Month: August 2017

 

Two of the Cape League’s major honors were handed out to Cotuit players Wednesday as Greyson Jenista (Wichita State) won the league MVP and Griffin Conine (Duke) was named the Top Prospect. Then a red-hot young gun upstaged his award winning teammates. Then the Kettleers won to keep alive hopes of a division title.

It was a big day at Lowell Park.

Jenista became the first Cotuit player to win the MVP award since Justin Smoak in 2006. I was a bit surprised that Jenista was the MVP pick considering the kind of season his teammate Conine has had, not to mention the campaigns of Jimmy Herron and Jenista’s college teammate, Alec Bohm. But take nothing away from the year Jenista is putting together. Honored before the game, he promptly went 3-for-4 and is now hitting .317 with three homers and 16 RBI.

Conine is fourth in the league in hitting, tied for the lead in home runs and fourth in RBI. Nick Senzel won both the MVP and top prospect award in 2015 and Conine certainly had a case for both, but I’m sure he didn’t mind seeing his teammate take one.

While Jenista went 3-for-4 and Conine had a hit in the game that followed, it was a younger teammate who starred again for the Kettleers in their win over Y-D. UCLA rising sophomore Michael Toglia – one of the most intriguing rising soph bats in the league – hit his fourth home run in four days as part of a 2-for-4, two RBI night. Toglia now has six home runs on the year, tied for fifth in the league.

Cotuit also got two RBI from Gian Martellini (Boston College). Chase Cohen (Georgia Southern) earned the win with three strong innings of relief and Brian Rapp (Boston College) picked up the save.

The win kept Cotuit two points back of Falmouth, who also won. If the Commodores lose in their finale tonight, the Kettleers could move into a tie for first place with a victory. Having won the season series against Falmouth, Cotuit would then be the top seed in the West.

Orleans 3, Chatham 2

The Firebirds walked off with the division title as Ethan Paul’s RBI single in the ninth gave Orleans a 3-2 win and clinched first place in the East Division. Y-D’s loss earlier in the day opened the door for Orleans to seal the crown and the top seed. It wasn’t easy, but the ninth inning rally did the trick. After Chatham had tied the game in the top of the ninth, Orleans came back on a leadoff single by Lars Nootbaar (USC). Paul then singled to left field for the game-winning hit. Nootbaar and Paul both finished with three hits. The top team in the league for most of the summer – but with Y-D always at its heels – Orleans is now officially a top seed.

Falmouth 7, Hyannis 6

The Commodores stayed a step ahead of Cotuit and did Wareham a favor, as the Hyannis loss clinched the final playoff spot for the Gatemen. Marty Bechina (Michigan State) and Cameron O’Neill (Holy Cross) drove in two runs each for the Commodores, while Joshua Breaux (McLennan CC) and George Janca (Texas A&M) had two hits apiece. The 7-6 score was already on the board by the fifth inning, and three Falmouth relievers kept it from changing. William Ethridge (Ole Miss), Derrick Adams (Jacksonville State) and Ryan Zeferjahn (Kansas) closed out the win.

Bourne 13, Wareham 4

While the Gatemen are in the playoffs thanks to the Hyannis loss, they were on the wrong end of a blowout against Bourne, as the Braves snapped a five-game skid in impressive fashion. Scott Schreiber (Nebraska) went 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored to lead a 19-hit barrage. Kevin Radziewicz (Fairfield) had three hits and late addition Anthony Prato (UConn) had three hits and scored three runs. Every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit. Grant Williams (Kennesaw State) chipped in three RBI and Lyle Lin (Arizona State) had two.

Harwich 7, Brewster 4

Brewster had beaten second-place Y-D and first-place Orleans in consecutive games but couldn’t keep the win streak going against last-place Harwich, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit for the win. Cobie Vance (Alabama) and Matt Vierling (Notre Dame) each had two hits and an RBI to lead the Mariner offense. Tyler Baum (North Carolina) put in impressive work out of the bullpen and may have sealed several spots atop final league leaderboards with just one game left. Baum picked up his league-best fifth win, moved into a tie for the league lead with 41 strikeouts and put his ERA at a Cape-best 2.72.

What to Watch

Two things still up for grabs on the final day of the season – the top seed in the West and the No. 3 spot in the East.

 

The leadoff hitter, a pinch hitter in the leadoff spot and the number eight hitter all smacked home runs for the Falmouth Commodores Tuesday night.

It was a fitting time for that kind of one-through-nine display of power.

Those three home runs gave Falmouth 40 on the summer, more than any Cape League team has hit since the juiced ball summer of 2012, when Harwich mashed a record 64.

Since then, teams generally hover around 25 or 30. Going into last night, Falmouth was even with the 2015 Orleans club, which hit 37 homers. The way things have gone – and with three games still left – it was a good bet the Commodores would clear that mark.

Clayton Daniel (Jacksonville State) pushed Falmouth over the top immediately in Tuesday’s game. He led off the top of the first inning with a homer on the fifth pitch of the game. Cameron O’Neill (Holy Cross) and Joshua Watson (TCU) also went deep.

The home run was the first of the summer for Watson as he added his name to the long list of Commodores who have gone deep. Thirteen different players have done it, from Marty Bechina and his eight blasts to Austin Biggar, who played only seven games but still managed to go deep.

The home runs Tuesday were part of a 12-1 blowout of Wareham as the Commodores broke free from a four-game stretch in which they scored only eight runs. Hunter Steinmetz (Missouri State) and Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) had three hits each. Cody Shelton (Samford) pitched four strong innings. Falmouth maintainted a two-point lead on Cotuit for first place with two games to go.

