The Cape League may want to slip the Outstanding Pitcher Award trophy into Bryce Hubbart’s suitcase before he leaves.
Though Hubbart will miss the stretch run on the Cape, he’s done enough to be labeled the Cape’s top arm.
Hubbart made his final start for Brewster on Monday night and delivered more of the same. He pitched six shutout innings and allowed three hits as the Whitecaps won a key matchup with Harwich by a 4-3 score.
The left-hander allowed three runs in his first outing of the summer, and has given up just one since then – which was unearned. That’s five straight outings of at least five innings, no earned runs and four hits or less. Hubbart leaves the Cape with a 0.87 ERA and a league-best 45 strikeouts. With about a week and a half left in the regular season, there’s a chance Hubbart wins the strikeout title even though he’s departing a bit early.
The victories have been nice, too. Brewster has won Hubbart’s last four starts, and this one was significant. Harwich came into the night just a point back of the Whitecaps for first place in the East. The Mariners’ Andrew Mosiello (Oregon) also pitched great, going five shutout innings, but Brewster got an RBI single from Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) and a three-run homer by Jake Thompson (Oklahoma State) to take control.
After his team got the lead, Hubbart worked a perfect sixth inning, fittingly ending his Cape League summer with a strikeout of Brock Wilken (Wake Forest), one of the top hitters in the league.
Harwich rallied with one run in the eighth and two in the ninth, before Dale Stanavich (Rutgers) stranded the tying run on base with a strikeout of the league’s leading hitter, Pres Cavenaugh (UNC Greensboro).
Orleans 10, Bourne 5
Bourne has lost two straight for the first time all season, but still clinched the West Division title thanks to other results around the division. For Orleans, the win ends a three-game slide. Tyler Locklear (VCU) started things with a bang for the Firebirds, smacking a three-run homer in the first inning for his league-leading ninth long ball of the year. He finished with four RBI and also now leads the league in that category, as well. Trae Harmon (Stetson) also homered for Orleans. Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) added two hits and an RBI, as did Garret Guillemette (USC). Nathan Florence (Hartford) and Zack Morris (Arkansas) combined to shut out the Braves for the first six innings. Bourne made some noise late on home runs by Dalton Rushin (Louisville) and Colby Thomas (Mercer) but didn’t have enough.
Hyannis 15, Cotuit 5
It’s a long road back to playoff contention but say this for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks – they are hitting and having some fun. Hyannis has scored 43 runs in its last three games, this time smacking 18 hits – eight of which went for extra bases – to pull away from Cotuit. It was the Kettleers who started fast, taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the third on a Luke Gold (Boston College) home run. But Hyannis answered with seven runs in the bottom half and never looked back. Luke Mann (Missouri) led the Harbor Hawks with his fourth home run of the season, plus a double and four RBI. Mitchell Hartigan (Florida Atlantic) was just a double away from the cycle, hitting a single, triple and a home run. Clark Elliott (Michigan) added three hits and Caleb Pendleton (Florida Atlantic) had two hits and three RBI. Daniel Gill (Valdosta State) allowed three earned runs in 5.2 innings for the win. Hyannis is 7-22 and Cotuit is 12-16-1.
Wareham 12, Y-D 2
The Gatemen moved into second place in the West with a blowout of Y-D. Tres Gonzalez (Georgia Tech) went 4-for-5 with four runs scored to lead the onslaught. Kamren James (Mississippi State) hit a grand slam and Jim Jarvis (Alabama) also homered. The support was plenty for Adam Mazur (South Dakota State), who lowered his league-best ERA to 0.38 with five scoreless innings. He’s up to 23.2 innings with one run allowed. Wareham is 11-14-5 and Y-D is 11-12-7.
Chatham 3, Falmouth 1
Two Chatham pitchers scattered five hits and combined for 14 strikeouts to shut down a streaking Falmouth team that had come in with four straight wins, including a walk-off victory over the Anglers the night before. Victor Mederos (Miami) struck out seven in six scoreless innings for his longest and best outing of the season. Cy Nielson (BYU) allowed just an unearned run in three innings, while also striking out seven. A two-run single by Lyle Miller-Green (Chipola) staked Chatham to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. They added a run in the fifth on an error. Taylor Smith (Texas A&M) scored Falmouth’s lone run on a wild pitch. Chatham is 11-17-3 and Falmouth is 12-14-2, one point behind Wareham for second place in the West.
WHAT TO WATCH
Orleans will try to knock off a division leader for the second straight night as it visits Brewster.
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