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Playoffs: Cotuit Takes It

Nick Tropeano threw some of the first pitches of the 2010 Cape Cod Baseball League season. He got the opening night start as Cotuit visited Wareham.

A lot has changed since then. The opposing pitcher that night left for Team USA, along with more than a dozen others. Headline-making players came and went. Teams got hot and cooled off. Tropeano himself had his ups and downs.

On Friday, in game three of the championship series, Tropeano threw the last pitch of the 2010 Cape Cod Baseball League season.

And it was a good one.

With his team taking advantage of four Y-D errors to get an early lead, Tropeano came out of the bullpen in the third inning and slammed the door. He went 6.2 innings and finished the game without allowing a hit. When he struck out Matt Watson on a 2-2 pitch in the ninth, he gave Cotuit the league championship, its first since 1999.

It was an incredible finish to an incredible run. Cotuit lost its last six regular-season games but found a way to make things click in the playoffs.

Against Y-D, they were the underdogs. The Red Sox scored 44 runs in their first four playoff games — 36 of them in the Eastern finals series alone.

But Cotuit’s pitching staff dominated the championship series. Matt Andriese delivered the performance of the summer in game one, and Tropeano wasn’t far behind on Friday.

Brady Rodgers actually got the start for Cotuit, but he left in the third with an injury. Tropeano, who was pitching on three days’ rest, came in, potentially to serve as a bridge to the rest of the bullpen.

He didn’t need the help. The righty from Stony Brook had his chance and he didn’t let go. Tropeano struck out seven, walked three and didn’t surrender a hit.

On the other side, Cotuit had 14 hits, and with Y-D struggling defensively, the Kettleers had plenty of chances to make those hits count. Mike Yastrzemski hit a home run, Joey Hainsfurther had three RBI and Jordan Leyland went 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Leyland, who was inserted into the leadoff spot in the postseason, was named the Playoff MVP.

Those performances helped Cotuit finally get over the hump. Harwich and Bourne won the last two Cape League championships, and both teams beat Cotuit to do it.

It sure looked like Y-D would do the same thing this year, but the Kettleers didn’t let it happen. A lot has changed since Tropeano threw those first pitches in June — the starting lineup that night had exactly one player who was in the lineup on Friday — but in the end, it all worked out.

The Cotuit Kettleers are your 2010 Cape Cod League champions.

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Playoffs: Another Gem

For the second straight game, pitching dominated the Cape League championship series.

And that means we’ll have a third game.

A day after Cotuit took game one thanks to an incredible performance by Matt Andriese, Y-D’s pitchers returned the favor. John Leonard started and went six shutout innings. Anthony Desclafani and D.J. Baxendale finished it off as Y-D won 2-1, forcing a game three that will be played today.

Leonard and Austin Wood were locked in a pitchers’ duel for most of the game. Through four neither team had scored.

In the fifth, Y-D scratched a run across on a Bobby Crocker squeeze bunt. Tyler Hanover made it 2-0 with an RBI single in the second.

Cotuit’s James McCann hit a home run in the eighth to cut the deficit in half, and the Kettleers put the tying run on second in the ninth. But Baxendale got out of the inning to seal the win and extend the series.

The teams will play for the championship today at 3 p.m.

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Playoffs: Shut Down

I don’t think anyone predicted this.

After scoring 49 runs on 62 hits in their first four playoff games, the Y-D Red Sox had to be labeled as the favorites heading into the Cape League championship series. They were hot — really hot — and there was no reason to think they’d cool down.

Then Matt Andriese took the mound.

The Cotuit righty from UC Riverside was pretty good during the regular season, posting a 3.52 ERA while pitching as a starter and a reliever. The last time he started was August 4, when he went three innings against Brewster. He pitched one inning of relief in the playoff series against Wareham.

On Wednesday, he was the one who got the ball for game one.

He did amazing things with it.

Considering what Y-D had done in the playoffs, I have no qualms calling Andriese’s performance the best of the entire summer. He tossed a complete-game three-hit shutout, striking out four and walking one. The Red Sox, who had been hitting up and down their lineup, got two hits from Joe Panik, one from Ben McMahan and absolutely nothing else. Andriese took a no-hitter into the fifth.

