Month: June 2011

It took them a week and a day, but the Falmouth Commodores finally picked up a victory on Saturday, rallying from a 3-2 deficit with two runs in the eighth to beat Y-D 4-3. Falmouth had lost seven in a row to start the season.

Andrew Heaney (Oklahoma State) pitched well and kept Falmouth in the game early. He allowed just a run on six hits and struck out five in five innings. Reliever Taylor Sandefur (Western Carolina) allowed the go-ahead runs to score in his first inning of work but settled down to pitch two more scoreless innings. He eventually got the win when Falmouth rallied. John Simms (Rice) got the save with a scoreless ninth.

Falmouth’s rally started in the eighth when Jack Marder (Oregon) singled with one out. Marder, a draft-eligible sophomore who went in the 16th-round this year, has been one of Falmouth’s few hot hitters. He went 3-for-4 last night to take over the league lead in batting average.

After Marder singled, he stole second and came around on a pair of errors by Y-D. Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s) then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Spencer Kieboom (Clemson).

While the win isn’t a cure-all — the Commodores still have the lowest team batting average in the league — there’s no reason it can’t be a jump-start. I look at the Falmouth lineup and see a team that’s perfectly capable of hanging with everybody. Maybe Saturday was a first step.

Elsewhere

Brewster’s been the hottest-hitting team in the league, but Cotuit out-did the Whitecaps in a 4-3 win on Saturday — and became the hottest-hitting team in the process. With a nine-hit day, the Kettleers are now hitting a league-best .293. They were led on this night by Victor Roache (Georgia Southern), who has officially picked up where he left off after an enormous spring. Roache went 1-for-3 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBI. He’s now hitting .440 and is tied for the league lead with two home runs and nine RBI. Cody Stubbs (Walters State), a 14th-round pick this year who has struggled in Cotuit, also had two RBI. Kyle Zimmer (San Francisco) got the win for Cotuit. Brewster scored all its runs on a three-run homer by Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook).

Harwich tied Hyannis for the league lead in wins with an 8-5 victory over the Harbor Hawks. Mike Garza (Georgetown) went 3-for-4 with three doubles to lead Harwich and John Wooten (East Carolina) went 2-for-4 with three RBI, as the Mariners took a lead in the fifth and never lost it. Anthony Pisani (Rhode Island) got the win in relief and Blake Hauser (Virginia Commonwealth) picked up the save. For Hyannis, Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville) had another hit to stretch his season-long hitting streak to seven games.

Orleans beat Wareham 7-3 for its second win in a row. The Firebirds scored three in the second and on in the third and then never trailed. Steve Selsky (Arizona) went 3-for-5 with a home run for Orleans, and he’s now six for his last 10 with four RBI. Jake Hernandez (USC), who didn’t have ah it coming in, went 2-for-4 with three RBI. John Brebbia (Elon) started and pitched four scoreless frames. Nick Mutz got the win as Orleans moved to 4-2-1.

Bourne built a 6-2 lead and held off the hard-charging Chatham Anglers to win 6-5. R.J. Alvarez (Florida Atlantic) slammed the door for Bourne. He came in with the bases loaded in the eighth, got out of it with minimal damage then struck out the side in the ninth to seal it. The win went to starter Ryne Stanek (Arkansas). A third-round pick last year, Stanek made his first start and allowed two runs in five innings. The Bourne offense was led by Garrett Cannizaro (Tulane), who had two RBI.

What to Watch

Games: Another full slate of doubleheaders. Orleans, winners of two straight, is hosting Cotuit, who’s won three of four.

Players: Orleans will start two pitchers who are very much worth watching. In the first game, Ryan Carpenter makes his return to the Cape. Long a hyped prospect, the Gonzaga junior has never quite put it all together and slipped to the seventh round this year. He was good on the Cape last year, though. In game two, Orleans will start Marcus Stroman, the Duke sophomore who’s heading for Team USA in the near future. He struck out five in three innings in his first appearance of the summer.

A search for the word “cycle” on this blog yields one result — someone a few years back was a home run away from the cycle.

It seems kind of weird that I’ve never used that word again, but it’s also a pretty good indicator that it’s been a while since someone hit for the cycle in the Cape League. Since I started doing this in 2007, I don’t remember anybody.

