Category: Daily Fog

This time of year, batting averages are starting to settle in. If you were hot to start, you’ve probably had a little cool streak. It’s the way it goes.

But Brewster’s team batting average is the exception at this point.

The Whitecaps have been the best hitting team for most of the season. It’s staying that way now — and the gap is getting bigger. Brewster leads the league with a .290 team batting average. Hyannis and Cotuit are tied for second at .262.

The .290 mark is almost unheard of in the Cape League. Last year’s top team average was Y-D’s .254. Going back further, the highest average in the last 10 seasons was Y-D’s .278 in 2007. And that team featured Buster Posey and Gordon Beckham.

Brewster’s average will most likely go down at some point, but the Whitecaps have made it this far, and they kept hitting last night.

On their way to a third straight win, they beat Chatham 7-2. They touched up Chatham starter Buck Farmer (Georgia Tech) for five runs and finished the day with 12 hits.

The usual suspects did much of the damage. On various days this summer, three different Whitecaps have held the league lead in batting average: Taylor Davis (Morehead State), Ryan Jones (Michigan State) and Andrew Toles (Tennessee). Davis has it now after going 2-for-3 last night. He’s hitting .371.

Jones took an 0-for-3 last night but he’s still fourth in the league. Toles went 2-for-5 last night and ranks fifth at .346.

The other thing Brewster has going for it is that pretty much everybody else can chip in as well. Seven of the nine players in the lineup last night have a batting average above .300.

With that kind of team, different people are going to step up every night. Last night, Trace Tam Sing (Washington State) hit a home run while Jason Monda (Washington State) went 2-for-4 with a triple.

Of course, Brewster pitchers are happy about all of this. Armed with a lead, Max Garner (Baylor) allowed one earned run in six innings for the win.

The victory keeps Brewster four points back of first-place Harwich.

Elsewhere

A day after beating West leader Hyannis, Harwich impressed again last night with a 9-5 victory over Y-D, one of the three East teams that has stayed on Harwich’s heels. The Mariners finished with 12 hits and five went for extra bases. Jabari Henry (Florida International) and Andrew Rash (Virginia Tech) each hit home runs. John Wooten (East Carolina) went 3-for-4 while Billy Burns (Mercer) went 2-for-5. Kevin Carlow (Brown) got the win in relief as Harwich took the lead in the sixth. Carter Capps (Mt. Olive) pitched 2.2 scoreless innings to keep his ERA at 0.00, while Grant Gordon (Missouri State) pitched a scoreless ninth. For Y-D, Mike Zunino (Florida) made his first start and went 0-for-5 in the cleanup spot.

Hyannis bounced back from its loss to Harwich with a 5-3 victory over Wareham. Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) had one of his best nights of the season, going 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Eric Stamets (Evansville) and Kevin Plawecki (Purdue) had two hits apiece, while Chadd Krist (California) went 3-for-4 in his season debut. Stamets and Cal Towey (Baylor) knocked in runs in the eighth as Hyannis broke a 3-3 tie. Kyle Kraus (Portland) picked up the win with two scoreless innings. Dietrich Enns (Central Michigan) went two innings for the save.

Orleans and Cotuit played to a 5-5 tie at Lowell Park. The teams combined for 24 hits, led by Orleans’ b (Arizona), who went 4-for-5 with two runs scored. Andrew Aplin (Arizona State), Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville State) and Maxx Tissenbaum (Stony Brook) had two hits each for the Firebirds. Alex Yarbrough (Ole Miss) paced Cotuit with two hits and two RBI, while Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) had two hits and knocked in one. Cotuit tied the game in the eighth on a single by Yarbrough that scored Kevin Mager (Rollins). Mager had reached on a fielder’s choice, and he took second and third on balks.

What to Watch
Game: Brewster will try to stay hot when it visits West-leading Hyannis at 7 p.m.
Player: You could watch any Brewster hitter at this point, but I’d keep an eye on Taylor Davis tonight. He’s gone hitless just once in his last eight games and leads the league in hitting.