Cotuit manager Mike Roberts told the Cape Cod Times that Andriese was “about as focused as I’ve seen a young man on the mound in a while.”

And the focus never faded. Andriese’s longest start before Wednesday was seven innings. He trotted back out for the eighth on Wednesday and worked around a walk and a hit-batsman for another scoreless frame. In the ninth, Panik led off with a single, but Andriese got the red-hot Jordan Ribera to ground into a double play. He then induced a ground-out to end the game.

All in all, an incredible performance. If Cotuit goes on to win the series, Andriese has to be the playoff MVP. It was one game, yes, but it was an enormous game.

Though I would never count Y-D out, the Kettleers are in the driver’s seat now. They’re playing at home today and are expected to send Austin Wood to the mound. I can’t think of a guy you’d want more. Wood struck out 10 in his other playoff start and he hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in any start this season.

With one more great pitching performance, the Kettleers will have a good chance to win their first Cape League championship since 1999.

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Playoffs: It’s Y-D and Cotuit

The Cape Cod League championship series is set, and the participants look familiar. Y-D is back in the finals for the third time in the last five years, having won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. Cotuit is in the championship for the third year in a row.

The Red Sox and Kettleers both took their final steps on Tuesday, finishing off semifinal sweeps. Y-D rolled past Orleans for the second straight night, winning 13-4. Cotuit broke a 1-1 tie with Wareham in the sixth inning and won 3-1.

Y-D comes in with a ton of momentum from the semifinal series. Against the team that was the hottest in the league at the end of the regular season, the Red Sox smashed the ball. They delivered a record-breaking performance in game one, winning 23-10, and kept the pedal to the floor on Tuesday. Y-D had 16 hits and scored seven runs in the second inning. Ben McMahan (Florida) and Matt Jensen (Cal Poly) each hit home runs and Jordan Ribera (Fresno State) drove in four runs after knocking in six on Monday.

The Red Sox have really found something these last two days — they seem like an already team that’s catching lightning in a bottle. I think they’ll be tough to beat.

But you can’t count Cotuit out. The Kettleers have had their share of ups and downs this summer and they’ve dealt with plenty of changes, but they’ve pushed through. They lost six straight games to end the regular season but have now won four straight in the playoffs. On Tuesday, James McCann (Arkansas) hit a two-run homer in the sixth that proved to be the game-winner. Bobby Shore (Oklahoma) allowed just a run on two hits in seven innings to get the win. Brooks Pinckard (Baylor) got the save.

The championship series begins today at Y-D’s Red Wilson Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.

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Playoffs: Y-D explodes

The semifinals opened up last night and Y-D delivered one of the biggest offensive performances in Cape League playoff history, blowing past Orleans 23-10.

The Red Sox scored 11 runs in the first inning alone and finished the day with five home runs. The Firebirds had three home runs of their own — and had 10 runs on 17 hits — but they didn’t stand a chance of keeping up. The Red Sox had 25 hits and they kept ringing the bell: they stranded only six runners. I thought the score was a mistake when I first saw it.

Y-D was led by, well, a lot of people. Jordan Ribera (Fresno State) hit two home runs in the first inning and finished 3-for-4 with six RBI and five runs scored. Joe Panik (St. John’s), Matt Jensen (Cal Poly) and Stewart Ijames (Louisville) also hit home runs. Jensen drove in five, Panik had four hits and knocked in three and Ijames had three hits and three RBI.

Tommy Toledo (Florida) gave up seven runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings, but the cushion was so big, it didn’t much matter. Orleans never got closer than seven runs.

The Firebirds will try to bounce back today. At least they’ll be playing somewhere other than the friendly confines of Red Wilson Park.

In the other semifinal, Cotuit topped Wareham 6-2. Nick Tropeano (Stony Brook) threw five strong innings and three relievers didn’t allow a run.

The Cotuit offense broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth and added two more runs in the seventh. Joey Hainsfurther (Baylor) and Zach Cone (Georgia) had two RBI each. Deven Marrero (Arizona State) and Jordan Leyland (UC Irvine) also drove in runs.

