (4) on a sharp fly ball to left fielder Alex Call. Dallas Carroll scores. Ronnie Gideon singles on a sharp ground ball to center fielder Luis Alexander Basabe. Tucker Neuhaus scores. Cooper Hummel strikes out swinging. Weston Wilson singles on a soft line drive to right fielder Blake Rutherford. Ronnie Gideon to 3rd. Ryan Aguilar grounds out sharply, second baseman Ti'Quan Forbes to first baseman Gavin Sheets. Carolina Top of the 7th Robie Rojas doubles (1) on a sharp line drive to left fielder Alex Call. Carlos Belonis singles on a sharp ground ball to center fielder Luis Alexander Basabe. Robie Rojas scores. Dallas Carroll doubles (3) on a fly ball to right fielder Blake Rutherford. Carlos Belonis scores. Keston Hiura singles on a line drive to center fielder Luis Alexander Basabe. Dallas Carroll to 3rd. With Tucker Neuhaus batting, Matt Foster picks off Keston Hiura at 1st on throw to Gavin Sheets. Tucker Neuhaus grounds out softly, second baseman Ti'Quan Forbes to first baseman Gavin Sheets. Ronnie Gideon strikes out swinging.

Mudcats are going to rain delay in the 8th leading 6-2. Decent outing for Braden Webb today. The White Sox are this year's '17 Mudcats with a lot of toolsy high prospects.

Winston-Salem 6, Carolina 5 Four Late HRs & Suicide Squeeze Doom Mudcats The Mudcats lost a 5-0 lead in the eighth while losing their third straight game Well, that 8th inning meltdown by the bullpen ruined a feel good day for the Mudcats. The 5-0 lead vanished in 2/3 of an inning with 6 hits and 4 home runs. They then lost in another of those new fangled extra inning affairs. The Mudcats failed to get a bunt down in the 10th while the Dash not only advanced their 2nd base runner with a bunt but then sqeezed him home with another bunt for the win. Cam Roegner 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K Bullpen - check the box score Carlos Belonis 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 K Keston Hiura 0-4, BB Tucker Neuhaus, 3-5, 3 2B Carolina Box Score Carolina Log Carolina Top of the 10th Weston Wilson starts inning at 2nd base. Luis Aviles Jr. strikes out swinging. Max McDowell grounds out, third baseman Zach Remillard to first baseman Gavin Sheets. Kyle Kubat intentionally walks Ryan Aguilar. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Ronnie Gideon replaces Ryan Aguilar. Carlos Belonis strikes out swinging. Winston-Salem Bottom of the 10th Defensive switch from first base to left field for Weston Wilson. Ronnie Gideon remains in the game as the first baseman. Defensive switch from left field to center field for Carlos Belonis. Yeyson Yrizarri starts inning at 2nd base. Zach Remillard walks. Mitch Roman out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Chase Williams to first baseman Ronnie Gideon. Yeyson Yrizarri to 3rd. Zach Remillard to 2nd. Joel Booker singles on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Chase Williams. Yeyson Yrizarri scores. Zach Remillard to 3rd.

Roegner with 7 scoreless innings today.

Have a day Carlos Belonis! Two at bats, two HRs, 4 RBI. Where did that come from?

Winston-Salem 8, Carolina 1 Mudcats Drop Second Straight, 8-1 in Winston-Salem Clint Coulter went 2-for-4 with a home run in the loss for the Mudcats Nathan Kirby started and took the loss. He pitched in some hard luck though. He gave up three hits, one of which was a soft grounder just under his own glove and between Neuhaus and Aviles. The other two were of the Baltimore chop variety. One of his walks occurred after Ronnie Gideon whiffed on a foul pop-up next to first base. I think he was taken out due to pitch count. Nathan Kirby 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K Victor Diaz 2 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K Luke Barker 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K Clint Coulter managed to get two of the Mudcats' three hits. Luis Aviles added a single and a walk. Clint Coulter 2-4, HR Luis Aviles 1-2, BB Keston Hiura 0-4, 2 K Carolina Box Score Carolina Log