Cotuit recently lost seven of nine games and scored a total of 12 runs in those losses. Falmouth started the season 0-7, and in those losses, scored a total of 10 runs.

Offense hasn’t been as much of a problem for those teams lately, and it certainly wasn’t a problem last night.

Cotuit rolled to an 11-2 victory over Bourne — its second in a row since its tough stretch — while Falmouth posted the league’s biggest offensive day of the season with a 15-6 victory over Wareham.

The win by the Kettleers keeps them within striking distance in the West. They’re now two points back of Bourne, who’s in a tie for third place with Wareham.

Cotuit had beaten Falmouth 6-3 on Monday on the strength of 11 hits. The bats were even hotter last night, with the Kettleers delivering a season-high 14 hits and a new season-high in runs.

You could probably guess that Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) was involved, and in fact, he did the most damage. Roache was only three for his last 15 coming into the game, but he went 3-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBI. The home run ties him for the league lead with four and the RBI total brings him to a league-high 15.

Roache wasn’t the only one chipping in. Ryon Healy (Oregon) also hit a home run and went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Stefan Sabol (Oregon), Kyle Wren (Georgia Tech) and Alex Yarbrough (Ole Miss) also had two hits. Mike Yastrzemski (Vanderbilt), just in from the College World Series, made his 2011 debut and went 1-for-2.

Kevin Ziomek (Vanderbilt) got the win for the Kettleers.

As for Falmouth, the offensive fireworks were even brighter. The Commodores finished with 15 runs on 21 hits. Their team batting average coming into the game was .217. It’s now .232.

Jack Marder (Oregon) and Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s) each had four hits apiece, while Jake Rodriguez (Oregon State) and Eric Garcia (Missouri) each drove in four runs. Max White (Oklahoma) and Kyle VonTungeln (TCU) drove in two runs each.

The impressive thing is that the Commodores did it against pitchers who have been pretty solid. Brent Suter (Harvard) was the starter and he came in with an ERA of 2.80. Wareham’s relievers have also been good, but no one was immune to Falmouth’s burst.

The Commodores are now alone in second place in the West, pretty amazing considering their 0-7 start. Since then, Falmouth is 11-4.

Elsewhere

First-place teams Harwich and Hyannis met at Whitehouse Field, and it was the Mariners who came out on top, winning 3-2. Tyler Jones (LSU) started and pitched well for Harwich, allowing one earned in 4.2 innings. The bullpen did the rest, and Hyannis stood no chance of a comeback once Harwich got the lead. Chris Overman (NC State) pitched 2.1 hitless innings before Lex Rutledge (Samford) went two scoreless frames for the save. The Mariners took the lead in the seventh on a Luke Voit (Missouri State) RBI double.

Losers of six in a row, Chatham finally stopped the skid with a 3-2 victory over Y-D. The Anglers led most of the way before Y-D tied it at 2-2 in the eight. But Chatham responded in the bottom half, getting a run on an RBI single by Joe Sever (Pepperdine). Zack Jones (San Jose State), who had come out of the bullpen in the top of the eighth, stayed in after Chatham got the lead and picked up the win. Tim Cooney (Wake Forest) and had his best outing of the summer. He struck out eight and didn’t walk anybody in seven shutout innings. For Y-D, first-team All-American and SEC Player of the Year Mike Zunino (Florida) made his Cape League debut and went 1-for-2 after coming on as a pinch-hitter.

Brewster beat Orleans 8-1 to move into a three-way tie for second with the Firebirds and Y-D. The Whitecaps almost matched Falmouth’s hit total, finishing with 18 on the night. Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook) hit his fourth home run, while Ryan Jones (Michigan State) went 3-for-5 to take over the league lead in hitting. J.J. Altobelli (Oregon) and Danny Hayes (Oregon State) also had three hits. Scott Griggs (UCLA) went 5.1 shutout innings for the win. Orleans was limited to three hits.