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Playoff Catch Up

Sorry for the lack of action around here lately. A really busy stretch at work just had to coincide with the start of the Cape League playoffs.

Wrapping some things up . . .

  • In the only first-round series that went three games, Orleans edged Brewster 5-4 yesterday in 10 innings. Brewster forced extras on a Troy Channing two-run homer in the eighth, but Orleans got an RBI single by Ronnie Shaeffer in the top of the 10th to take the lead right back. Marcus Stroman pitched the final two innings and got the win. The loss was a heartbreaker for the Whitecaps, who at one point this year were in the midst of one of the franchise’s best seasons. Things didn’t go well for them down the stretch, though, and they ran into the hottest team in the league in Orleans.

  • With so much parity all year, I was surprised to see both West series end in sweeps, particularly the Bourne-Wareham match-up. I feel like Falmouth and Cotuit are pretty close, the kind of teams that can do anything on any day. Bourne, though, trotted out Pitcher of the Year Grayson Garvin and Anthony Meo in the first two games of the series. I wouldn’t have bet against them, but Wareham just kept pushing, rallying from a 4-0 first-inning deficit in game one and winning in extra innings in game two. The Gatemen were gutsy all year — they had one of their best stretches right after they lost their two best players to Team USA — so maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise.

  • Y-D: still taking care of business. The Red Sox went 2-4 in their last six regular-season games but put things back together right on time. Particularly impressive was the game two in. John Leonard was lights out on the mound and the offense got it done. In two playoff games, the Red Sox are hitting .323.
  • The division championship round begins tonight, with Y-D playing Orleans and Cotuit taking on Wareham.
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    Daily Fog: Coming into Focus

    On the second-to-last day of the regular season, the Cape League playoff picture finally began to take shape.

    After last night’s action, here’s what we know:

  • The East is completely set. Y-D clinched first place with a doubleheader sweep, and Brewster won to secure the second seed, which Orleans lost one out because of a defeat against Chatham. Harwich lost to Brewster but will have the No. 4 seed. Chatham’s playoff hopes were done after the team lost the first game of its doubleheader.

  • In the West, Bourne has clinched the title. Falmouth, with five wins in a row, has moved into second, but Cotuit and Wareham are just one and two points back, respectively. All three will make the playoffs, but tonight’s action will determine where they fall.

    • As for the games last night, the biggest winner has to be Y-D. The Red Sox surged into first place a few weeks back, but with Brewster hanging around and Orleans catching fire, the lead was looking a little precarious.

    Yesterday, Y-D slammed the door, sweeping a twin bill with Cotuit.

    In the first game, a 9-5 win, Matt Jensen (Cal Poly) and Ben McMahan (Florida) hit home runs and Gabriel Shaw (Louisville) pitched a complete game for the win.

    The Red Sox won game two 4-2 thanks to a sixth-inning rally. Trailing 2-1, Y-D scored three in the sixth and the rest was history. Jordan Ribera (Fresno State), Matt Watson (Boston College) and Matt Vinson (Arkansas) all drove in runs. D.J. Baxendale (Arkansas) got the win in relief.

    What to Watch

    The West race comes down to three separate games on the season’s final day. Cotuit visits Brewster at 4:30. Wareham hosts Bourne and Falmouth hosts Hyannis at 7.

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    Daily Fog: Down the Stretch

    A quick one today . . .

  • Chatham and Harwich both won yesterday, keeping the Mariners four points ahead of Chatham for the final playoff spot. Chatham has three games remaining — two today — and Harwich has two. Last night, Harwich notched a 3-0 shutout over Wareham, with three pitchers combining on it. Andrew Leenhouts (Northeastern) started and went 4.1 innings, while Braden Kapteyn (Kentucky) got the win with 2.2 innings and Matty Ott (LSU) went two innings for the save.

  • As for Chatham, the Anglers delivered a late rally to beat first-place Y-D 3-2. Joe DePinto (USC), who had struggled with the bat since joining the team late in the year, delivered the game-winning hit in the ninth. The bad news for Chatham: two of their final three games are against red-hot Orleans.