Winston-Salem 3, Carolina 2 Booker Steals Home as Dash Defeat Mudcats 3-2 in Extras Joel Booker stole home to finish off a 3-2 Dash victory versus the Mudcats The Mudcats came out on the short end of the new extra innings rule. Eleven hits with five of the extra base variety led to only two runs which cost the Mudcats here. Offensive highlights: Dallas Carroll 2-4, BB Keston Hiura 3-5, 3B Tucker Neuhaus 0-3, 2 BB Clint Coulter 2-5, 2 2B Ronnie Gideon 2-4, HR The pitching highlights: Trey Supak 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K Conor Harber 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K Daniel Brown took the loss in relief and Cody Beckman threw a scoreless inning in his Mudcats' debut. Carolina Box Score Carolina Log Winston-Salem Bottom of the 10th Pitching Change: Daniel Brown replaces Cody Beckman. Gavin Sheets starts inning at 2nd base. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Joel Booker replaces Gavin Sheets. Micker Adolfo strikes out swinging. Yermin Mercedes lines out to left fielder Weston Wilson. Yeyson Yrizarri singles on a sharp ground ball to third baseman Dallas Carroll. Joel Booker to 3rd. Ti'Quan Forbes walks. Yeyson Yrizarri to 2nd. With Mitch Roman batting, Joel Booker steals (3) home.

Hiura is in and singled in his first at bat.

Carolina 3, Frederick 2 Neuhaus Leads Mudcats to 3-2 Series Clinching Victory Tucker Neuhaus hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth as the Mudcats defeated the Keys 3-2 A dramatic 8th inning home run by Tucker Neuhaus backed up by two scoreless innings from Chase Williams give the Mudcats the victory. Neuhaus has had a very good start to the season. Is this the year he breaks out? Marcos Diplan 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K Miguel Sanchez 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K Chase Williams 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K Tucker Neuhaus 2-4, HR Carolina Box Score Carolina Log Carolina Bottom of the 8th Tucker Neuhaus homers (2) on a fly ball to right center field. Clint Coulter strikes out swinging. Ronnie Gideon strikes out swinging. Cooper Hummel flies out to right fielder Jake Ring.

Tucker Neuhaus hits it out over the 30 foot right centerfield wall off a lefty to win the game 3-2. Story later.

I didn't catch the pre-game stuff but haven't heard a word about Hiura during the broadcast. I know he had "twinges" in his elbow in Spring Training which is why he was the DH in the first few games. So that's all we know unless somebody else has heard something.

Frederick 12, Carolina 1 Keys Even Series With 12-1 Throttling of Carolina The Mudcats combined to issue 11 walks and allow 12 runs on 12 hits in Tuesday's loss As good as the pitching was yesterday, it was that bad today. Braden Webb threw 40 pitches in the 2nd inning while recording only 2 outs. He struggled to throw strikes. The rest of the staff wasn't much better and they ended up by using Cooper Hummel on the mound in the 9th. It's been a rough start for Alec Kenilvort and Nattino Diplan. Braden Webb 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 K Daniel Brown 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K Ronnie Gideon 2-3, RBI Carolina Box Score Carolina Log I haven't heard anything about Keston Hiura. He was off to a rough start of course.

Game Story Mudcats' game story from Rocky Mount Telegram (HT: Mass Haas). It explains the whole WalMart yodeling thing as well as talks about the game.

Carolina 5, Frederick 0 Roegner Leads Mudcats to 5-0 Shutout Win Cam Roegner struck out six over six quality innings while leading the Mudcats to their third straight win Cam Roegner went 6 strong innings and the bullpen finished off the shutout. The first three innings he was just painting the corners with his fastball. He had a few problems in the rest of the outing but got through it in the end. Miguel Sanchez went the next two innings and looked good. If you haven't seen him, he has a running fastball with some sink to it that moves quite a bit. He also throws a curve, cutter and changeup. I think maybe a slider as well. A lot of movement on all his pitches. Cam Roegner 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K Miguel Sanchez 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K Chase Williams 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K Ronnie Gideon had one single but it hit 3 or 4 feet from a home run off the wall in left. He had to hold at first when the carom went straight to the left fielder. The big buzz in the twitterverse was the new walk-up song for Clint Coulter called WalMart yodeling or something. Maybe some of you know what that means. Dallas Carroll 3-5, 2B Tucker Neuhaus 1-5, 5 game hitting streak Luis Aviles 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 SB Max McDowell 2-3 Ryan Aguilar 1-2, 2 RBI Carolina Box Score Carolina Log