What to Watch
Game: Falmouth will try to stay hot against a Bourne team that gave up plenty to Cotuit last night. The game is at Falmouth at 7 p.m.
Player: We’ll see if the Commodores even need a big offensive night. League strikeout leader Joe Bircher (Bradley) is scheduled to start for Falmouth.

From the very beginning of the summer, Hyannis has been playing well. The Harbor Hawks won their first three games and five of their first six, serving notice that this year might be different.

Because it’s been a while in Hyannis. The franchise hasn’t finished a season with an above-.500 record since they 2003, when they were still the Mets and they went 21-19-4. They’ve finished in last place the last two years and they won only 14 games last season.

On Monday — Independence Day — the Harbor Hawks celebrated their newfound independence from that past.

Hyannis beat Y-D 4-1 for its 14th win of the summer, the same total it finished with a year ago.

And something tells me they won’t stop there.

The Harbor Hawks are now 14-6 and holding the best record in the league. They’ve won five out of six again after their only brief skid of the season. They have an eight-point cushion in the standings and are the only team in the West with a winning record.

To reach 14, they delivered another strong effort. Hyannis fell behind 1-0 in the top of the third but tied it immediately, took the lead in the fifth and never looked back. Dylan Floro (Cal State Fullerton) allowed nine hits in eight innings but struck out six, didn’t walk anybody and surrendered just one run. The no walks is big for Floro, who previously had walked almost as many as he had struck out.

Nick Wittgren (Purdue) struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his third save.

On the offensive side, Eric Stamets (Evansville) had three hits out of the leadoff spot while Justin Gonzalez (Florida State) went 2-for-4 with a home run. Kevin Plawecki (Purdue) and Cal Towey (Baylor) also had two hits apiece, and Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville) delivered an RBI.

Hyannis will try to keep the good times rolling today when it visits Harwich in a battle of first-place teams.

Elsewhere

Orleans took care of the fireworks last night with a 12-0 victory over rival Chatham at Veterans Field. Orleans smacked 11 hits and blew the game open in the middle innings, winning for the second straight time while handing Chatham its sixth straight loss. Andrew Aplin (Arizona State) and Jayce Boyd (Florida State) led the attack with three RBI each, and Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount) added a home run. Mike Hauschild (Dayton) made his first start after pitching well in relief and didn’t need all the offensive support. He struck out eight and allowed three hits in six shutout innings. Kenny Long (Illinois State) struck out four of the six batters he faced in two innings of relief, and Nick Mutz finished it off with a scoreless ninth.

Bourne also posted a shutout win, this one a 5-0 victory over Wareham. Ryan Eades (LSU) struck out five in six innings for the win before Slade Smith (Auburn) and John Farrell (William & Mary) closed it out. Jason Coats (TCU) led the offense with three hits and two RBI, while Patrick Cantwell (Stony Brook) also had three hits. Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) also picked up an RBI and now leads the league with 14. For Wareham, John Andreoli (UConn) finally cooled off and went 0-for-4.

Brewster came back from a loss to Harwich on Sunday with a 6-4 victory last night. The Whitecaps led 6-0 before Harwich scored four in the eighth. Brewster reliever Brandon Love (Mercer) put out the fire, though, and J.T. Chargois (Rice) pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the victory. Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook) had a home run and three RBI to lead Brewster. Austin Nola (LSU) had three RBI for Harwich.

North Carolina standout Kent Emanuel made his start for Falmouth and allowed two runs in six innings but was out-dueled by five Cotuit pitchers in a 6-3 Kettleers win. R.J. Fondon (Florida International) went six innings for the win, allowing one run on five hits. Michael Clevinger (Seminole JC) and Bobby Wahl (Ole Miss) each pitched scoreless innings before Falmouth tried mounting a comeback in the ninth with two runs off Trent Daniel (Arkansas). But Mason McVay (Florida International) came on for the final out and the save. Kevin Mager (Rollins) had three RBI to lead the Cotuit attack.