  • At the rate they’re going, the Firebirds may yet make a run at first place. The Firebirds beat Hyannis 4-3 last night for their eighth consecutive win. They’ve got two games left and are just three points out of first. Last night, they got a run in the ninth to break a 3-3 tie. Shon Roe (Nevada) knocked in the game-winning run. Orleans is now assured a playoff spot.

  • Falmouth beat Brewster 4-2 for its fourth win in a row. The Commodores are now tied with Wareham for third place, though both teams have already clinched a playoff spot. Last night, the Commodores pounded 11 hits and got enough runs across to post the victory. K.C. Serna (Oregon) and B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Miss) had two hits each.

  • Bourne scored two in the bottom of the ninth to erase a deficit and beat Cotuit 5-4. A win by the Kettleers would have put them into a first-place tie with the Braves. Instead, Bourne is now four points up. Mike Nemeth (Connecticut) tied the game in the ninth with an RBI single and Travis Shaw (Kent State) won it with a sacrifice fly.

    • What to Watch

    Harwich takes on Brewster with Greg Peavey (Oregon State) on the mound. He’s been good in his three starts. Chatham plays a doubleheader against Hyannis and Orleans. Greg Larson (Florida) and Logan Verrett (Baylor) take the hill.

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    Daily Fog: Not so Fast

    For all their recent struggles, the Brewster Whitecaps reminded everyone last night that they’re not done yet.

    The Whitecaps were the best team in the league for most of the season before an eight-game winless streak sent them tumbling. But they snapped that streak on Saturday, and on Sunday, they started with a new streak in impressive fashion, beating first-place Y-D 9-5.

    With just three games left in the regular season, the Whitecaps have a shot to get that division title they seemed destined for. But whether they do it or not, they’re in the playoffs regardless. And they might have found something that works.

    Brewster made a lineup change for Saturday’s game and stuck with it Sunday, when it really paid off. Drew Martinez (Memphis), the leadoff hitter all year, moved into the third spot. He went 3-for-5 on Saturday, and on Sunday, he went 4-for-4 with four RBI.

    Suddenly, the middle of Brewster’s order looks a lot different.

    Martinez led the way in Sunday’s win. Derek Jones (Washington State) also had a nice day, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.

    Brewster’s pitching staff, which has turned thin lately, got a boost from Matt Crouse (Ole Miss), who allowed three earned runs in six innings. Kyle Hendricks (Dartmouth) was dominant out of the pen, pitching 2.2 innings of one-hit ball.

    The victory moves Brewster to within one point of Y-D for first place.

    Elsewhere

  • Orleans made it seven in a row with a 2-0 victory over Cotuit. The Firebirds used six different pitchers, and they were all very good. Combined, they allowed just one hit. Burny Mitchem (Dayton) was credited with the win, Marcus Stroman (Duke) the save. Joe Loftus (Vanderbilt) had three hits, including a home run to lead Orleans.

  • Falmouth welcomed Chatham and Hyannis to town and swept the doubleheader, beating Chatham 6-2 and Hyannis 7-2. Andrew Susac (Oregon State) hit a home run in each of the games and finished the twin bill 4-for-8 with six RBI. He’s now hitting .293 with five home runs. Christian Jones (Oregon) was the pitching star, allowing one run on three hits in seven innings to win game two. Falmouth clinched a playoff spot with the wins.

  • Chatham played a split doubleheader and, after the loss to Falmouth, the Anglers played Wareham and lost 6-1. The Gatemen got a strong start from Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt), who allowed one run in six innings and struck out seven. Zach Wilson (Arizona State) hit his fifth home run and Jonathan Smith (Tennessee Wesleyan) went 3-for-4.

  • Harwich and Bourne split a doubleheader at Doran Park. Harwich took the first game 5-0 behind a strong outing by Pierce Johnson (Missouri State). Johnson went six shutout innings, striking out six and allowing two hits. The games were seven innings, and Daniel Burawa (St. John’s) finished off the game-one win. In game two, shortstop Clint Moore (Army) took the mound for Harwich and carried a no-hitter into the seventh. He allowed a leadoff single and was pulled. Bourne then broke a 1-1 tie and won the game on a Creede Simpson (Auburn) RBI single.

