Still Alive

Brendan Hendriks is greeted in the dugout after his go-ahead home run Friday.

Higher-seeded teams owned the first games of their opening-round playoff series, and two of them held serve in game two.

We shouldn’t be surprised at the two teams that avoided sweeps. Cotuit and Y-D, winners of five of the last 10 Cape League championships, don’t go down easy.

Cotuit rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to beat top-seeded Bourne 10-7, while Y-D got a dominant performance from Walker Buehler (Vanderbilt) and broke out the bats in a 9-0 shutout of East No. 2 Orleans. Both series will conclude with game threes today.

For Cotuit, it’s been an up-and-down season, dominated by the fact that the Kettleers just don’t have much starting pitching. They have made it work by cobbling things together, and of course, with their backs against the wall yesterday, they made it work by doing it very well. Seven pitchers took the mound, and once Cotuit made its comeback, the final three pitchers combined on five scoreless innings.

The pitching contingent has been led all summer by Adam Whitt (Nevada), who was presented with the league’s outstanding relief pitcher award before Friday’s game. Whitt, unlike most recipients of that award, was not strictly a closer, often pitching two or three innings, whether his team was winning or losing. Yesterday, he went the final two innings, giving up no runs on one hit. Austin Sexton (Mississippi State) and Jackson McClelland (Pepperdine) had scoreless outings before Whitt took the hill.

The comeback made the strong relief work count. Bourne’s Richard Martin Jr. (Florida) led off the game with a home run, and Cotuit trailed 5-0 after three but quickly got back into the game with two runs in the third and one in the fourth. Bourne pulled back away at 7-3, but Cotuit got within 7-6 then scored three in the seventh and one in the eighth to take control.

Logan Taylor (Texas A&M), Jackson Glines (Michigan) and Brendan Hendriks (San Francisco) all homered for the Kettleers, with Hendriks’s two-run blast in the seventh giving them the lead for good. Kyle Holder (San Diego) added three hits.

Martin and Blake Davey (Connecticut) both homered for Bourne, but it wasn’t enough. The Braves had only two hits after the fifth inning.

Over in Yarmouth, the Red Sox cruised past Orleans 9-0 after they were shut-out 3-0 in game one. Buehler, who pitched briefly with Team USA but found his way back to the Cape, allowed just a pair of singles in 7.1 innings. He struck out five and walked only one.

Y-D’s starting rotation, even with the loss of Cody Poteet, still looks like it could be the best in the playoffs. Justin Jacome was the hard-luck loser against Orleans ace Kolton Mahoney, but Buehler got the Red Sox back on track. Drake Owenby (Tennessee) retired all five batters he faced to finish off the win.

The Y-D offense made sure no one would be a hard-luck loser this time. Jesse Jenner (San Diego) and Michael Donadio (St. John’s) had three hits each to pace a 13-hit attack. Donadio homered. Nico Giarratano (San Francisco) and Timothy Wharton (Catawba) drove in two runs each.

Harwich 5, Brewster 0

Top-seeded Harwich punched its ticket into the East finals with a shutout of Brewster. Michael Boyle (Radford) went six innings with eight strikeouts before Johnathan Frebis (Middle Tennessee State) and Jacob Evans (Oklahoma) finished off the shutout. For much of the game, Harwich needed that kind of effort, with Brewster pitchers limiting the Mariner offense to one run through the first seven innings. But Harwich scored three in the eighth and one in the ninth for a little extra breathing room. Joe McCarthy (Virginia) went 4-for-5 – and is now 7-for-10 in the playoffs – while Ian Happ (Cincinnati) had two hits and two RBI. For Brewster, Cody Ponce (Cal Poly Pomona) allowed one run in three innings and Levi MaVorhis (Kansas State) – who played a lot more outfield than he ever expected in this series – pitched three scoreless frames. The Whitecaps, who made a strong late-season run, were short-handed in the playoffs and didn’t stand much of a chance. Harwich now gets a day off before beginning play in the East finals.

