Month: July 2017

 

It’s an annual Right Field Fog tradition to use a “Fireworks” headline around the Fourth of July. The league often cooperates, with home runs flying or runs scoring.

Not this year.

Unless you place dominant pitching in the fireworks category.

Three teams logged shutout wins on the eve of Independence Day. Cotuit’s Zane Collins (Wright State) tossed a rare nine-inning, complete game in a 2-0 win over Wareham. Five pitchers teamed up for Orleans’ 3-0 shutout of Brewster. And four pitchers did the job for Chatham in a 4-0 win over Y-D.

Collins’ performance was the Cape League’s first nine-inning complete game since Hyannis’ Devin Smeltzer no-hit Harwich in 2015. There were no nine-inning complete games last summer and just a seven-inning complete game from Tyler Baum so far this summer.

Collins hadn’t gone deeper than 4.1 innings this summer and didn’t have a complete game in the spring with Wright State. But it all came together Monday, as Collins threw 117 pitches and went the distance. He struck out eight and scattered six hits, all singles. Collins now has a 0.96 ERA.

A key error and a passed ball gave Cotuit all the offense it needed to turn Collins’ gem into a win.

Orleans’ shutout was its ninth consecutive win. Daniel Lynch (Virginia) tossed five innings of one-hit baseball for the win, striking out three. Taylor Sugg (North Carolina), Jake Wong (Grand Canyon), J.T. Hintzen (Florida Southern) and Josh Hiatt (North Carolina) closed the deal, with Hiatt picking up his fifth save and maintaining his 0.00 ERA. Two RBI by Niko Decolati (Loyola Marymount) provided the offense.

A night after Chatham announced John Schiffner’s upcoming retirement, the Anglers delivered a blast from his past as a North Carolina starter dominated, like Andrew Miller, Matt Harvey and Zac Gallen before. Austin Bergner, who pitched mostly in relief for the Heels as a freshman, struck out six and allowed three hits over six scoreless innings. And he was dealing.

Nasty stuff from Austin Bergner @DiamondHeels tonight. Much improved command/off speed feel. Sitting 94-95, touching 96 for @ChathamAnglers

— Frankie Piliere (@FPiliereD1) July 3, 2017

Adam Wolf (Louisville), Josiah Gray (LeMoyne) and Jack DeGroat (Liberty) finished off the shutout. Nick Patten (Delaware) had two RBI to lead the Chatham offense.

Bourne 6, Falmouth 4

The Braves snapped Falmouth’s six-game winning streak and moved into a tie for first place with the Commodores. Chris Holba (East Carolina), Ray Gaither (Dallas Baptist), Chad Luensmann (Nebraska) and Ryan Feltner (Ohio State) combined to hold the Commodores red-hot offense in check, at relatively speaking. Feltner faced the league’s hottest hitter Alec Bohm (Wichita State) with a runner on base in the ninth and struck him out. Bourne got its six RBI from six different players. Scott Schreiber (Nebraska) had two hits to lead the charge.

Harwich 5, Hyannis 4

Harwich saved its shutout innings for the latter part of its matchup with Hyannis, as Teddy Rodliff (Stony Brook) ended a back-and-forth with 3.1 scoreless innings. He struck out two and allowed two hits. Jake Agnos (East Carolina) allowed one earned run in five innings for the win. Andrew Moritz (UNC Greensboro) had two hits and two RBI to lead the offense.

What to Watch

Holiday home-and-home sets get underway with Fourth of July games in Cotuit, Yarmouth, Harwich, Bourne and Orleans.

 

 

A night after Orleans streaked on with its most impressive win yet, the league’s other red-hot team did the same.

Falmouth mashed 22 hits and blew past Bourne 13-3 Sunday for its sixth consecutive win and a spot alone atop the West Division. The Commodores and Braves had been tied for first place.

Power has been on full display all summer for the Commodores, who have led the league in home runs and extra-base hits basically since day one. But even for them, this was a crazy night.

Alec Bohm (Wichita State) went 5-for-6 with three RBI. Hunter Steinmetz (Missouri State) homered and went 4-for-5 with four RBI. Ignacious Janca (Texas A&M) went 5-for-5. Joshua Breaux (McLennan) homered and drove in three. Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) delivered his second three-hit game in three games with the team. Marty Bechina (Michigan State) drove in his 20th run of the season.

