I was a little surprised when I saw on July 2 that Orleans had released Daniel Aldrich. He was hitting well for the Firebirds, but he was a temporary player, and when the roster stated filling up, Orleans didn’t have a whole lot of options. In the Cape League, that kind of numbers crunch happens every year.
I was not surprised that Aldrich quickly hooked on with Cotuit. In addition to his solid start with Orleans, this is a guy who hit .347 with 22 home runs as a freshman at College of Charleston in 2011.
And the Kettleers are very happy to have him in the fold.
Aldrich hit a home run and had four RBI in his first game with Cotuit, and he hasn’t slowed down since. In six games since coming over from Orleans, Aldrich is hitting .433 with four home runs and 11 RBI. He went 3-for-5 last night with a homer and three RBI as Cotuit demolished Y-D 10-0 for its fourth straight win.
That’s the other thing — Cotuit has won five of the six games Aldrich has played and is now 12-10, good for second place in the West.
He’s not the only reason, of course. A lot of guys are heating up, but Aldrich has been exactly what Cotuit needed in the middle of its order. Before he joined the team, Cotuit had hit seven home runs on the year. By himself, Aldrich now has more than half of that total. Of Cotuit’s new season total of 12 home runs, Aldrich has hit a third of them.
Last night, Aldrich helped power the most impressive win of Cotuit’s streak. Not only did the Kettleers pound out 16 hits; they also limited the league’s top offense to three hits and handed Y-D its first shutout of the season. Cameron Griffin (Stetson) made his first start after eight relief appearances and pitched four scoreless innings. Joe Broussard (LSU) and Ryan Connolly (Coastal Carolina) combined for four more scoreless innings and Dan Slania (Notre Dame) struck out the side in the ninth to finish off the win.
In addition to Aldrich’s big day at the plate, Cotuit got three hits from league batting leader Patrick Biondi (Michigan), who is hitting .545 in his last six games for a season average of .419. Tony Kemp (Vanderbilt), James Roberts (USC) and Angel Rosa (Alcorn State) had two hits and two RBI each.
Giant Killer
Brewster’s Tom Windle (Minnesota) has been one of the most impressive starting pitchers in the league this season.
The list of teams he’s beaten makes it all that much more impressive.
Windle struck out eight and gave up just one hit in six shutout innings last night to lead Brewster past Orleans. Windle is now 3-1 and the three wins have come against West leader Falmouth, East leader Harwich and now Orleans, the second-place team in the East.
For Windle, each win has been better than the last. After losing his first start, against Chatham, he came back with five innings of one-run ball to beat Falmouth. He then struck out nine and allowed just an unearned run on four hits in six innings in a win over Harwich.
Last night, he gave up just a second-inning single to Conrad Gregor (Vanderbilt). Orleans had three other base-runners, two on errors, one on a dropped third strike, but Windle didn’t allow any of them past second base.
Windle, who was the 17th-best prospect in the Northwoods League last summer, is now 3-1 with a 1.66 ERA and 29 strikeouts.
Brewster’s offense was led by a huge day from Ryon Healy (Oregon), who went 4-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Trevor Mitsui (Washington) and Derek Campbell (Cal) also hit home runs, while Windle’s Minnesota teammate Dan Olinger had two hits and an RBI.
Elsewhere
What to Watch
Teams will head to Boston today for a workout at Fenway Park, one of the thrills of the season for Cape League players. There’s only one game on the schedule — Y-D at Orleans at 7 p.m. Arizona standout James Farris will make his first start for the Firebirds.
Also, later today on Right Field Fog, I’ll have a couple of midseason report posts. Yes, it’s midseason. Yes, that’s crazy.