Falmouth 5, Hyannis 1

Falmouth also rode strong pitching to a sweep of Hyannis. Kevin McCanna (Rice) allowed one run in eight innings, needing just 100 pitches to get that far. He struck out six and scattered five hits. The Commodore offense did the rest. Conner Hale (LSU) and Boomer White (TCU) knocked in two runs each while Kevin Newman (Arizona) and Austin Afenir (Oral Roberts) had two hits. Falmouth scored three in the first, meaning it never trailed in the series. Donnie Dewees (North Florida) scored the lone run for Hyannis in the seventh inning. The Harbor Hawks, who overcame a mid-season slump to grab the third seed, had beaten Falmouth three straight times in the regular season, including a 10-0 win on August 1.

What to Watch

Cotuit at Bourne, 6 p.m.
Y-D at Orleans, 7 p.m.

I’ll be interested to see how the pitching match-up turns out in Orleans. The Red Sox have a solid starter going in Kevin Duchene, while Orleans is turning to Kyle Twomey, who’s been very good but has also pitched mostly out of the bullpen. His longest outing is five innings.

July 26, 2014July 26, 2014

Deadlock

It’s a three-team race.

In the same week that saw Harwich finally lose its nearly season-long grip on first place in the East, that spot got even more crowded Friday night. With Y-D knocking off Orleans 6-3 and Harwich falling to Falmouth 5-3, three teams – Y-D, Orleans and Harwich – are tied for first place with 44 points each.

Y-D’s surge was chronicled yesterday and it continued last night in a key match-up with Orleans. Michael Murray (Florida Gulf Coast) delivered his best start of the summer, allowing just one hit and an unearned run while striking out eight in five innings of work. He left with his team up 6-1. Orleans made a little run, but William Strode (Florida State) and Phil Bickford (Cal State Fullerton) didn’t let it continue. Strode struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving him 20 strikeouts in 10 appearances this summer, while Bickford struck out the side in the ninth for his league-leading seventh save.

Rob Fonseca (Northeastern) had two hits and two RBI to lead the offense, while recent arrival Timothy Wharton (Catawba) had a hit for the fifth straight game since his debut. Wharton drove in two runs and has now driven in six in his five games. For Orleans, David Thompson (Miami) hit his fourth home run.

With that result in the books, Harwich had a chance to reclaim first place but a grand slam in the seventh inning by Falmouth sealed a 5-3 victory for the Commodores.

James Mulry (Northeastern) allowed one run in 5.1 innings but Falmouth got to the bullpen with one swing of the bat. Falmouth trailed 3-1 in the seventh when Shaun Chase (Oregon) smacked a grand slam to give his team the lead in one fell swoop. Kevin Mooney (Maryland), Nicholas Cooney (Wesleyan) and Matt Eckelman (St. Louis) ran with the lead, combining to allow not a single hit in the final three innings.

Falmouth improved to 21-15-1. Harwich is 21-14-2, the same mark as Orleans. Y-D has one more win and is 22-15.

Hyannis 15, Bourne 6

Hyannis had seven hits in a seven-run fifth inning and cruised over West-leading Bourne 15-6. The rally was a merry-go-round of singles as Hyannis sent 12 men to the plate. It was part of a big offensive day overall, as Hyannis finished with 20 hits. John La Prise (Virginia) had four of them, to go with three RBI. Donnie Dewees (North Florida) and Cam Gibson (Michigan State) had three hits each, while Daniel Kihle (Wichita State) had two hits and three RBI. Chris Lanham (Yale) got the win with four innings of relief. He allowed one earned run. Nick Bates (St. Louis) finished the job in dominant fashion, striking out five of the eight batters he faced in two scoreless innings. For Bourne, Zander Wiel (Vanderbilt) homered for the third time in his 15 Cape League games. The Braves have lost two in a row, while Hyannis has held steady over its last 10 as it tries to secure a playoff spot. It has a seven-point lead on Wareham for the fourth and final spot.

Chatham 8, Brewster 3

Chatham is a ways off the pace of the trip atop the East, but the Anglers scored early and often to beat Brewster for their second straight win. Chatham scored five runs in the first, two in the second and one in the third and cruised from there. Justin Jones (UNLV), who didn’t have a hit since arriving on July 21, hit a three-run triple and a solo home run to power the fast start. Ty Moore (UCLA) and A.J. Murray (Georgia Tech) added two hits each. P.J. Conlon (San Diego) allowed two runs in four innings before Jerry Keel (Cal State Northridge) allowed just one run over the final five innings to pick up the win.