What to Watch
Game: As mentioned above, Hyannis and Harwich get together for a match-up of first-place teams at Whitehouse Field at 7 p.m. The teams have split their first two meetings.
Player: Eric Stamets (Evansville) has been a steady force atop the Hyannis lineup all summer. He leads the team with a .329 batting average.

Wareham’s John Andreoli (UConn) was drafted in the 17th round of this year’s draft by the Chicago Cubs. He’s back for a second summer in Wareham, and if he’s trying to raise his stock, he’s certainly helped his cause the last two nights.

Let’s hope the Cubs were watching.

Starting with Saturday’s game against Hyannis and continuing into last night’s match-up with Bourne, Andreoli has gone seven for his last seven. That’s as hot a stretch as anybody has had this summer, and about as hot as anybody could ever hope to be, I would think.

Andreoli doesn’t qualify for the batting average leaderboard because he’s only played in 10 games, but if he did qualify, he’d be leading by a wide, wide margin. Andreoli was hitting .333 when Saturday’s game began. He’s now hitting .457.

His big nights started innocently enough. Batting second on Saturday, he struck out in the first inning.

Then the streak began.

Andreoli hit singles in all of the rest of his at-bats on Saturday and drove in a run. Last night, he put down a sacrifice bunt in the first inning, so somebody actually did get him out, but since that doesn’t count against him, the streak remained.

And he certainly made it a streak. Andreoli singled in the third, doubled in the fifth and singled again in the seventh to finish off the 3-for-3 night.

While Andreoli hasn’t shown a ton of pop — the double was his first — his hot bat will certainly play for Wareham. He also stole three bases and scored what proved to be the winning run in the 3-2 victory over Bourne last night.

Wareham plays Bourne again today at 4 p.m., so Andreoli won’t be catching anyone by surprise. And he obviously won’t stay this hot.

But it’s been quite a stretch.

Elsewhere

Beyond Andreoli, Wareham’s Josh Turley (Baylor) picked up his second straight victory in the Gatemen win. He went six innings and allowed one run. Josh Urban (Texas), Barrett Astin (Arkansas) and Konner Wade (Arizona) finished it off. Max Muncy (Baylor) and Brandon Thomas (Georgia Tech) each had two hits for Wareham.

Harwich delivered some holiday-weekend dramatics with a 4-3 walk-off victory over Brewster. With the game tied in the ninth, John Wooten (East Carolina) and Keith Werman (Virginia) singled. Ronnie Richardson (Central Florida) then walked to load the bases before Austin Nola (LSU) delivered the game-winner. And Nola made sure he was the one who got it — he fouled off six pitches in a 10-pitch at-bat before lining a single to right. Nola had been in a four-game hitless streak but he had two in this one. Carter Capps (Mt. Olive) got the win in relief with two scoreless innings, which kept his ERA at 0.00. Led Rutledge (Samford) made his debut and struck out two in a scoreless inning.

Y-D cooled off a Hyannis team that had won four straight with a 5-2 victory. The Red Sox themselves have now won three in a row and are just two points back of Harwich for first place in the East. Joey DeNato (Indiana) only struck out two but also surrendered just three hits in 7.2 innings to pick up the win. Matt Reckling (Rice) got a key out in the eighth — a strikeout of Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) — before Kyle Hansen (St. John’s) picked up the save. Mason Katz (LSU) drove in three runs to lead the Y-D offense and vaulted to the top of the RBI leaderboard in the process.

Falmouth was out-hit 10-7 but pushed three runs across in the second and never looked back en route to a 3-1 victory over Cotuit. Max White (Oklahoma) had an RBI single and Eric Garcia (Missouri) knocked in two with a double in the second. Sean Hagan (St. John’s) went 4.2 innings and got the win. Tyler Duffey (Rice), Nate Koneski (Holy Cross) and Josh Easley (NC State) combined to allow seven hits in the final 4.1 innings but got out of every bit of trouble to seal the victory. Cotuit was led by Alex Yarbrough (Ole Miss), who went 3-for-5 with a home run.

