It was strength vs. strength at Lowell Park on Friday night.
Chatham pitchers have struck out more batters than any other team. Cotuit hitters have been the toughest to strike out in the league.
The hitters won this battle. Cotuit pulled away with a five-run fifth inning and held on for a 7-6 win.
Chatham averages about 11 strikeouts per game. In total, Angler pitchers have punched out 19 more batters than any other staff in the Cape League.
Cotuit hitters have struck out 168 times, by far the best mark in the league. The worst number in the league is 233, which, interestingly enough, also held by Chatham.
On Friday night, Cotuit struck out five times, well below what the Anglers normally get. When the Kettleers were instead putting the ball in play, it was working. They pounded out 13 hits. Though only one went for extra bases, the station-to-station approach worked fine.
Jace Grady (Dallas Baptist) and Drew Compton (Georgia Tech) had three hits each, with Compton adding two RBI. Eric Brown (Coastal Carolina) stole a base and scored two runs.
Will Jacobsen (Harvard) allowed three earned runs in 4.2 innings as Cotuit’s starter. Harrison Cohen (George Washington) pitched the final 3.2 innings, allowing two runs and striking out five.
The loss ends a two-game win streak for Chatham, which drops to 8-11-13. Cotuit improves to 11-9.
Harwich 15, Hyannis 12
Harwich scored eight runs in the first inning but still had to hold on for dear life down the stretch in a wild slugesft win over Hyannis. The Mariners had 17 hits, seven of which came in the big first inning. Chris Newell (Virginia) had himself an inning, smacking an RBI triple and a two-run double just in the first inning. He finished 3-for-6 with three RBI. Jordan Beck went 4-for-5 with three RBI. Brock Wilken (Wake Forest) had three hits and took over the league lead in RBI with 18. Brendan Tinsman (Wake Forest) had two RBI and scored three runs. Hyannis made quite a comeback just to make it interesting, given the first-inning deficit. Clark Elliott (Michigan), Caden Rose (Alabama) and Luke Mann (Missouri) each homered for the Harbor Hawks. Harwich is 10-7-3, while the struggles contine to add up for Hyannis, which is 2-18.
Brewster 8, Falmouth 3
Brewster trailed 3-1 in the seventh but scored five runs and never looked back. Chad Castillo (California Baptist) went 3-for-4 with an RBI in his Cape League debut. Kurtis Byrne (TCU) and Alex Freeland (Central Florida) had two hits each. Brendan Girton (Texas Tech) and Dale Stanavich (Rutgers) pitched shutout relief to preserve the Brewster win. Falmouth had won three in a row coming in, but falls to 8-9-2. Brewster maintains its hold on first place in the East at 11-7-2.
Orleans 5, Wareham 4
The Firebirds hadn’t won since July 8, so it was a much-needed victory over Wareham. The game was scoreless until the sixth. Wareham took a 2-1 lead then, but Wareham jumped right back ahead with a four-run seventh. Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) had two hits and two RBI to lead Orleans. Peyton Chatagnier (Ole Miss), Cory Acton (Florida), Tyler Locklear (VCU) and Garret Guillemette (USC) had two hits apiece. Hayden Thomas (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) pitched five scoreless innings. Nick Wallerstedt (Arizona State) pitched two scoreless innings for the save. For Wareham, Owen Diodati (Alabama) moved into a three-way tie for the league lead in home runs with his sixth. Arizona State standout Sean McClain – whose brother Matt was picked in the first round of the draft this week – made his Wareham debut and went 2-for-5. Orleans is 8-8-3 and Wareham is 7-10-4.
Bourne 8, Y-D 5
The hottest team in the league right now? Who else? The Braves took a couple of losses last week but have since won four straight. At the halfway point of the season for them, their record is 15-2-3. In this one, a four-run first inning set the course for the win. Colby Thomas (Mercer) did most of the damage in the fast start with a three-run homer. Dalton Rushing (Louisville) homered later in the game, his fourth of the season. Tanner Schobel (Virginia Tech) also went deep. Trystan Vrieling (Gonzaga) allowed one run in four innings, and Austin Parsley (UNC Greensboro) was dominant in relief with five Ks in four scoreless innings. Crew Robinson (San Diego CC) and Drew Bowser (Stanford) hit back-to-back home runs for Y-D in the ninth but the rally stopped there. Y-D falls to 9-8-4.
WHAT TO WATCH
The five teams in the East Division are all separated by just five points in the standings, so there will be a lot of big games among them in the second half of the season. One comes Saturday as Orleans hosts Y-D.
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