Daily Fog: The Three Homer Club

Vanderbilt players arrived late to Cape Cod after their team’s runner-up finish at the College World Series, but they’re having an outsize impact. Spencer Jones is rolling for Brewster, Dominic Keegan is blasting home runs for Y-D, several pitchers are turning in great performances. 

Maxwell Romero Jr., had all his fellow Commodores beat on Wednesday night. 

In the first four innings of Chatham’s game against Cotuit, Romero Jr. got three at-bats and hit home runs in all three of them. He came up empty in his next two at-bats, but the three homer night still ties a Cape Cod Baseball League record. He’s the 11th player to do it. No player in the league’s modern history has ever hit four in one game. 

The list includes Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas. So even though the mark has been hit a few times in recent years – this is the fourth instance since 2018 – it’s still select company. 

Romero Jr. started early. On a 2-1 pitch in the first inning, he smashed a three-run blast. He came up again in the second inning and took an 0-1 pitch out of the park for a two-run homer. With a runner on in the fourth, another 0-1 pitch was sent flying for a two-run shot. 

Five innings still remained, giving Romero Jr. a better chance than most to make a run at a new record, but it wasn’t to be. He popped out in the sixth. When a runner reached in the bottom of the eighth, Romero Jr. got one more chance but struck out. 

Romero Jr. finished 3-for-5 with six RBI. Entering the game, he had one home run on the season and was in a bit of a slump, with just one hit in his last three games. Safe to say he’s feeling good now. 

The big night was part of an easy win for Chatham, which smacked 13 hits en route to a 12-3 win over the Kettleers. Another Vandy player, Matthew Hogan, had two hits and an RBI, while Caeden Trinkle (Oklahoma State) drove in two. Trevor Martin (Oklahoma State) got the win with 3.2 lights-out innings of relief, striking out six. 

Harwich 11, Y-D 1

When you give up one run and your ERA goes up, it’s been a good season. That was the case for Harwich’s Trey Dombroski (Monmouth), who allowed one run in six innings and struck out nine in a big Mariner win over Y-D. He now has a 1.10 ERA, good for fifth in the league. And his 38 strikeouts rank second behind only Brewster’s Bryce Hubbart. Dombroski started the summer in the bullpen. He has struck out 25 in his three starts. In this one, Dombroski scattered six hits and gave up just the one run. He had plenty of support as Harwich took an early lead, then pulled away late. Jordan Beck (Tennesse) homered, while Carter Putz (Notre Dame), Josh Hood (Penn), Dylan Phillips (Kansas State) and Max Cotier (Virginia) all had multi-hit, multi-RBI nights. Liam Simon (Notre Dame) followed Dombroski to the hill and finished off the win. The teams began the night in a second-place tie in the East standings. Harwich now has a two-point edge. 

Falmouth 4, Bourne 2

Falmouth had lost five straight. Bourne had won eight in a row. The Commodores stoppe dboth streaks with a 4-2 win at Doran Park. Adam Hall (Oregon) went 2-for-4 with two RBI for Falmouth, Kodie Kolden (Washington State) hit a solo home run and Jace Bohrofen (Oklahoma) drove in one run. Jack Jasiak (South Florida) went six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and striking out six. Chase Jeter (Sacred Heart) gave up two runs over the final three innings as Bourne threatened to tap into a little more of its magic, but there would be no comeback this time. Falmouth goes to 9-13-2 while Bourne is 19-3-3. 

Orleans 8, Brewster 6

The Firebirds won a wild one to knock off first-place Brewster. The game seemed headed for an Orleans win from the middle innings on. The Firebirds took a 5-0 lead in the fourth and shut-out Brewster until the seventh. The Whitecaps came roaring back with two runs in the seventh, then got a pinch-hit grand slam from Will Simpson (Washington) in the eighth to take the lead. To their credit, the Firebirds were undeterred. Justin Miknis (Kent State) hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eight to quickly tie the game back up. Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) put the Firebirds in front with a two-run triple. Jared Southard (Texas) wouldn’t allow another Brewster comeback as he pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off the win. Keaschall also had a home run and finished with six RBI to lead the Firebirds. Miknis had two hits and one RBI. Orleans has won two in a row and is 10-10-4. Brewster drops to 15-8-2 with its first loss since July 14. 

Hyannis 5, Wareham 4

The Harbor won for the third time in their last four and did so in dramatic fashion. With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Luke Mann (Missouri) delivered a walk-off infield hit to score Nick Romano (Central Florida) with the winning run. Wareham had won 12-1 over Hyannis just a night earlier and tied this one with two in the top of the ninth before the Harbor Hawks came through. Dominic Johnson (Oklahoma State) and Mitchell Hartigan (Florida Atlantic) knocked in one run each for Hyannis. David Furtado (Wake Forest) pitched six strong innings. For Wareham, Tommy Troy (Stanford) stayed hot with a 3-for-4 night. Starting pitcher Adam Mazur (South Dakota State) pitched five shutout innings and took over the league ERA lead at 0.48. 

WHAT TO WATCH

League-wide off day on Thursday. When the action resumes Friday, should be a good one in the East as Brewster hosts Chatham.  

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