Carolina 5, Winston-Salem 2 Carolina 2, Winston-Salem 0 Timely Hits Lead Mudcats in Doubleheader Sweep of Dash The sweep lifted the Mudcats into a three games to one series victory to open the season Carolina Box Score Game 1 Nathan Kirby 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K Victor Diaz 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K (Win) Jon Olczak Save Tucker Neuhaus 1-2 Max McDowell 1-3 Carolina Game 1 Log Carolina Bottom of the 5th Ronnie Gideon pops out to shortstop Yeyson Yrizarri. Weston Wilson walks. Luis Aviles Jr. reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by shortstop Yeyson Yrizarri. Weston Wilson to 2nd. Max McDowell singles on a fly ball to right fielder Alex Call. Weston Wilson scores. Luis Aviles Jr. to 3rd. Ryan Aguilar reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by pitcher Dylan Cease. Luis Aviles Jr. scores. Max McDowell to 2nd. Missed catch error by catcher Nate Nolan, assist to pitcher Dylan Cease. Dallas Carroll walks. Max McDowell to 3rd. Ryan Aguilar to 2nd. Keston Hiura hit by pitch. Max McDowell scores. Ryan Aguilar to 3rd. Dallas Carroll to 2nd. Tucker Neuhaus out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Alex Call. Ryan Aguilar scores. Dallas Carroll to 3rd. Pitching Change: Matt Foster replaces Dylan Cease. With Clint Coulter batting, wild pitch by Matt Foster, Keston Hiura to 2nd. Clint Coulter walks. Ronnie Gideon walks. Dallas Carroll scores. Keston Hiura to 3rd. Clint Coulter to 2nd. Weston Wilson flies out to right fielder Alex Call. Carolina Box Game 2 Tucker Neuhaus 1-3 Ronnie Gideon 1-3, 2B Conor Harber 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K Luke Barker 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K Daniel Brown 2/3 IP, Save, 2 K Carolina Game 2 Log

Carolina Postponed Tonight's game is rained out.

Winston-Salem 6, Carolina 3 Dash Drop Mudcats 6-3 on Friday Night Tucker Neuhaus went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in the loss The Mudcats' 18 game home winning streak against the Dash came to an end in an ugly 7th inning meltdown. Daniel Brown (1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K) took the loss in relief. Leading 3-0 going into the 7th: Winston-Salem Top of the 7th Zach Remillard walks. Joel Booker singles on a bunt ground ball to first baseman Ronnie Gideon. Zach Remillard to 2nd. Luis Alexander Basabe reaches on a throwing error by third baseman Dallas Carroll. Zach Remillard to 3rd. Joel Booker to 2nd. Blake Rutherford grounds into a force out, first baseman Ronnie Gideon to shortstop Luis Aviles Jr. Zach Remillard scores. Joel Booker to 3rd. Luis Alexander Basabe out at 2nd. Blake Rutherford to 1st. Gavin Sheets doubles (1) on a fly ball to center fielder Carlos Belonis. Joel Booker scores. Blake Rutherford to 3rd. Pitching Change: Alec Kenilvort replaces Daniel Brown. Micker Adolfo doubles (1) on a line drive to left fielder Cooper Hummel. Blake Rutherford scores. Gavin Sheets scores. Yeyson Yrizarri homers (1) on a fly ball to left field. Micker Adolfo scores. Ti'Quan Forbes grounds out, second baseman Tucker Neuhaus to first baseman Ronnie Gideon. Nate Nolan strikes out swinging, catcher Max McDowell to first baseman Ronnie Gideon. Both of those doubles were balls that probably should have been caught. The second and third hitters reached after laying down sacrifice bunts. Alec Kenilvort (1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K) followed Brown and gave up much of the damage in the 7th. Trey Supak (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K) was the starter and got a no decision. Tucker Neuhaus (3-4, HR, 3 RBI) was the only left handed hitter against southpaw Bernardo Flores but did the most damage. Clint Coulter had a triple in 4 at bats. Luis Aviles and Ronnie Gideon added a double each. Carolina Box Score Carolina Game Log All of Carolina's runs: Carolina Bottom of the 3rd Carlos Belonis flies out to center fielder Luis Alexander Basabe. Dallas Carroll singles on a line drive to right fielder Blake Rutherford. Keston Hiura reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Ti'Quan Forbes. Dallas Carroll to 2nd. Tucker Neuhaus homers (1) on a fly ball to right field. Dallas Carroll scores. Keston Hiura scores. Clint Coulter strikes out swinging. Ronnie Gideon walks. Cooper Hummel grounds into a force out, shortstop Yeyson Yrizarri to second baseman Zach Remillard. Ronnie Gideon out at 2nd. What's this bat thing for? Winston-Salem Top of the 5th Ti'Quan Forbes walks. Nate Nolan walks. Ti'Quan Forbes to 2nd. Zach Remillard strikes out swinging. Joel Booker strikes out on a foul tip. Luis Alexander Basabe walks. Ti'Quan Forbes to 3rd. Nate Nolan to 2nd. Blake Rutherford strikes out swinging.