    • What to Watch

    With Falmouth clinching, the only race for a playoff spot is in the East, where Chatham is four points back of Harwich for the fourth and final spot. Chatham hosts Y-D tonight with Mike Dennhardt (Boston College) on the mound. Harwich sends Andrew Leenhouts (Northeastern) to the mound against Wareham.

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    Daily Fog: Restart

    On the fourth day of the season, I wrote about Chatham’s big hitters, who were off to a fast start. With Ricky Oropesa (USC) and Mark Ginther (Oklahoma State) hitting well, Chatham was 3-0 and poised for a big year.

    The big year never materialized. The hitters struggled and the Anglers floundered, losing eight in a row at one point and plummeting to last place in the East.

    Things have been better lately, though, and those big hitters? They’re coming around again.

    Chatham won five in a row to get back into contention, and after a loss on Friday, rebounded Saturday for their sixth win in seven tries, a 10-9 thriller over Cotuit.

    Oropesa, who was still showing pop despite an average that dipped close to .200, went 2-for-2 last night with two home runs and four RBI. His three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth erased a 9-6 deficit and tied the game.

    After Oropesa’s bomb, Chatham kept pushing and eventually won the game when Beau Amaral (UCLA) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

    Ginther joined Oropesa with a big night, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Aaron Westlake (Vanderbilt) also had two hits. Kevin Vance (Connecticut) got the win in relief. For Cotuit, Mike Yastrzemski (Vanderbilt) hit a grand slam.

    The win puts Chatham at 18-19-1. With six games left, the Anglers are just two points behind Harwich for the fourth and final playoff spot.

    Elsewhere

  • The loss to Chatham was the nightcap of a doubleheader for Cotuit. The Kettleers won the first game 3-1 over Hyannis. Austin Wood (St. Petersburg) allowed one run in 5.1 innings. Ryan Duke (Oklahoma) got the win when Cotuit broke a 1-1 tie with two in the eighth. A bases-loaded walk and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch brought the runs home. Cotuit stayed in a first-place tie with Bourne.

  • Orleans beat Wareham 3-1 for its sixth consecutive win. The Firebirds scored three runs in the first four innings and watched their pitching staff make the lead stand up. Andrew Kittredge (Washington) got the win after allowed just a run on two hits in five innings. Jack Leathersich (UMass-Lowell), Mitchell Lambson (Arizona State) and Marcus Stroman (Duke) held Wareham scoreless the rest of the way. Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) led Orleans with two hits, including a home run. The Firebirds are now four points out of second place.

  • It wasn’t easy, but Brewster finally got the good times rolling again with a late rally that beat Hyannis 4-2. The Whitecaps, who hadn’t won in eight games, scored two in the eighth and two more in the ninth to win this one. The Harbor Hawks were playing their second game of the day and were in line for a win before the Whitecaps rallied. A two-run double by Jeremy Schaffer (Tulane) tied the game. Brewster took the lead on a two-run triple by Derek Jones (Washington State) in the ninth. The win means the Whitecaps, even with all their struggles, are only three points out of first place.

  • Bourne stopped Y-D’s four-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory in 10 innings. The game was tied 2-2 into the 10th, when Bourne’s Travis Shaw (Kent State) knocked in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. Tony Zych (Louisville) came on in the bottom of the ninth and slammed the door. The Braves have now won three in a row.

  • Taylor Wall (Rice) and Nick Maronde (Florida) combined on a shutout as Falmouth beat Harwich 2-0. Wall went 5.1 innings and allowed five hits. Maronde went the last 3.2, surrendering three hits and striking out seven. The game was scoreless until the eighth, when a walk and an error gave Falmouth a chance. K.C. Serna (Oregon) followed with a single to plate the go-ahead run. Another error allowed a second run to score. The rally spoiled a strong performance by Harwich starter Joe Holtmeyer (Nebraska at Omaha), who didn’t allow a runner past second in the first seven innings. Harwich has lost three in a row.

    • What to Watch

    Y-D will visit Brewster in a battle of the top two teams in the league. The Whitecaps have been heading in the wrong direction, but they won Saturday, and with a win today, could get within one point of first place.