The Commodores actually fell behind 1-0 but a double by Bohm in the third lit the fuse on the comeback. Bohm is on quite a tear. After a rare hitless night June 25, he’s 15 for his last 27 with two homers. His .458 batting average is the best in the league by a pretty wide margin.

Five pitchers gave up a fair amount of hits to the Braves, but a back-and-forth slugfest never materialized. Cole Sands (Florida State) was credited with the win in relief.

Falmouth is now 11-7, one game back of Orleans for the best record in the league.

Orleans 5, Brewster 1

The Firebirds rolled on as well with their eighth consecutive win. A four-run third inning sparked by a Jaxx Groshans (Kansas) two-run single broke a 1-1 tie and sent Orleans on its way. After giving up a run in the first, Ryan Rolison (Ole Miss) cruised through four scoreless innings and struck out nine for the win. Cody Deason (Arizona), Brett Daniels (North Carolina) and Josh Hiatt (North Carolina) went the last four innings and allowed just one hit. Jimmy Herron (Duke) had two hits to up his average to .411. Ethan Paul (Vanderbilt) had his third multi-hit game in the last four.

Wareham 4, Y-D 0

Justin Montgomery (California Baptist) dominated again, cementing himself as the league’s best starter in the early going. The 6-foot-5 righty struck out five in five scoreless innings. He has yet to allow a run – earned or unearned – in 17 innings pitched, and has struck out 19 while surrendering just 10 hits and four walks. Fitzpatrick Stadler (Arizona State) and Peyton Culbertson (Arkansas State) finished off the shutout. Based on the probable pitchers, the game was supposed to be a matchup of Montgomery versus Hogan Harris, but it was Y-D’s other standout, Kris Bubic (Stanford) who drew the start. Bubic struck out seven in 5.2 scoreless frames, but Wareham took the lead on a two-run homer by Jake Anchia (Nova Southeastern) and never looked back. Oregon State’s Steven Kwan made his debut and went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Tanner Dodson (California) also drove in a run.

Cotuit 11, Hyannis 8

The Kettleers went to 2-0 in the Barnstable Patriot Cup rivalry series with another win over the Harbor Hawks. Three players homered to lead the Cotuit attack. Gian Martellini (Boston College) and Chandler Avant (Alabama) each hit their second while Thomas Dillard (Ole Miss) went deep for the first time. Griffin Conine (Duke) added a hit and three RBI and Luke Alexander (Mississippi State) drove in two. Justin Hooper (UCLA) allowed just an unearned run in five innings for the win. Hyannis made a late push with six runs in the seventh inning but couldn’t overtake the Kettleers. Jake Mangum (Mississippi State) had three hits to lead the Harbor Hawks.

Harwich 7, Chatham 3

The Mariners got a bit of revenge after Saturday’s walk-off loss to the Anglers. A five-run fifth inning broke a 1-1 deadlock. Cameron Simmons (Virginia) had a two-run double and Nick Dalesandro (Purdue) had a two-run single to key the decisive surge. Both Simmons and Dalesandro finished with two hits. Andrew Moritz (UNC Greensboro), Ryne Ogren (Elon) and Jordan Verdon (San Diego State) drove in one run each. Tyler Baum (North Carolina) struck out six and allowed two runs in six innings for his third win in as many starts. Fabian Pena homered for Chatham. There was news for the Anglers after the game, as they announced that legendary manager John Schiffner will step down after the season.

What to Watch

Connor Higgins announced on Twitter yesterday that he’ll return to Arizona State after being selected late in this year’s draft. That also means he’ll be staying with Brewster, and he’ll be next in line to try to slow down the Orleans Firebirds when the teams meet today at Stony Brook Field.

 

How can you outdo yourself when you’re already on a six-game winning streak?

Making it seven with the league’s highest run total since 2013 will do the trick.

Orleans blasted Hyannis 17-3 Saturday night for its most impressive victory yet, which is saying something. While the start of the streak featured pretty typical margins, the Firebirds won numbers and five and six by 13-2 and 9-1 scores.

