Y-D Charge

Tyler Houston and Y-D vaulted into a third-place tie in the East with Friday's win.
Tyler Houston and Y-D vaulted into a third-place tie in the East with Friday’s win.

 
J.J. Schwarz (Florida) singled in his long-awaited Cape League debut and that was just the start of a good night for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in Harwich. Three pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout as the Red Sox topped first-place Harwich 3-0 and vaulted into a tie for third place in the East.

Schwarz has been a big name in college baseball and prospecting circles since he burst onto the scene as a freshman at Florida last year by hitting .332 with 18 home runs. He didn’t have quite as much success this year but remains near the top of every early 2017 draft preview you’ll see.

Last summer Schwarz was on Y-D’s roster but ended up with Team USA. This year, after Florida’s loss in Omaha, he’s in town and immediately becomes a must-see attraction for scouts. Friday, he singled to lead off the second inning in his first Cape League at-bat and finished 1-for-3.

The bigger story for the Red Sox in terms of impact on Friday’s game was the pitching. Erich Uelmen (Cal Poly) allowed one hit in six shutout innings and struck out four. Coming off a spring in which he had a 3.68 ERA, Uelmen has delivered two scoreless outings in his two Cape starts, having gone five shutout innings his last time out.

Nathan Kuchta (San Diego) followed Uelmen to the hill and pitched a quick seventh inning. Calvin Faucher (UC Irvine) then notched his first save in emphatic fashion, striking out five of the six batters he faced in two perfect innings.

Harwich, as usual, had good pitching of its own, but a Y-D run in the fifth and two in the sixth provided the difference against starter Hunter Williams (North Carolina). Deon Stafford (St. Joseph’s) reached on an error and came around on a passed ball in the fifth. Dillon Persinger (Cal State Fullerton) doubled and Kevin Smith (Maryland) had an RBI to key the sixth inning rally.

Y-D has won two in a row and is 9-9 on the year, hitting the .500 mark for the first time. The Red Sox started the season with five straight losses.

 

Falmouth 5, Bourne 1

Falmouth topped Bourne for its second straight win and moved within one point of the Braves for first place in the West. Willie Burger (Penn State) homered and had two RBI to lead the Commodore offense. Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) and Bryce Johnson (Sam Houston State) added two hits each. Brady Puckett (Lipscomb) surrendered one run in five innings for his third win of the season and his third consecutive start allowing one run or less. Three relievers combined for four scoreless frames. Bourne got two hits from Mississippi State teammates Jake Mangum and Elih Marrero. Falmouth was without leadoff man and top hitter Kevin Merrell (South Florida), who is apparently injured and has been released, according to the league’s transactions page.

Hyannis 10, Chatham 0

The Harbor Hawks jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and cruised past Chatham at Veterans Field. Zach Rutherford (Old Dominion), Carl Stajduhar (New Mexico) and Brett Netzer (Charlotte) led the early burst. Rutherford would finish 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI, while Netzer drove in three. Chris Hudgins (Cal State Fullerton) and Kameron Esthay (Baylor) also homered. Eight different Harbor Hawks had hits and six of those hits went for extra bases. Much of the offense came against Chatham’s Jacob Stevens (Boston College), who had tossed five shutout innings in his previous start. Alex Eubanks (Clemson) was the beneficiary of the offense and tossed six shutout innings for a second consecutive start. Tyler Stevens (New Mexico) and Garrett Cave (Florida International) finished off the win.

Orleans 7, Brewster 2

The Firebirds broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the sixth and tacked on two more in each of the seventh and eighth innings to pull away. The win allowed Orleans to take over second place in the East at 10-8, as Brewster fell to 9-9. Ethan Paul (Vanderbilt) and Drew Lugbauer (Michigan) had two hits and two RBI apiece. Riley Mahan (Kentucky) added two hits and Justin Jones (Georgia State) scored three runs. John O’Reilly (Rutgers) picked up the win in relief and three of his bullpen mates combined for three scoreless innings to finish it off. For Brewster, Matt Davis (VCU), Brent Rooker (Mississippi State) and Ryan Gridley (Mississippi State) all had two hits. Davis hit his league-best sixth home run. Rooker is now hitting .400.