That changed last night, when Chatham’s Richie Shaffer (Clemson) did it in a 10-4 Anglers’ victory over Cotuit.

Shaffer just arrive on the Cape. He went 0-for-2 as a pinch hitter in Wednesday’s loss to Brewster. But last night, he hit a single in his first at-bat and was off and running. He tripled the next inning and after reaching on an error in the fifth, he hit a ground-rule double in the seventh. Then in his last at-bat, with one out in the ninth, he hit a two-run homer.

Shaffer finished the game 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. That’s as good an offensive day as anyone has had this season. Factor in the cycle, and you’re looking at one of the best games anyone is likely to have for the rest of the season.

For Shaffer, the performance is quite a foundation as he tries to build on a strong sophomore season. A 25th-round pick out of high school in 2009, Shaffer hit .313 this year with 13 homers and 55 RBI.

Shaffer’s performance Friday helped Chatham turn in its best offensive performance of the season. The Anglers banged out 13 hits on their way to 10 runs. Dane Phillips (Oklahoma State) hit a home run and drove in three, while Jake Berry (Marist) had three hits and Stephen Perez (Miami) had two. Chatham’s Tim Cooney (Wake Forest) struck out two in seven innings for the win.

For Cotuit, Kyle Wren (Georgia Tech) went 2-for-4 and now has a hit in six of the team’s seven games. Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) went 1-for-4 with his fourth double, which is tied for the league best.

Elsewhere

The battle of the top hitting team and one of the top pitching clubs didn’t go exactly as you’d script it. Y-D allowed the hot-hitting Brewster Whitecaps just one run, but Brewster — whose team ERA ranks eighth — shut-out the Red Sox for the 1-0 win. Anthony Buccifero (Michigan State) made his second strong start of the year for the Whitecaps, allowing just one hit and striking out five in seven innings. He’s now allowed only two hits in 13 innings of work. Brewster scratched its lone run across in the fifth when J.J. Altobelli (Oregon) scored on a wild pitch.

Orleans snapped a two-game skid and kept Falmouth winless with a 7-4 victory. Falmouth got a strong start from Joe Bircher (Bradley), who struck out nine and allowed just a run in five innings, but Orleans did damage against the Commodore bullpen, scoring five runs in the last two innings. Steve Selsky (Arizona) went 3-for-5 with four RBI for the Firebirds and Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville State) hit his first home run of the season. Kenny Long (Illinois State) got the win in relief. For Falmouth, Jack Marder (Oregon) had three hits and three RBI.

Harwich had a solid offensive night to beat Wareham 6-2. Jabari Henry (Florida International) hit a home run and drove in three, while Austin Nola (LSU) went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Ronnie Richardson (Central Florida), who was drafted in the 31st round this year, made his 2011 debut and scored two runs. Pierce Johnson (Missouri State) got the win with five strong innings. L.J. Mazzilli (UConn) made his season debut for Wareham and went 1-for-3.

Bourne and Hyannis got into the fourth inning before the game was called due to rain.

What to Watch

Game: Falmouth will try again for its first victory when it hosts East leader Y-D at 7 p.m.

Player: Andrew Heaney (Oklahoma State) should give the Commodores a chance. He struck out 10 in seven innings in his first start.

The Hyannis Harbor Hawks became the first team to five wins last night with a 4-3 walk-off victory over Falmouth.

Exciting stuff, but for Hyannis, it’s become commonplace. The Hawks’ last three wins have all been walk-offs. Add in their first win of the season — when they scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth — and you’ve got a team with a flair for the dramatic.

Last night, Hyannis took a 3-1 lead in the first inning before Falmouth chipped away. Maybe Hyannis was just toying with the Commodores.

In the ninth, Zach Vincej (Pepperdine) reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. Richie Pedroza (Cal State Fullerton) then singled him home with the winning run.

Those two have now been directly involved in two of the walk-off wins. Vincej squeezed Pedroza home as Hyannis beat Chatham on Tuesday.

Nick Wittgren (Purdue) got the win in relief for Hyannis. Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville) went 1-for-3 to continue his season-long hitting streak.

Falmouth dropped to 0-6 with the loss. Jack Marder (Oregon) and Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s) had two hits each, while Eric Anderson (Missouri) got the start and pitched well, striking out six in seven innings. Rice freshman John Simms was another bright spot, making his debut and striking out four in one inning of work.