Fourteen by Y-D was the highest run total in the league this summer until the Firebirds upped the ante. No team had scored at least 17 since August 2, 2013, when Falmouth beat Bourne 18-3. Orleans also had a 17-run game that season on June 21.

Here’s some of the damage

• Every Orleans player who batted – including two subs – had at least one hit
• Orleans racked up 19 hits
• Every run scored, remarkably, was earned
• The Firebirds had six extra-base hits and two home runs
• There were 54 plate appearances by Orleans; Hyannis had a more typical 38
• The Firebirds scored 13 of their runs off a pitcher – Michael Brettell – who came in with a 3-0 record and a 0.73 ERA
• Hyannis didn’t even help much, making two errors that didn’t matter much and walking only four batters
• For good measure, Orleans pitchers didn’t allow a hit after the fifth inning

Orleans started its onslaught with a three-run first inning. Hyannis actually answered back with a run of its own, but the Firebirds scored six in the second and the rout was on. Two more in the third and two in the fifth looked like the finishing touches until Orleans added four more in the top of the ninth, which has to be among the worst cases of “away team that’s winning in the top of the ninth getting unnecessary offense” in history.

Stephen Scott (Vanderbilt) led the parade with two home runs – his first two of the summer – and six RBI. Niko Decolati (Loyola Marymount) had four hits, scored three runs and drove in two. Steve Passatempo (UMass Lowell) went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Ethan Paul (Vanderbilt) had two hits.

Orleans is hitting .375 as a team in its last three games.

As for the pitching, Hyannis had little chance to make the game a slugfest. Chandler Day (Vanderbilt) scattered six hits and allowed three runs in five innings. Graeme Stinson (Duke) was dominant in relief, striking out seven in three scoreless innings, though he did hit three batters. Parker Kelly (Oregon) struck out the side in the ninth. h

Falmouth 6, Cotuit 3

The Commodores couldn’t quite match Orleans’ big night but stayed hot in their own right with their fifth straight win. Alec Bohm (Wichita State) went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four RBI. His second home run broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh. Bohm on a five-game hitting streak and is batting .424 – best in the league – with three home runs and 12 RBI. Mitchell Miller (Clemson) earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. John Cresto (Santa Clara) homered for Cotuit. The Commodores improved to 10-7 and are tied with Bourne for first place in the West.

Bourne 6, Wareham 4

The Braves kept pace with Falmouth thanks to a win over the Gatemen. Andrew Fregia (Sam Houston State) had two hits and two RBI to lead the offense. Scott Schreiber (Nebraska), Richard Palacios (Towson), Jared Triolo (Houston) and Jameson Hannah (Dallas Baptist) drove in one run each. Daniel Bies (Gonzaga) earned the win with five strong innings of relief. Luis Alvarado (Nebraska) picked up the save.

Y-D 7, Brewster 4

As hot as Orleans is, Y-D remained just a point back in the East with a win over Brewster. A four-run seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie and sent the Red Sox on their way. Alex McKenna (Cal Poly) went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Carlos Cortes (South Carolina) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. John Rooney (Hofstra) allowed three runs in six innings for the win. With Brewster threatening in the eighth – the final inning due to darkness – Riley McCauley (Michigan State) recorded the final out for his league leading sixth save.

Chatham 3, Harwich 2

Chatham rallied from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth and won on a walk-off walk to snap a three-game slide. Harwich has lost five straight. Mason Koppens (Northeastern) drew the winning walk to force in Cody Roberts (North Carolina). Before the late rally, Jake Palomaki (Boston College) also drove in a run for the Anglers. Josiah Gray (Le Moyne) was credited with the win in relief. Starter Jeff Belge (St. John’s) struck out eight in 4.1 innings.

What to Watch

Some of the league’s top starters so far will be in action tonight, as Tyler Baum (North Carolina) goes for Harwich and Kyle Bradish (New Mexico State) gets the ball for Falmouth. But the best matchup should be in Wareham, where Justin Montgomery (California Baptist) takes his 0.00 ERA into battle against a talented Y-D team and starter Hogan Harris (Louisiana-Lafayette), who struck out nine in five innings last time out.

In an odd statistical twist, four of the five teams in the Cape League’s West Division – even the ones with winning records – own negative run differentials for the year. The one that doesn’t? The last place Wareham Gatemen.