Cotuit 8, Bourne 6

The Kettleers won for the second time in their last three games and added some clarity to the long muddled West race. With its fifth straight loss, Bourne is no longer in contention for first place as it now sits five points back of Falmouth with two games to play. Cotuit has a three-point edge on Bourne for second place. The Kettleers took an early 2-0 lead in Tuesday’s game before Jameson Hannah (Dallas Baptist) put Bourne in front with a fifth-inning grand slam. In the bottom half of the inning, Cotuit returned the favor as Michael Toglia (UCLA) blasted a grand slam of his own to put Cotuit into the lead for good. Griffin Conine (Duke) also homered, moving into a tie for the league lead, and Zack Kone (Duke) had two RBI.

Hyannis 8, Harwich 6

With Wareham losing, Hyannis’ win keeps the drama for the only undecided playoff spot alive. The Gatemen lead Hyannis by two points with two games to play. Hyannis had fallen four points back but battled from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Mariners and stay in the mix. Daniel Robinson (Central Michigan) had three hits and Micah Coffey (Minnesota) scored two runs. Griffin Dey (Yale) – playing in just his second game with the Harbor Hawks – homered and scored two runs. Michael Brettell (Central Michigan) allowed four runs in five innings. Ethan Larrison (Indiana State) got the win and Nick Sandlin (Southern Miss) earned the save. Jake McCarthy (Virginia) had four hits for Harwich.

Chatham 4, Y-D 2

Chatham and Y-D could end up matched in the playoffs and the Red Sox may not want that after the Anglers took the season series Tuesday. Jeff Belge (St. John’s) allowed just one hit in six shutout innings and struck out five. Y-D came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the seventh but Chatham went back in front on a sacrifice fly by Fabian Pena (Manhattan) and stayed there. Andre Pallante (UC Irvine) pitched a scoreless eighth and Jack DeGroat (Liberty) struck out the side in the ninth. Jeremy Pena (Maine) and Mason Koppens (Northeastern) added two hits apiece for Chatham.

Brewster 6, Orleans 2

The Whitecaps touched up Orleans standout Logan Gilbert (Stetson) for three runs in the first two innings and never looked back en route to a win over the first-place Firebirds. Kyle Datres (North Carolina) homered while Nick Dunn (Maryland), Christian Molfetta (Stanford) and Justin Kunz (Gardner-Webb) had two hits each to lead the Whitecaps. Tony Locey (Georgia) led off a staff day with two scoreless innings. With some other top pitchers around the league departing or failing to meet the innings requirement, Locey now leads the league in ERA. Brewster is 20-20-2 and tied with Chatham for third place in the East. With Y-D and Orleans both losing, the Firebirds maintain a one-point edge on the Red Sox for the top spot.

What to Watch

As the quest for the final playoff spot in the West comes down to the wire, Wareham visits Bourne and Hyannis hosts Falmouth.

 

 

Cotuit made up some ground in the West Division standings but not as much as it was poised for. With first-place Falmouth idle, the Kettleers beat Hyannis 11-4 in an afternoon game then took a 2-0 lead in the nightcap at Wareham before the Gatemen scored three runs over the final three innings to take a 3-2 win.

Cotuit moved within two points of Falmouth, but the loss to Wareham kept them from pulling even. There were big implications for the Gatemen, too, who now lead Hyannis by four points for the final playoff spot.

The Kettleers’ busy day opened with the finale of their season series with rival Hyannis. Having already clinched the series 3-1-1, Cotuit added one more win thanks to a 15-hit attack and solid pitching from the bullpen.

Michael Toglia (UCLA) went 3-for-4 with his fourth home run of the summer, to go with three RBI and four runs scored. Chandler Avant (Alabama) went 4-for-5 with four RBI. Terrin Vavra (Minnesota) and Luke Alexander (Mississippi State) also had multi-hit games.

Hyannis’ Hunter Stovall (Mississippi State) chased Cotuit starter Mark Moclair (Tampa) with a three-run double in the second inning, but the Cotuit bullpen was lights out. Taylor Lehman (Penn State) pitched 3.2 scoreless innings and Jayce Vancena (Michigan) worked the last four innings without allowing a run.

In Wareham, Cotuit built a 2-0 lead in the third inning on an error that allowed two runs to score. Austin Kitchen (Coastal Carolina) went 5.1 scoreless innings in protecting the lead, but the bullpen didn’t have as much success as it did earlier in the day. Wareham made it 2-1 on an error in the seventh and tied it on a Jake Anchia (Nova Southeastern) RBI single in the eighth. In the ninth, after a walk to Steven Kwan (Oregon State), Robert Metz (George Washington) hit a walk-off double to give Wareham the win.

Y-D 5, Bourne 1

In the only other game of the day, the Red Sox pulled away late for a win over Bourne and moved within one point of first-place Orleans, who was idle. Alfonso Rivas (Arizona) homered as part of a two-hit night. Kyle Isbel (UNLV), Luke Miller (Indiana) and Darren Trainor (Lewis-Clark State) also had two hits each. Karl Kauffmann (Michigan) allowed one run in 5.2 innings in the start. Brendan Nail (Western Carolina) earned the win in relief. Michael Cassala (Jacksonville) finished it off. Richard Palacios (Towson) had three hits for Bourne, which has lost four straight.

What to Watch

There may be more movement in the West, with the top four teams squaring off tonight. Cotuit hosts Bourne and Wareham welcomes Falmouth.