Orleans got three solid pitching performances and did damage offensively with two home runs to beat Chatham 7-3. Ryan Carpenter (Gonzaga) struck out eight and allowed three runs in five innings. Tyler Gebler (Rutgers) and Trevor Gott (Kentucky) came out of the bullpen and allowed no runs. The Firebird offense was led by Jayce Boyd (Florida State) and Ronnie Shaeffer (UC Irvine), who each had two hits and a home run. Matt Roberts (UNC), playing in his second game of the summer, went 3-for-4 with a homer for Chatham. The loss was Chatham’s fifth in a row. Orleans improved to 9-8-2 with the win.

What to Watch
Game: All the same match-ups today. Should be a good one in Hyannis when Y-D comes to town for a 6 p.m. game.
Players: Third-round pick Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) is scheduled to make his first start for Y-D. Hyannis counters with Dylan Floro (Cal State Fullerton), who’s been very good so far.

East-leading Harwich had dropped three in a row heading into last night’s game with Chatham. The skid was due in part to the fact that Harwich was falling behind early.

Because when the Mariners get a lead and go to their bullpen, that’s pretty much their perfect formula.

That’s what happened last night as Harwich got back on track with a 6-0 victory over the Anglers. Nick Routt (Mississippi State), who was making his first start, allowed no runs on one hit in 5.2 innings and struck out nine.

With a 1-0 lead that grew to a 6-0 lead in the sixth, the Harwich bullpen went to work. Kevin Carlow (Brown) allowed two hits but pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings. Chris Overman (NC State) and Grant Gordon (Missouri State) then pitched perfect innings to finish it off.

That’s nothing new. Harwich is now 11-7 on the year. In just about all of the wins, the bullpen has played a major role — and often a starring role.

Harwich relievers have pitched 66.1 innings this year and have allowed 10 earned runs. That’s a bullpen ERA of 1.36.

The individual stats are even more impressive. Seven Harwich relievers haven’t allowed any earned runs. The stars include Carlow, Overman and Gordon, as well as Carter Capps (Mt. Olive), Blake Hauser (VCU), and Andrew Leenhouts (Northeastern).

The lesson? If you want to hang with Harwich, you better score early.

Elsewhere

To stick with the Harwich game for a minute, the Mariner offense pounded out 14 hits in the victory. Jabari Henry (Florida International) and Billy Burns (Mercer) had three apiece.

Hyannis picked up its fourth straight win and stopped Wareham’s three-game winning streak with a 9-5 victory. Kevin Plawecki (Purdue) went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) hit his third home run. Austin Elkins (Dallas Baptist) was 3-for-3. Dean McArdle (Stanford) got the start and surrendered three earned runs in five innings. Relievers Eric Ruth (Winthrop), Matt Dermondy (Iowa) and Nick Wittgren (Purdue) finished it off with four scoreless innings, putting Hyannis eight points ahead of the Gatemen. Wareham was led by John Andreoli (UConn), who went 4-for-5 with an RBI. L.J. Mazzilli (UConn) returned from a stint as an alternate for Team USA and had a double.

Cotuit scored two in the top of the ninth to beat Bourne 3-2. Chris Beck (Georgia Southern) looked like he’d be a hard-luck loser for the second game in a row. He allowed just two unearned runs in 7.2 innings. But the Kettleers rallied in the ninth in vintage Cotuit style. Krey Bratsen (Texas A&M) reached base on a dropped third strike, moved to second on a sac bunt, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a squeeze bunt by Logan Vick (Baylor). After Kevin Mager (Rollins) singled, Stefan Sabol (Oregon State) doubled him home with the go-ahead run. The Kettleers had lost nine of 10 coming into the game but are still only five points out of second place.