Wareham 6, Cotuit 2

In a game that featured more errors than hits, Wareham took advantage of six Cotuit miscues to score six runs on only two hits and win 6-2. John Bormann (Texas San Antonio), Anderson Miller (Western Kentucky) and Willie Calhoun (Arizona) each drove in a run for the Gatemen. Wareham scored five runs in the sixth inning and Cotuit made five errors in that frame alone. Anthony Kay (Connecticut), who relieved starter Drew Harrington (Louisville) after just an inning, ran with the opportunity and allowed just one earned run on two hits in eight innings of work.

What to Watch

Yesterday, I mistakenly said the All-Star Game was Saturday. It is, in fact, on Sunday, so today is the final day of action before the festivities. Eldredge Park will feature a rematch of last year’s Cape League championship series, when Cotuit faces Orleans at 7 p.m.

July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

Red Hot Red Sox

Justin Jacome tossed six scoreless innings for his fourth straight win on Thursday.

When they lost 6-3 to Orleans on June 28, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox fell to 5-11. The next night, they got a quality start from Bryan Bonnell (UNLV) and beat Brewster 9-7.

It was just the beginning.

Y-D has won 16 of 20 games since that loss to Orleans, a stretch that has turned them into a clear contender while highlighting their biggest strength. In each of those 16 wins, Y-D starting pitchers have given up three runs or fewer.

For win No. 16 last night, a Sox starter delivered the usual, with Justin Jacome (UC Santa Barbara) going six scoreless innings as Y-D topped West-leading Bourne 7-0.

Jacome has been one of the leaders of the pitching-driven streak, along with Kevin Duchene (Illinois) and Cody Poteet (UCLA). Jacome has won four starts in a row and is now 5-0 on the year with a 1.28 ERA. In his win streak, he has gone at least five innings and allowed two runs or fewer in each start.

Duchene has won three of his last four starts and has allowed one earned run in those games. Poteet has also won three of four – and Y-D won the other game when Poteet had a no-decision. Poteet delivered the best start of all on July 11, when he struck out 10 in six scoreless innings against Harwich.

Mix in Michael Murray (Florida Gulf Coast), a spring standout who is still looking to hit his stride, and late arrival Walker Buehler (Vanderbilt), and Y-D clearly has the best starting pitching rotation in the league. The numbers are pretty astounding. In the 16 wins, Y-D starters have gone at least five innings 14 times and have allowed one or zero earned runs 11 times. Oddly, two of the four losses in the span have come in 12-1 and 13-2 games, but apart from those, the pitching has dominated.

Jacome continued the trend against Bourne on Thursday, limiting the Braves to just two hits in his six innings of work. The bullpen – which has been plenty good too – made the shutout stand up, with Parker Bugg (LSU) going two scoreless innings and Dimitri Kourtis (Mercer) finishing off the last inning.

The offense has scored 23 runs in the last three victories and knocked 12 hits in Thursday’s game. Andrew Stevenson (LSU) had three, while Josh Lester (Missouri), Jordan Tarsovich (VMI) and Timothy Wharton (Catawba) knocked in two runs apiece.

Y-D is now 21-15, just two points back of Harwich and Orleans, who are tied for first in the East.

Harwich 5, Brewster 3

A night after a loss to Orleans knocked them from first place, the Mariners took advantage of a night off for the Firebirds by beating Brewster to move back into a tie for first place in the East. Robby Kalaf (Florida International) allowed one earned run in five innings and Johnathan Frebis (Middle Tennessee State) shut the door with four scoreless innings of relief. Angelo Amendolare (Jacksonville) had two RBI to lead the offense. Brendon Sanger (Florida Atlantic) and Sal Annunziata (Seton Hall) knocked in one run each. For Brewster, Gio Brusa (Pacific) hit his fourth home run.

Chatham 4, Hyannis 3

Chatham snapped a four-game skid with a 3-2 victory over Hyannis. Garrett Williams (Oklahoma State), a former top 100 player out of high school, hadn’t pitched more than 3.1 innings in any outing this year, but broke through for six strong frames against the Harbor Hawks. He allowed one run on three hits while striking out three. A.J. Murray (Georgia Tech) and Chris Shaw (Boston College), two of the top three RBI men in the league, knocked in a run apiece, while Nick Collins (Georgetown) also had an RBI. Jordan Hillyer (Kennesaw State), who will start for the East in Sunday’s all-star game, pitched the ninth for Chatham and struck out two for the save.