The Cape League’s move to an eight-team playoff structure has taken some of the fun out of regular-season playoff races. This season, for instance, the four spots in the West were already sewn up before the final week of games began.
But even without the do-or-die quests for playoff berths, the races aren’t without drama. And there’s a lot of drama in the West.
Hyannis, Cotuit and Falmouth have been at the top of the division and within just a few games of each other for pretty much the entire season. With losses by Hyannis and Cotuit, plus a doubleheader sweep by Falmouth, they’re now separated by just two points. Hyannis is in first with 46 points, Cotuit has 45 and Falmouth has 44. They all have 22 wins, with ties representing the point difference.
There have been plenty of tight races over the years in the Cape League, but rarely have they been this tight – and with three teams involved. Since 2000, the smallest point-margin between the top three teams in a division race was three. It happened in both 2001 and 2008. If the current race stays at two, Hyannis, Cotuit and Falmouth will be the most tightly-packed trio since the turn of the century.
In a race like that, any win is big. Two on one day is bigger, and that’s what Falmouth did last night. The Commodores beat Wareham 2-1 in the first game of a twin bill, getting five strong innings from Craig Schlitter (Bryant) and a save from Donny Murray (Holy Cross). Kevin Newman (Arizona) had two hits and Conner Hale (State College of Florida) drove in a run.
In game two, Falmouth looked like it was headed for a split. Wareham carried a 4-1 lead into the seventh inning, the final inning because it was a doubleheader. Instead, the Commodores scored six runs to take a lead then held off Wareham for the win.
Casey Gillaspie (Wichita State) made it 4-3 with a two-run double before Dylan Davis (Oregon State) tied the game on an RBI single. Then, with the bases loaded, Troy Stein (Texas A&M) cracked a triple to score three more runs.
Just like that, the Commodores had matched Hyannis and Cotuit with 22 wins.
And they made a close race start to look historically close.
Harwich 5, Hyannis 4
The Harbor Hawks nearly gained a little separation in the aforementioned raced when they broke a 0-0 tie with four runs in the top of the ninth. Harwich answered with four runs in the bottom half, though, then won the game in the 10th. Once Hyannis got the lead, it turned to league saves leader Eric Eck (Wofford), but Eck had his first rough outing of the summer as Harwich rallied. Blair DeBord (Kansas State) had an RBI single, one of four hits on the night. Brendon Hayden (Virginia Tech) followed with a two-run double, and Brett Austin (NC State) tied the game with an RBI single. Then in the 10th, Tanner English (South Carolina) brought in Branden Cogswell (Virginia) with a walk-off single, his second 10th-inning walk-off hit of the summer.
Orleans 2, Cotuit 0
The Firebirds won for the seventh straight time with a shutout of Cotuit. Trent Szkutnik (Michigan) scattered five hits in five scoreless innings before giving way to an increasingly dominant Orleans bullpen. Kyle Twomey (USC), Luis Paula (North Carolina), Brian Clark (Kent State) and Matt Troupe (Arizona) combined to allow just one run the rest of the way while pitching an inning each. Troupe struck out the side in the ninth for his ninth save. The pitchers got all the support they needed in a two-run fifth inning. Jordan Betts (Duke) homered and Vince Conde (Vanderbilt) drove in the other run. For Cotuit, Evan Beal (South Carolina) struck out six in 6.2 innings but was the hard-luck loser.
Bourne 2, Y-D 1
Bourne is reportedly saying goodbye to ace Jaron Long, according to Perfect Game’s Frankie Piliere, as Long is set to sign with the New York Yankees. The Braves picked up a victory, though, breaking a 1-1 tie with a run in the ninth to win 2-1. Michael Costello (Radford), who was making his first start after pitching in relief all summer, tossed five shutout innings. Hawtin Buchanan (Ole Miss) got the win in relief and Clint Freeman (East Tennessee State), a two-way guy who’s been more position player than pitcher this summer, picked up the save. Max Pentecost (Kennesaw State) went 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored the go-ahead run on an errant pickoff throw.
Brewster 8, Chatham 1
The Whitecaps snapped a season-long winless streak against Chatham with an 8-1 victory over the first-place Anglers. Justin Kamplain (Alabama) struck out six in five innings of no-hit baseball. The Anglers managed just one hit against the Brewster bullpen. In the meantime, the Whitecaps broke open a close game with five runs in the eighth. Cole Lankford (Texas A&M) led the attack with two hits and two RBI, while Scott Heineman (Oregon) had two hits and one run driven in.
What to Watch
Chatham’s Tommy Lawrence (Maine) dueled Jeff Hoffman in his last start and should give the fans another good tilt when Y-D and Daniel Savas (Illinois State) visit Veterans Field tonight. Lawrence has not allowed a run since his first outing, on June 25. Savas is 3-0 and two starts ago, he struck out 12 in eight innings.