Cotuit 7, Wareham 6

Cotuit got on its first win streak of the season, beating Wareham for a second consecutive victory. Jackson Klein (Stanford) went 4-for-5 with three RBI and homered for the second straight game. Recent arrival Jason Delay (Vanderbilt) – a former Orleans Firebird who was picked in the 11th round of last month’s draft by the Giants – went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Cal Stevenson (Arizona) and Patrick Dorrian (Herkimer) added two hits each, with Dorrian hitting his first home run of the summer. Taylor Lehman (Penn State) was credited the win in relief after surrendering one run in 3.1 innings. Wareham rallied within a run in the ninth on a three-run homer by Colton Shaver (BYU) – his fifth of the year – but Alec Byrd (Florida State) struck out Gavin Sheets (Wake Forest) to end the game.

What to Watch

Falmouth and Y-D will both try to make it three wins in a row when they square off in Falmouth at 6 p.m. Oliver Jaskie (Michigan) makes his first start for Y-D. For Falmouth, Florida’s Brady Singer – the highest unsigned high school pick in the 2015 draft (second round by the Blue Jays) – will make his Cape League debut.
 

Eagles Have Landed

BC Logo
 

Chatham has welcomed in some good players from Boston College over the years – first-round pick Chris Shaw comes to mind – but they haven’t often welcomed in a group of Eagles coming off a spring like this.

Boston College made the program’s first-ever trip to a Super Regional this season and pushed host Miami to the limit before ending up one game shy of Omaha. As they embarked for their summer destinations, there was undoubtedly a desire to keep the momentum rolling into next year.

The Anglers have been one of the beneficiaries. In Friday’s game, BC’s Jacob Stevens went five scoreless innings for a 3-1 win over Bourne and teammate Donovan Casey went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Fellow Eagle Jake Palomaki added a run scored.

Chatham moved to 7-6 with the victory, good for a third-place tie with Orleans in the East.

Friday’s game was the Cape debut for Stevens, who showed early signs that he’ll be building on his big freshman year. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound right-hander was a stalwart in the weekend rotation for the Eagles, finishing with a 2.54 ERA en route to ACC All-Freshman honors. His 70 strikeouts ranked second on the team, just two behind the leader – none other than first-round pick Justin Dunn.

Friday, Stevens struck out two and walked two while allowing only three hits. When he departed after five innings, Chatham had a 2-0 lead and would stay in front the rest of the way.

Stevens’ lead was sparked by his college teammates, as Casey drove in Palomaki to make it 1-0 in the first inning. Batting first and third in the order, Palomaki and Casey are off to strong starts. Palomaki, who hit .258 and stole 19 bases for the Eagles, is batting .310 and has scored six runs in nine games. Casey, coming off a spring in which he hit .273, is at .357 for the Anglers and his 2-for-4 night was his third consecutive two-hit game. He has a hit in all but one of the seven games he’s played.

With the Eagles coming through, Chatham also got two hits and a run scored from Sean Bouchard (UCLA). Chase Pinder (Clemson) also scored a run. Three relief pitchers took the mound after Stevens and finished off the win, with Moises Ceja (UCLA) earning his second save.

