The All-American and national batting champ from New Mexico State was humming along with a .282 average, a home run and eight RBI through 13 games with Cotuit. Solid.

Solid has since turned to spectacular.

Gonzales went 4-for-5 in Friday’s game. Then Saturday night, he did it again. The totals from the two games: 8-for-10, one home run, two triples, a double, two runs scored, seven RBI.

In a short Cape League summer, a quick heater like that can work wonders. Gonzales is now batting a league-best .388. He tops the OBP board, too, at .531. His 15 RBI also lead the league, and he’s tied for second in home runs.

Gonzales started his college season with a similar two-game ride, going 8-for-11 with two homers and eight RBI. He promptly stayed hot over the next two, going 8-for-11 again and finishing the first series of the season with a .727 average. So look out, next two teams on Cotuit’s schedule.

Saturday’s performance helped power an 11-3 victory over Wareham. Cody Pasic (Maine) chipped in with two RBI, while Donta Williams (Arizona) had two hits and scored three runs. Reid Johnston (NC State) went five scoreless innings for the win.

Cotuit improved to 7-6-2 and moved to within one game of the first-place Gatemen.

Falmouth 3, Bourne 0

Franco Aleman (St. John’s River State College) had another great outing, going six shutout innings to lead Falmouth past Bourne. A highly-rated recruit out of high school, Aleman had a strong freshman season at Florida International but will go the juco route next year. He has already announced a commitment to Florida for the 2021 season. On this night, Aleman struck out four and scattered six hits. He has now gone five scoreless and six scoreless in his two Cape League starts. Backing Aleman, Blake Dunn (Western Michigan) had two hits while Tim Tawa (Stanford) and Zach DeLoach (Texas A&M) knocked in one run each. Jimmy Glowenke (Dallas Baptist) had three hits for Bourne.

Orleans 5, Harwich 1

The shuffle at the top of the East Division continues as Orleans now claims the top spot after its second win in a row. Owen Sharts (Nevada) struck out six and allowed one run in five innings for the win. Dawson McCarville (Grand Canyon) was spectacular in relief, striking out four and allowing no hits in four innings, while facing the minimum. For Harwich, Jacob Palisch (Stanford) struck out nine in six innings but between the swings and misses, the Firebirds touched him up for three runs, two earned. Shay Whitcomb (UC San Diego) led the Firebirds offense with two hits and three RBI.

Brewster 7, Y-D 4

The Whitecaps stopped Y-D’s four-game winning streak with a win at Red Wilson Field. Ryan Bliss (Auburn) and Brett Auerbach (Alabama) homered for Brewster, while Marcos Castanon (UC Santa Barbara) went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Matthew Mikulski (Fordham) struck out seven in five shutout innings for the win. Brewster has now won two in a row.

Chatham 6, Hyannis 1

With the aforementioned East Division results and Chatham’s win over Hyannis, it’s now a three-way tie for second place, with all those teams one point out of first. The Anglers scored four runs in the third inning to take control and got solid pitching throughout. A two-run single by Kaden Polcovich (Northwest Florida) and a two-run homer by Alejandro Toral (Miami) powered the big inning. Ty Madden (Texas) struck out five across four scoreless innings for Chatham with Luke Bartnicki (Georgia Tech) earning the win in relief. Samuel Thoresen (Minnesota) took the loss for Hyannis but struck out eight and now leads the league in Ks with 25.

What to Watch

Cotuit and Wareham meet again, this time with first place on the line.

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