On a day when Orleans’ Mitchell Jordan was named the All-Star Game starting pitcher for the East squad – a shoo-in of a selection – the one other guy who could have made a serious case was just as good as his fellow ace.
Y-D’s Ricky Thomas (Fresno State) stayed perfect on the summer, making his sixth start and winning his sixth game. He allowed one run on three hits in seven innings and struck out nine as the Red Sox beat Harwich 4-1.
Thomas and Jordan are both 6-0, giving the league two big winners in a category that sometimes tops out at four wins when all is said and done. While Jordan took a no-decision in one of his starts, Thomas has been a winner every time. He owns more than a third of Y-D’s 17 victories.
Wins are not a favored statistic in this day-and-age – a great pitching performance does not guarantee a win – but for a guy who’s winning a lot, it’s still useful as a reflective statistic. And Thomas has been winning a lot, and earning each and every one.
The lefty has gone at least 5.2 innings in each start and has not surrendered more than one run in any start. He has a 0.96 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 37.1 innings pitched.
Saturday, he set a new season-high in strikeouts, fanning nine Mariners in the victory. A solo home run by Connor Justus (Georgia Tech) was the only blemish on his day.
Stephen Wrenn (Georgia) hit his fourth home run to back Thomas, while Tommy Edman (Stanford), Luke Bonfield (Arkansas) and Joshua Vidales (Houston) drove in one run each. The Y-D offense seems to enjoy nights when Thomas is on the mound – the four-run output Saturday was actually the lowest run support total he’s seen this year. The Red Sox are averaging six runs per game in his starts.
While that offense certainly helps, the Red Sox could be scoring two runs per game and still winning with Thomas on the mound. Coming off a solid spring with the Bulldogs in which he posted a 3.92 ERA, he’s been the best rising sophomore pitcher in the league this summer, statistically speaking.
At some point, Thomas and Jordan will probably take a loss. But it didn’t happen Saturday.
Orleans 2, Chatham 1
The aforementioned Jordan went four more innings without allowing an earned run – bringing his streak to 37 innings – before Chatham pushed one across in the fifth inning on a Garrett Hampson (Long Beach State) RBI single. Jordan got out of the inning without further trouble and ended his outing there after five innings. His ERA now stands at 0.24. The Orleans offense gave Jordan a lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run homer by Kyle Lewis (Mercer), and that was all the Firebirds needed. Three relievers combined on four scoreless innings, with Kit Scheetz (Virginia Tech) grabbing the save. Ty Damron (Texas Tech) was the hard-luck loser for Chatham. He allowed two runs in six innings. Flamethrowing reliever Zach Burdi (Louisville) made his second appearance since arriving from Team USA and went three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Wareham 2, Hyannis 1
Wareham walked off on a suicide squeeze for a 2-1 victory in 10 innings over Hyannis. John Sternagel (Florida) tripled with one out in the 10th and on the second pitch of the next at-bat, Preston Grand Pre (California) got down the bunt to win it. Wareham had given up a 1-0 lead in the eighth before its extra-inning rally. The squeeze made a winner out of Evan Hill (Michigan), who pitched five innings of relief with just an unearned run. Starter Ian Hamilton (Washington State) also went five and didn’t allow a run. Hyannis got 6.1 strong innings from Dakota Hudson (Mississippi State).
Brewster 7, Bourne 4
The Whitecaps won their fifth straight and jumped into a second-place tie with Chatham in the East. The Nick Senzel MVP campaign rolled right along with the win streak, as Senzel (Tennessee) went 2-for-3 with three RBI. That’s his eighth multi-hit game in 14 July contests. He has driven in 17 runs in those games. And as usual, it wasn’t just a one-man show for the hot-hitting Whitecaps. Jack Meggs (Washington), Tyler Ramirez (North Carolina) and Nico Giarratano (San Francisco) had two hits each, part of an 11-hit attack. Nick Highberger (Creighton) got the win in relief.
Cotuit 8, Falmouth 2
The unpredictable West Division looked the part in Falmouth, as Cotuit beat the Commodores 8-2 a night after losing to them 5-2. Austin Sexton (Mississippi State) allowed one run in 5.1 innings for the win. Branden Berry (Cal State Northridge) went 3-for-4 with four RBI and his fourth home run of the year. Brett Stephens (UCLA) added four hits and two RBI. The Kettleers scored four of their runs off Falmouth starter Austin Tribby (Missouri), who had allowed only one run in each of his last three starts.
What to Watch
Brewster will shoot for its sixth consecutive win as it visits Harwich. J.D. Busfield (Loyola Marymount), who had a strong start last time out, gets the ball.
Disappointed that Bobby Dalbec isn’t participating in the All-Star Game. I at least would have liked to have seen him in the Home Run Hitting Contest. Is he injured?
I also think Neck Deeg got screwed. He leads the league in innings (38.1) and is tied for third in strikeouts (36), but a recent bad start bloated his ERA a little (2.34). Still, he’s given up only 34 baserunners in 38.1 innings. Compare that to Blake Fox, who apparently will be starting for the West. Fox has a 0.81 ERA but he’s pitched only 22 innings, given up 23 hits (more hits than innings is almost unheard of in a CCBL All-Star), and struck out only 13 batters, which is below league average.
Instead of having coaches vote based on Old School stats like batting average, the CCBL should put together a panel of sabermetric geeks who would do a better job. The league average OPS is about .630, and Mackinnon (.617) and Robson (.616) are both below that mark despite playing offense-first positions.
Dalbec isn’t injured right now – I was at the game last night and he was playing. In fact, he doubled right before Lewis’ HR, making him the other run. I was looking at his game log – he didn’t play for 3 weeks. I’m not sure why. Will?
Anyway, watching the game, it was clear why those two teams came in with the league’s best records. The level of defensive play last night was very high. The play of the night, in my eyes, was a tremendous diving stop by Chatham 2B Hampson, who lept to his feet and threw out Reynolds, Orleans’ leadoff hitter, to preserve what at the time was a no hitter (Dalbec and Lewis’ big hits came the next inning.) Only four players for Orleans reached base (including Lewis’ HR) all night, and they finished with just 1 LOB – and that came in the 9th inning.
Not sure what the deal is with Dalbec.
Agree on Deeg, Orville. I thought he’d be the West starter and somehow he’s not even on the team.