 

Brewster 3, Harwich 2

The league’s highest-scoring offense broke through late against the league’s best pitching staff as Brewster rallied past first-place Harwich. The Whitecaps trailed 2-1 before tying the game in the eighth and walking off with a 3-2 win in the ninth. Logan Warmoth (North Carolina) doubled in the eighth and came around on an error on a ball off the bat of Brent Rooker (Mississippi State). Beau Jordan (LSU) then brought home Ryan Noda (Cincinnati) in the ninth with a walkoff RBI single. Jordan, Warmoth and Rooker all finished 2-for-4 to lead the charge for the Whitecaps. Konnor Pilkington (Mississippi State) gave the Whitecaps some good pitching of their own, allowing one run in five innings. Tyler Zuber (Arkansas State) was credited with the win thanks to two scoreless innings of relief. Harwich got another strong performance from a starting pitcher as Hunter Williams (North Carolina) allowed one run in seven innings before Brewster got to the Mariner bullpen. The Whitecaps grabbed sole possession of second place in the East with an 8-5 mark.

Hyannis 2, Cotuit 1

Hyannis made two early runs stand up and went to 2-0 in the Barnstable Patriot Cup with a win over sliding Cotuit, which dropped its eighth in a row. Cody Henry (Alabama) scored an unearned run in the second inning and Chris Cullen (South Carolina) had a sacrifice fly to score Dylan Busby (Florida State) in the fourth. That was all the Harbor Hawk pitchers would need, as Alex Eubanks (Clemson) went six shutout innings and Al Pesto (Duke) and Garrett Cave (Florida International) closed out the win. Cave struck out the side around a hit in the ninth for his fourth save. Keith Rogalla (Creighton) and Cal Becker (Sonoma State) pitched well for the Kettleers.

Y-D 12, Wareham 4

Y-D built a 6-0 lead and answered a four-run Wareham rally with six more runs in a 12-4 blowout at Spillane Field. Seven different Red Sox knocked in runs, with Tyler Houston (Butler) and Kevin Smith (Maryland) plating two each. Matt Winaker (Stanford), Brendan Skidmore (Binghamton) and Paul Rufo (Binghamton) had two hits each. Erich Uelmen (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) ran with the early lead, tossing five shutout innings with five strikeouts.

Falmouth 7, Orleans 3

Falmouth rallied from a 3-0 deficit with seven unanswered runs in the middle innings en route to a win over Orleans. Tyler Lawrence (Murray State) went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs to lead the comeback efforts. Cadyn Grenier (Oregon State) homered and drove in two. Seven different Commodores crossed the plate. The rally helped make a winner out of Brendan King (Holy Cross), who started and allowed three runs in five innings. Three Falmouth relievers combined to surrender just one hit over the final four innings.

What to Watch

The top three teams in the West are all within one point of each other in the standings, and two of them will meet Saturday as Bourne hosts Falmouth at Doran Park.

Anglers have depth, experience

CHA
 
After a solid summer, Chatham is poised for a repeat as it welcomes in a team that’s older than most in the Cape League.
 

FIVE TO WATCH

1. J.B. Bukauskas
2. James Karinchak
3. Tanner Gardner
4. Chase Pinder
5. Nick Meservey

 