Y-D scored five in the eighth to beat Falmouth 7-5 for its second straight win. The Commodores led 3-2 going into the eighth when Y-D started pushing. Five walks — two with the bases loaded — and an error paved the way for the five-run burst. Amazingly, Y-D did some of that damage against Falmouth closer John Simms (Rice), who hadn’t allowed a run before last night. He was charged with two unearned runs after relieving Ian Gardeck (Angelina), who was charged with three earned. Mason Katz (LSU) and Anthony Melchionda (Boston College) had two hits each to lead the Y-D offense.

Orleans and Brewster played to a 7-7 tie. Orleans starter Kurt Heyer (Arizona) and his counterpart Jordan John (Oklahoma) were both roughed up early and neither made it past the fourth inning. Orleans took a one-run lead in the seventh but Brewster got an RBI single by J.J. Altobelli (Oregon) in the eighth to tie it. Ryan Jones (Michigan State) and Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook) led the Whitecaps with three hits apiece. Maxx Tissenbaum (Stony Brook) went 3-for-4 with four RBI to lead Orleans.

What to Watch
Game: Orleans and Chatham renew their rivalry for the first time this season with a 7 p.m. game at Eldredge Park.
Player: The scheduled starter for Orleans is Gonzaga’s Ryan Carpenter, a 6’5, 225-pound lefty who was a seventh-round pick of the Rays in the June draft.

Joe Bircher wasn’t on the Falmouth roster when I wrote that preview, and I never know quite as much about the late additions like him.

In Bircher’s case, it’s certainly time to learn. We’re in that part of the season when stars are starting to cement their spots, and Bircher has been one of the brightest.

A junior at Bradley, the 6’4 205-pound lefty posted his fourth very strong start last night in a 4-0 Falmouth win over Brewster. Bircher is now 1-1 with a 1.57 ERA. He leads the league with 31 strikeouts (in 23 innings) and he has amazingly issued just two walks. Opponents are hitting just .169 against him and he’s given up only four earned runs.

Bircher was locked in a pitchers’ duel last night with Brewster’s Tony Buccifero (Michigan State), who’s been great in his own right. He has a 1.48 ERA.

Bircher’s Commodores scored four runs in the ninth to win it, when he was already out of the game. But he certainly set the stage. Bircher struck out six and walked one in seven scoreless innings, surrendering just three hits.

That marks the third straight start that Bircher has allowed one run or less and three hits or less. And last night, he did it against a Brewster team that leads the league in hitting by a pretty wide margin.

Bircher has had summer success before. Last year, he played for the Mat-Su Miners in Alaska and went 6-1 with a league-best 1.29 ERA. He was solid this spring, with a 3.00 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 105 innings, but it looks like summer is the time when he shines brightest.

I think we’ll be watching now.

Elsewhere

Wareham also got a shutout win over Cotuit by a 2-0 score. Justin Amlung (Louisville) allowed just one hit in five innings and Joe Flynn (Franklin Pierce), Daniel Feehan (UConn) and Konner Wade (Arizona) kept it rolling, allowing just two more hits. On the offensive side, Max Muncy (Baylor) drove in both of Wareham’s runs. Kyle Zimmer (San Francisco) was the hard-luck loser for Cotuit. He allowed just one earned run in seven innings.

Y-D jumped into second place and got closer to first-place Harwich with a 4-3 victory over the Mariners. Alex Gonzalez (Oral Roberts) got the win with 5.1 strong innings. He allowed one run on five hits to pick up his first summer victory after a great freshman season. The Y-D offense was led by James Ramsey (Florida State) and Cody Keefer (UCLA), who each had two hits. Matt Reynolds (Arkansas) picked up his 10th RBI. Harwich lost for the third straight time.