Elsewhere

In the only other game on the schedule, Wareham got dominant pitching to beat Orleans 3-0. Justin Amlung (Louisville) started and allowed just one hit in six shutout innings. He’s now made two starts and has allowed a total of three hits. After Amlung left, Brent Suter (Harvard), Dillon Newman (Baylor) and Konner Wade (Arizona) each turned in a hitless inning to secure the combined one-hit shutout. The Firebirds’ only hit came in the third inning. Wareham’s offense was led by Jeff Reynolds (Harvard), who came into the game without a hit. He promptly went 4-for-4 with an RBI. Max Muncy (Harvard) also had an RBI. Wareham improved to 4-2.

What to Watch

Game: The top hitting team in the league will face the second-best pitching club when Brewster hosts Y-D at 5 p.m. The Whitecaps are hitting .303 as a team while Y-D has posted a 1.41 ERA.

Player: Brewster’s Ryan Jones (Michigan State) is six for his last eight and leads the league with a .526 batting average.

Before last night, Cape Leaguers had hit a total of six home runs since opening day.

Last night, they hit five.

A sign of power hitters getting comfortable? Coincidence? Probably a little of both.

But two teams in particular are happy it happened yesterday.

Hyannis salvaged a split of its doubleheader with Orleans when Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) smacked a three-run walk-off homer in the seventh. Cotuit got a three-run homer by Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) in the eighth inning on its way to a 4-2 comeback win over Bourne.

The home runs were the first of the summer for Walker and Roache, who had two of the best college seasons of any Cape Leaguers. Roache has been hot so far, and went 2-for-2 yesterday to raise his average to .500. Walker’s average is .211 but he does have a hit in four of the Harbor Hawks’ five games.

The other home runs last night came from Taylor Ard (Washington State), who just came back to Brewster after getting drafted in the 25th round, Chatham’s Kris Bryant (Chatham) and Y-D’s Mason Katz (LSU), who hit his second homer.

Elsewhere

Orleans took game one from Hyannis thanks to five strong innings by Tyler Gebler (Rutgers) and a four-run third. Steve Selsky (Arizona), Steve Nyisztor (Rutgers) and Rudy Flores (Florida International) each drove in a run. Ninth-round pick Nick Mutz made his first appearance in relief for the Firebirds and worked two scoreless innings. In game two, Matt Dunbar (Southern Nevada) worked six scoreless frames before giving up the blast to Walker in the seventh. Reliever Dylan Floro (Cal State Fullerton) got the win for Hyannis, after Zach Cooper (Central Michigan) had pitched six shutout innings. For Hyannis, Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonille) went 4-for-6 in the twin bill to raise his average to .500.

Roache’s homer sent Cotuit to its second win in a row. Paul Snieder (Northwestern) was credited with the win. Patrick Biondi (Michigan) drove in Cotuit’s other run.

Brewster put up its second 12-run game of the season last night, beating Chatham 12-2. Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook) and Chase Anslement (Washington) each drove in two runs, while Andrew Toles (Tennessee), Ryan Jones (Michigan State) and Jack Mayfield (Oklahoma) had three hits apiece. Jones now has six hits in his last two games and leads the league with a .526 batting average. Brandon Love (Mercer) got the win for Brewster. Chatham made four errors to hurt its cause.

Y-D scored two in the sixth and held on to beat Harwich 3-2 for its fourth win of the year. Katz’s home run accounted for the two runs in the sixth. Y-D starter James Lomangino (St. John’s) went eight innings, allowing just two runs on six hits. Matt Rush (Oral Roberts) pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.

What to Watch

Game: Just two games on the schedule tonight, with Wareham making the trek to Orleans, and Hyannis hosting Falmouth.

Player: Keep an eye on the Harbor Hawks’ Gulbransen, who’s had a hit in every game this season.

I really liked the way the Hyannis roster shaped up. The Harbor Hawks were one of the first teams in previewed, and as I got deeper into things, Hyannis continued to stack up well.

Can I say I was right yet? Probably too early for that.

But the Harbor Hawks are off to a fast start. With their 2-1 comeback win over Chatham last night, the Hawks moved to 3-0. They’re the only unbeaten, untied team in the league.