NOTABLE

  • The Anglers’ web roster includes everybody right now – temps and full contracts – so be prepared for a lot of names, some of which might not be around all summer.
  • I wrote last summer about the North Carolina aces that Chatham has had over the years. They have another one lined up in J.B. Bukauskas, though it remains to be seen if he’ll pitch on the Cape at all after accepting a Team USA invite.
  • Several teams on the Cape this summer will play with two or three rising seniors on the roster. Chatham has 20 of them listed on the roster right now. Some of them are on temporary contracts, but even in terms of full contract guys, the Anglers are very old by Cape League standards. They’ll risk losing some to the draft, but could be a veteran team if all pans out.
  • Chatham lost a couple of big names from its initial roster. Seattle’s Tarik Skubal was dominating the WAC before a season-ending injury. UC Irvine’s Keston Hiura, a Perfect Game Summer All-American last year in the West Coast League, hit .358 with seven homers but is no longer on the Anglers roster.
  • Tanner Gardner hit over .400 for much of the year at Texas Tech. He’s now at .376 as the Red Raiders head to the Super Regionals, having earned all-Big 12 honors.
  • Bryant and Boston College are part of a banner year for New England college baseball, with the Bulldogs earning Top 25 love and a No. 2 seed in a regional and the Eagles still alive in Super Regionals. The Anglers will give several of those teams standouts a chance to build on the success, with four Eagles and a Bulldog ticketed for Chatham. The best of the bunch are Bryant ace James Karinchak and BC standout freshman Jacob Stevens.
  • The Anglers have two returning catchers in BC’s Nick Sciortino and Richmond’s Kyle Adams. Neither had a lot of success with the bat last year but can provide a pretty good foundation behind the plate.
  • Chatham was set to have to players from Seattle. With Skubal’s injury, they’re down to one – but he’s a good one. Nick Meservey earned WAC Pitcher of the Year honors and could be a potential ace for the Anglers.
  • The ACC batting champ wasn’t freshman star Seth Beer or former Angler Will Craig or likely top-five pick Corey Ray. It was Pittsburgh’s Charles LeBlanc, who hit .405 and is bound for Chatham.
  • Chatham has made a concerted effort to find some small-school guys hungry to success on the Cape in recent years. Several fit the mold this year, including Joe Tietjen of UNC Asheville, Matt Vernon of Appalachian State and D.J. Artis of Liberty. All had big springs and will be eager to prove themselves this summer.
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    PITCHERS

    Reagan Bazar – SO – Louisiana Lafayette – Towering righty (6-7, 250) had 1.93 ERA in nine relief appearances for Ragin’ Cajuns
    Kale Breaux – JR – Mississippi State – Highly-touted freshman has 5.40 ERA in 16 appearances out of bullpen, with 19 Ks
    J.B. Bukauskas – SO – North Carolina – Turned in breakout sophomore season with 3.10 ERA, team-best 111 Ks in 78.1 innings
    Moises Ceja – JR – UCLA – Led Bruins in ERA with 2.60 mark in 25 relief appearances and fanned 23 in 27.2 innings
    Tanner Chock – JR – Presbyterian – Struck out 72 in 86 IP, 4.60 ERA for Blue Hose, who had program’s best-ever showing in Big South
    Tom Cosgrove – SO – Manhattan – Turned in breakout sophomore season for Jaspers with 3.70 ERA, 80 Ks in 90 IP
    Tony Dibrell – SO – Kennesaw State – After solid NECBL showing last year, tallied 4.64 ERA while striking out 66 in 54.1 IP this spring
    Christopher Farish – RS SO – Wake Forest – After redshirt and injury-limited year, made 35 appearances and struck out 35 in 28 innings
    Michael Fitzgerald – RS JR – Northeastern – Saved 11 games and struck out 32 in 38.2 innings, while leading team in appearances
    Jason Foley – JR – Sacred Heart – Went 4-4 with 5.68 ERA and fanned 47 in 58.2 innings
    Trevor Gay – SO – North Carolina – Led Charlotte in appearances last season before transferring to North Carolina, where he sat out this year
    Caleb Gilbert – FR – LSU – Has 5.04 ERA in 25 appearances, mostly out of the pen, to go with 43 strikeouts in 44.2 innings
    Lincoln Henzman – JR – Louisville – Standout reliever for Super Regional-bound Cards has 4.50 ERA, 27 Ks in 24 innings
    Reed Howell – SO – Appalachian State – Led team in appearances by wide margin and posted 3.83 ERA with 37 Ks in 49.1 innings
    James Karinchak – JR – Bryant – NEC Pitcher of the Year for breakout Bryant team went 12-3 with 2.00 ERA, 112 Ks in 94.2 innings pitched
    Andrew Karp – SO – Florida State – Has 7.43 ERA in eight relief appearances for Seminoles
    Erikson Lanning – FR – Texas Tech – In midst of Up-and-down freshman season with 2-3 record, 5.91 ERA, 27 Ks
    Simon Matthews – JR – Georgetown – Moved into weekend rotation and went 5-4 with 2.45 ERA and 59 Ks in 95.1 IP
    Isaac Mattson – SO – Pittsburgh – Followed strong debut in Panthers bullpen with more of the same this year – 3.71 ERA, 31 Ks
    Nick Meservey – JR – Seattle – WAC Pitcher of the Year posted 2.32 ERA, 79 Ks in 81.1 innings
    Matt Pidich – RS SO – Pittsburgh – New Jersey native had good numbers in limited action last year, did not pitch this season
    Parker Rigler – JR – Kansas State – JUCO transfer served as weekend starter, went 4-9, with 4.89 ERA and 73 Ks in 77.1 IP
    Jacob Stevens – FR – Boston College – Has burst onto the scene for upstart Eagles, going 4-3, 2.14 ERA, team-best 68 Ks