Carolina 6, Winston-Salem 5 Four run eighth leads Mudcats to 6-5 opening night victory Coulter, Aviles Jr. and McDowell each had two hits in Carolina's comeback win The Mudcats won their 18th straight against Winston-Salem at Zebulon, including going 13-0 last year. The Mudcats are experimenting with Cooper Hummel, placing him in the outfield. He is still considered a catcher but McDowell will be getting most of the playing time there. The Hummel-Aguilar-Coulter outfield looks like a softball outfield compared to Stokes-Harrison-Ray. The first pitch was hit directly at Hummel and it glanced off his glove for a double but he did make a couple of decent running catches later on. Marcos Diplan (5 2/3 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K) got the start and couldn't make it out of the 6th. Luke Barker followed and retired all 4 men he faced, including two strikeouts. Nattino Diplan (1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K) got the win although he was not very effective. Jon Olczak got the save pitching a scoreless ninth. Dallas Carroll (1-3, 2 BB, 1 RBI) looked good in the leadoff spot. Clint Coulter (2-4, 2B), Luis Aviles (2-4, SB) and Max McDowell (2-4, 2B) all had two hits in the win. As mentioned, McDowell threw out 3 for 3 runners attempting to steal and picked a man off first to save Marcos Diplan some outs. Not a good day for Keston Hiura. He was the DH today and was 0-5 with 3 K's. Carolina Box Score Carolina Game Log Here's the 8th inning rally: Carolina Bottom of the 8th Pitching Change: Zach Thompson replaces Kyle Kubat. Tucker Neuhaus singles on a ground ball to left fielder Blake Rutherford. Clint Coulter singles on a ground ball to right fielder Alex Call. Tucker Neuhaus to 2nd. Cooper Hummel singles on a ground ball to right fielder Alex Call. Tucker Neuhaus to 3rd. Clint Coulter to 2nd. Weston Wilson grounds out, shortstop Yeyson Yrizarri to first baseman Gavin Sheets. Tucker Neuhaus scores. Clint Coulter to 3rd. Cooper Hummel to 2nd. Luis Aviles Jr. grounds out, third baseman Ti'Quan Forbes to first baseman Gavin Sheets. Clint Coulter scores. Max McDowell singles on a line drive to right fielder Alex Call. Cooper Hummel to 3rd. With Ryan Aguilar batting, wild pitch by Zach Thompson, Max McDowell to 2nd. Ryan Aguilar reaches on a fielding error by first baseman Gavin Sheets. Cooper Hummel scores. Max McDowell to 3rd. Dallas Carroll singles on a ground ball to center fielder Luis Alexander Basabe. Max McDowell scores. Ryan Aguilar to 2nd. Keston Hiura strikes out swinging.

I saw him play quite a bit last year. IMO he is not a centerfielder. Ray and Harrision were both way beyond what Trent could do in CF. That said, I don't remember anybody in the Brewers organization who has his plate discipline. This is within the strike zone as well as balls and strikes. He rarely swings at a ball he can't handle, at least until strike two. I think he should work on his strike two hitting in order to cut down a bit on his K rate. If he can up his batting average 20 or 30 points he will be a good player I think. Despite getting many stolen bases I wouldn't call him fast. He just has a baseball IQ on that and hitting. Some scouts have dinged him for his arm but I think it's around average. He did lead the Carolina League in OF assists for much of last year.

2018 Coaching Staffs

JW- I was just watching the Park-Franklin basketball game and they mentioned Alba was going to some meet and greet thing with the Cubs. Don't be surprised if he is drafted by them.

I also think it is way too early to give up on Medeiros. The distance he came last year from where he was in 2016 is tremendous. He probably needs a better changeup to throw to right handed hitters. I saw him almost unhittable at times last year. Also, even if he ends up in the bullpen, he needs the innings he will only get as a starter.

You're probably not going to get a lot of sympathy on those temperatures there Mass. It was -2 F when I left the house at 10 yesterday in Wisconsin.