And against Chatham, they showed some fight. Keith Bilodeau (Maine), a Cape League vet and a 24th-round pick this year, started for Chatham and allowed just three hits in six shutout innings. But once he left with a 1-0 lead, Hyannis went to work.

Richie Pedroza (Cal State Fullerton), who was making his Cape debut, led off the seventh with a single, stole second and took third on a sac bunt. Zach Vincej (Pepperdine) brought him home with the tying run.

Then in the ninth, with the game still tied, Pedroza started things again when he reached on an error. After moving to third on a base hit, he raced home on a squeeze bunt by Vincej to give Hyannis the win.

It wouldn’t have been possible without the work of the bullpen, which didn’t allow a hit over the final three innings. Kolt Browder (Baylor) recorded eight outs, six by strikeout, and Dietrich Enns (Central Michigan) pitched a third of an inning to finish it off. Scott Firth (Clemson) started and allowed just the run on five hits.

The Harbor Hawks have now won two one-run games and a 3-0 shutout. With Dan Gulbransen and Adam Brett Walker anchoring the middle of the order, and Pedroza and Joey Rickard arriving, their lineup should only get better.

Elsewhere

Though Hyannis has the best record, Y-D has the most points in the league thanks to a 2-2 tie against Orleans last night. Y-D is now 3-1-1. The Red Sox sent St. John’s star Kyle Hansen to the hill for his Cape League debut and he allowed a run on four hits in five innings of work, striking out three. Kyle Hunter (Dartmouth) matched him, though, and when the starters left the game was tied 1-1. In the sixth, Y-D took the lead but Orleans tied it in the eighth on a single by Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville). Marcus Stroman (Duke) made his debut for Orleans and struck out five in three scoreless innings of relief.

Bourne got into the win column and dropped Falmouth to 0-5 with a 2-0 victory. Josh Carr (Kennesaw State), Slade Smith (Auburn) and Tyler Maloof (Georgia) combined on the shutout. Smith, who took a loss in his first relief appearance of the summer, bounced back with three hitless innings. Bourne matched Falmouth with five hits but pushed two runs across in the third.

Cotuit rallied from a four-run ninth inning deficit to beat Wareham 5-4. A Logan Vick (Baylor) two-run single made it 4-3 in the ninth, and a fielder’s choice brought the tying run in. Vick then scampered home on a sac fly by Kyle Wren (Georgia Tech) to give Cotuit the win. Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) led Cotuit with three hits, upping his average to .438. Mason McVay (Florida International) pitched three scoreless innings of relief to keep the Kettleers within striking distance.

Harwich beat Brewster 6-3 for its third straight win. Tanner Perkins (Western Kentucky) struck out eight and allowed three runs in six innings, before the Harwich bullpen slammed the door with three scoreless frames. The Mariners did all their offensive damage against Brewster starter Luke Bard (Georgia Tech), getting two in the first, one in the third and three in the fifth. Jabari Henry (Florida International) and Luke Voit (Missouri State) each had two RBI for the Mariners. Leadoff man Austin Nola (LSU) was on base three times and scored three runs.

What to Watch

Game: The only teams without a loss finally meet each other as the twice-postponed doubleheader between Orleans and Hyannis is set to go again tonight. The games are at Hyannis at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Players: Richie Pedroza, a sparkplug from Cal State Fullerton, had a great debut for Hyannis last night, and should be fun to watch whenever he gets on base.

Harwich was shut out by Orleans 3-0 in its season opener Friday night. On Saturday, the Mariners lost 3-0 to Hyannis.

On Monday, the Mariners turned the tables — twice. Six pitchers combined on two shutouts as Harwich swept a doubleheader with Bourne, winning the first game 1-0 and the second game 2-0.

Joe Mantiply (Virginia Tech) got the start in game one, and though he walked five, he struck out six and surrendered just one hit in 4.2 innings. Devin Burke (Virginia Tech) also allowed one hit in 1.1 innings of relief and Grant Gordon (Missouri State) finished off the win with a perfect seventh. The Mariners got their only run — and their first run of the season — in the top of the first on an RBI single by Andrew Rash (Virginia Tech).

Harwich got its run off a familiar name — Tommy Collier. The San Jacinto product played for Falmouth last year and just popped up on the Bourne roster. He was a 22nd-round pick last week.