Because when the Gatemen win, they win big.

Wareham rolled past Cotuit 11-0 Friday night to improve to 7-9. In their wins, they’ve out-scored the opposition 55-10. They’ve won games 9-0, 10-2, 11-3 and now 11-0. One of their wins was by a 4-3 score. Everything else has been by at least four runs and usually more.

Friday was their most lopsided win yet, as they knocked 16 hits and allowed just three.

Tanner Dodson (California) got in on both those feats with one of the best performances in the league this summer. He went 4-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and two RBI and also pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. Dodson did both for Cal this spring and has now pitched 9.2 innings with the Gatemen while making eight starts in the outfield. He’s hitting .462, which would be good for the league lead if he weren’t a little short of the qualifying number of plate appearances.

Kyle Kasser (Oregon) added three hits while Nick Angelini (Bryant) had two hits – including a home run – and drove in three. Six different players drove in at least one run.

Before Dodson took the mound, starter Miller Hogan (St. Louis) – a 32nd-round pick of the Brewers in this year’s draft – was dominant, allowing just one hit and striking out six in five shutout innings.

Orleans 9, Harwich 1

The Firebirds won their sixth straight game and their second consecutive blowout, after a 13-2 win Thursday. Orleans scored five runs in the first inning and three in the second for a blistering start. Jimmy Herron (Duke), Stephen Scott (Vanderbilt), Niko Decolati (Loyola Marymount) and recent Omaha arrival Devin Mann (Louisville) all had two hits in the onslaught, with Herron bumping his average to .408. Both of Herron’s hits came in the all-important battle of Jimmy Herron versus Harwich pitcher Tim(my) Herrin (Indiana), Armed with the early lead, Joey Murray (Kent State) turned in his second straight dominant start, following up five shutout innings June 21 with five more in his return to the mound. He struck out five and scattered five hits. Orleans owns the league’s best record at 10-6.

Falmouth 8, Chatham 3

The Commodores just keep mashing, and a new slugger fit right in. Oregon State star Trevor Larnach made his Cape debut after the Beavers’ deep College World Series run and went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. The big entrance was part of a 16-hit attack that included six more extra-base hits added to Falmouth’s league-best total. Hunter Steinmetz (Missouri State) hit his second home run and Zeke Dodson (Lipscomb) hit his first. Marty Bechina (Michigan State) had two doubles. Alec Bohm (Wichita State) went 3-for-5 and took over the league lead in hitting with a .419 average. Connor Eason (Seminole State) earned the win in relief.

Y-D 4, Bourne 3

After losing to the Braves in both games of a doubleheader Thursday, the Red Sox avoided a three-game sweep with a narrow victory. Y-D built a 4-1 lead and held off a Bourne rally in the ninth. Nicholas Quintana (Arizona) hit his fourth home run – he has four homers and eight hits on the season – while Connor Kaiser (Vanderbilt) also went deep. Kyle Isbel (UNLV) and Alex McKenna (Cal Poly) drove in one run each. Michael Cassala (Jacksonville) earned the win in relief and Riley McCauley (Michigan State) buckled down after allowing the two ninth-inning runs on Turner Brown’s (East Carolina) homer, finishing the game with two straight strikeouts.

Hyannis 8, Brewster 3

The Harbor Hawks racked up 16 hits and blasted three home runs for a win over the Whitecaps. Hunter Stovall (Mississippi State), Micah Coffey (Minnesota) and Daniel Robinson (Central Michigan) hit the home runs, the first of the summer for all of them. Ford Proctor (Rice) added three hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Reece Hampton (Charlotte), Ryan Olenek (Ole Miss) and Robert Neustrom (Iowa) had two-hit games. After Brewster tied the game in the third, three Harbor Hawk relievers combined for six scoreless innings of relief. Chase Haney (Florida State) was credited with the win.

What to Watch

For a seventh straight victory, the Orleans Firebirds will have to go through the league leader in wins. Michael Brettell (Central Michigan) takes a 3-0 record and a 0.73 ERA to the hill for Hyannis against the Firebirds. Chandler Day (Vanderbilt) will make his first start for Orleans after a scoreless relief outing in his debut last week.