Derek Bender closed out his season at Coastal Carolina on a five-game hitting streak. Two weeks off and the journey north to Bourne did nothing to cool him off.
Bender is off to a ridiculous start for the Braves this summer. In seven games, he’s hitting .538 (14-for-26). He’s had multiple hits in five of his seven games, including a 4-for-4 performance on June 23 in which he hit for the cycle.
He has two home runs, two doubles and a triple among his 14 hits. He’s also struck out only four times and walked four times.
Bourne is not surprisingly 5-2 since Bender arrived.
Y-D getting a lift
Vanderbilt and Mississippi State players often miss out on the first few weeks of the Cape Cod Baseball League season. Such is life for powerhouse programs who are regulars at the College World Series.
Neither team made it to Omaha this year, though, and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox have been one of the beneficiaries on the Cape.
Mississippi State’s Hunter Hines cranked two home runs for the Red Sox on Sunday and is up to a league-best five on the year. He also leads the league with 17 RBI.
Vanderbilt’s R.J. Austin is off to a red-hot start for Y-D since making his debut June 21. He has a hit in every game, giving him a .389 batting average in the early going.
Y-D has gotten big production from a number of other guys, as well, including Max Viera, who leads the league in stolen bases and is batting .333.
The Red Sox are off to an 8-5-1 start and sit in second place in the CCBL’s East Division.
Mariners top the charts
Y-D owns two victories over Harwich in the last 10 days, but they’re the only team to beat the Mariners. No surprise, then, that Harwich has grabbed possession of first place in the East with a 9-4 record.
It’s no surprise, given the supporting statistics. The Mariners lead the league in OPS and opponents batting average on the pitching side of things.
Cotuit running wild as always
The Major League teams that are taking advantage of the new stolen base rules have nothing on Mike Roberts’ Cotuit teams. The Kettleers are once again leading the league in stolen bases, as they often do.
They’re up to 32 on the year thus far. Three players – Rodney Green, Jr., Brock Rodden and Brett Bateman – are leading the way with five each.
Whitecap in control
How about the start for Brewster pitcher Josh Timmerman? The Ohio State righty has yet to allow a run in 11.2 innings across four appearances. He didn’t even allow a hit until his start on Sunday, in which he tossed six scoreless innings.
Strikeout star
Cotuit’s Camron Hill (Georgia Tech) has faced 32 batters so far this summer and has struck out almost half of them. Hill has 15 Ks to go along with a 0.00 ERA.
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