In game two, Harwich started Kevin Gausman (LSU), a star freshman who was a sixth-round pick out of high school. He didn’t disappoint in his Cape League debut, striking out four and scattering four hits in 5.2 innings of work. Kevin Carlow (Brown) and Blake Hauser (Virginia Commonwealth) did the rest. As for the offense, this time, Harwich needed extra innings to finally get on the board. John Wooten (East Carolina) walked to start the inning and eventually came around on a base hit by Chris Diaz (NC State). A base hit by Jabari Henry (Florida International) knocked in Diaz and sent Harwich on its way.

Elsewhere

The Orleans-Hyannis doubleheader was postponed for the second time because of field conditions.

Chatham and Falmouth did get their twin bill in, and the Anglers came away with a sweep, edging the Commodores 1-0 and 2-1 for their first wins of the season. Chad Gallagher (Marist) and Zack Jones (San Jose State) combined on the shutout in game one,with Gallagher striking out four in six innings and Jones rebounding from a rough first outing with a scoreless ninth. Alex Calbick (Maine) drove in Chatham’s lone run. For Falmouth, Andrew Heaney (Oklahoma State) posted a league-high in strikeouts with 10 in seven innings but was the hard-luck loser. Chatham got another solid start in game two as Dace Kime (Louisville) struck out six and allowed just two hits in six shutout innings. The Anglers led 2-0 into the seventh before Falmouth pushed a run across. Jones came back out of the bullpen to close the door, recording his second save of the night. Joe Sever (Pepperdine) and Kris Bryant (San Diego) drove in the Chatham runs. Falmouth got five shutout innings from Andrew Aizenstadt (Babson).

What to Watch
Game: Orleans finally gets back to action as it travels to Y-D for a 5 p.m. start. The Firebirds have played just one game because of postponements while Y-D is 3-1.
Player: Kyle Hansen (St. John’s) is listed as the probable starter for Y-D. There may not be a better arm on the Cape at the moment. Hansen had a 3.09 ERA this spring and struck out 106 in 107 innings.

Only two of the five doubleheaders scheduled for yesterday were played, with field conditions and rain forcing postponements.

The Wareham Gatemen are certainly glad they got to play.

Hosting Brewster, Wareham won 5-3 and 2-1 to improve its record to 3-1. That’s tied with Y-D for the best mark in the league.

In game one, Brent Suter (Harvard) went the distance in the seven-inning game, scattering six hits and allowing two earned runs. He struck out four. The Gatemen were limited to five hits themselves — Brewster had six — but Wareham also drew five walks and took advantage with runners on base. Ty Ross (LSU), who had a tough first season in Baton Rouge, went 2-for-2 with two RBI.

Wareham got another complete game for a 2-1 win in game two. This time, it was Luke Farrell (Northwestern) on the hill, and he scattered six hits, struck out five and allowed just an unearned run. Derek Dennis (Michigan) picked up his third RBI and Robert Refsnyder (Arizona) knocked in the other run.

Daniel Langfield (Memphis) pitched well for Brewster but came out on the short end of the stick. Andrew Toles (Tennessee) had four hits in the two games for Brewster.

Elsewhere

In the only other set of games that went off, Y-D and Cotuit split their doubleheader. Cotuit posted a 7-3 victory in the first game, handing Y-D its first loss. Kyle Wren (Georgia Tech) led a seven-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Micah Johnson (Indiana) had a double and two RBI. On the mound, Chris Beck — who had a great sophomore season at Georgia Southern — struck out six and allowed one earned run in the seven-inning complete game. Y-D turned the tables in game two, winning by a 1-0 score. Matt Rush (Oral Roberts) got the start and allowed three hits in five innings, before Matt Carasiti (St. John’s) closed it out with two perfect frames. John Adornetto (Cortland St.) knocked in Y-D’s only run. All three of the Red Sox’ wins have now been shutouts.

What to Watch
Game:All the postponed twin bills will get made up today. Harwich and Bourne will each be looking for their first win when they meet at 4 and 7 p.m.
Player:LSU freshman pitcher Kevin Gausman is listed as the probable starter in game two for Harwich. Gausman was a sixth-round pick out of high school and struck out 86 this spring. He’s also on Team USA’s roster so he may not be on the Cape for long.