     

    CATCHERS

    Kyle Adams – SO – Richmond – Back for second year in Chatham off breakout sophomore season – .321, three homers, 33 RBI
    Joseph Freiday – SO – Virginia Tech – Former Massachusetts Gatorade POY hit .226 with three homers while splitting time behind plate this year
    Alex LeFevre – RS JR – Connecticut – Transfer from junior college ranks hit .283 in part-time role for Huskies
    Jordan Romero – JR – LSU – JUCO transfer is tied for the team lead in home runs with nine and hitting an even .300
    Nick Sciortino – JR – Boston College – Returning Angler hit .169 last summer but has been solid this spring with .277 AVG
    Gunnar Troutwine – SO – Wichita State – Hit .278 and led Shockers with seven home runs in sophomore campaign
     

    INFIELDERS

    John Aiello – SO – Wake Forest – Hit only .226, but nearly half of 44 hits went for extra bases
    Sean Bouchard – JR – UCLA – Finished second on team with .295 AVG and chipped in two homers and 36 RBI
    Orlando Garcia – SO – Texas Tech – Batting .261 with seven home runs for Super Regional-bound Red Raiders
    Cam Hanley – JR – Northeastern – Hit .247 while starting 24 games for Huskies
    Charles LeBlanc – SO – Pittsburgh – Native of Canada won ACC batting title at .405, drove in 46 and stole seven bases
    Hunter Lee – SO – High Point – Started every game and hit .295 with 30 RBI
    David MacKinnon – JR – Hartford – Earned spot with Wareham last summer and hit .292 then batted .392 with 4 HR for Hawks
    Jake Palomaki – JR – Boston College – Infield and leadoff stalwart hitting .265 with team-high 19 stolen bases
    Jeremy Vasquez – SO – Florida – Following good summer in Northwoods by hitting .289 for Gators
    Matt Vernon – JR – Appalachian State – Hit .317 with 8 HR, 42 RBI, all team-bests for Mountaineers en route to all-conference nod
     

    OUTFIELDERS

    D.J. Artis – FR – Liberty – Red Sox 40th-round pick last year had big debut, finishing at .369 with two home runs and 23 stolen bases
    Donovan Casey – SO – Boston College – Hitting .266 with big contributions in postseason and has also pitched some for Eagles
    Matt Cook – SO – Wheaton – Harwich native hit .268 for D-III powerhouse Wheaton
    Stuart Fairchild – SO – Wake Forest – Started every game and hit .293 while ranking second on team in RBI with 47
    Tanner Gardner – SO – Texas Tech – One of nation’s top batting average guys all year, now at .376 with 3 HR, 18 2B, 43 RBI
    Brock Lundquist – SO – Long Beach State – Followed up all-conference freshman year by hitting .315 with three home runs
    Patrick Mathis – SO – Texas – Hit .297 with six home runs for Longhorns
    Chase Pinder – JR – Clemson – Brother of former Angler Chad, hitting .294 with 11 home runs for Super Regional club
    Joe Tietjen – JR – UNC Asheville – Earned second-team all-Big South honors by hitting .344 with 10 homers, 55 RBI