It looked like Hyannis had finally cooled off earlier this week when it lost three in a row. But the Harbor Hawks have heated right back up. They won their third straight last night with a 6-1 victory over Chatham. Joey Rickard (Arizona) went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and two RBI to lead the offense. Justin Gonzalez (Florida State) also had two RBI, while Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) had one to bring his total to 10. Scott Firth (Clemson) started for Hyannis and went only 3.1 innings, but Kyle Kraus (Portland) followed with 3.1 scoreless innings before Dietrich Enns (Central Michigan) and Kolt Browder (Baylor) finished it off. Hyannis is now a league-best 12-5.

Bourne moved over .500 with a 5-1 victory over Orleans. Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) stayed hot for the Braves with two hits and three RBI. He’s had two hits in four of his last six games. Tommy Coyle (North Carolina) also had two hits, while UNC teammate and ACC Freshman of the Year Colin Moran had his first hit of the summer in his second game with Bourne. Josh Conway (Coastal Carolina) went six strong innings for the win, striking out six and allowing just an unearned run.

What to Watch
Game: For whatever reason, it seems like top teams haven’t played each other yet, but that changes tonight when West leader Hyannis hosts second-place Wareham at 7 p.m. Both teams have won three in a row.
Players: Wareham’s Robert Refsnyder (Arizona) has seven hits in his last four games and leads the Gatemen with five extra-base hits. Refsnyder’s Arizona teammate Joey Rickard has been even hotter for Hyannis. Rickard has had two hits in each of his last four games, and five have gone for extra bases.

Considering the fact that he hit .270 this spring, I’ve kind of been waiting for the other shoe to drop with Brewster’s Andrew Toles (Tennessee). Yes, he was a fourth round pick last year and he’s certainly shaping up to be one of the more talented freshman on the Cape. But would he really keep hitting all summer? I didn’t think so. The shoe was going to drop.

It hasn’t happened yet.

Toles went 3-for-5 last night to raise his league-leading average to .383. He also led Brewster to a 6-3 win over Y-D.

Toles has been perhaps the biggest constant of the 2011 season thus far. He has started 14 of 15 the team’s 15 games, and has been in the leadoff spot for every one of those. He has reached base in 13 games and has hit safely in 12 of them.

In short, he’s been just about perfect. His on-base percentage is .403, and he’s stolen eight bases. He doesn’t have a ton of extra-base hits or RBI, but the middle of Brewster’s order has that taken care of. Toles is supposed to give them a chance, and he’s certainly been doing that.

His success has mirrored his team’s success. Toles has had three-hit game four times, and each of those times, Brewster has posted a victory.

Last night, Y-D was victim. It was the second straight three-hit night for Toles, who had gone 1 for his last 10 before that.

This time, Toles scored a run and had a stolen base. Teammates Preston Beck (Texas-Arlington) and Jack Mayfield (Oklahoma) each hit home runs, while Ryan Jones (Michigan State) went 2-for-4.

The Whitecaps rolled up 12 hits and moved just three points back of Harwich for first place in the East.

Toles remains one of the biggest reasons why.

Elsewhere

After dropping the first of three games to Cotuit on Monday, Hyannis came back to win the Patriot Cup with a victory Tuesday and a 4-3 win last night. Eric Stamets (Evansville) and Joey Rickard (Arizona) had two hits to lead the offense while Ryan Gibson (Oklahoma) delivered a dominant long-relief performance. He came on in the fourth and allowed a hit that inning, then didn’t surrender another one. He struck out seven in 5.2 innings before Nick Wittgren (Purdue) came on to get the final out. Hyannis is now 11-5. For Cotuit, Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) had an RBI to take over the league lead with 12.

Orleans toppled first-place Harwich 5-1 on the strength of dominant pitching. The Firebirds have the lowest team ERA in the league and they showed it last night. Tyler Johnson (Stony Brook) got the start and allowed one run on two hits in five innings. Those were the only hits Harwich would get as Kenny Long (Illinois State), John Brebbia (Elon) and Trevor Gott (Kentucky) pitched the final four innings without giving up a hit. Together, they faced only one batter over the minimum. The Orleans offense was powered by Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville State), who drove in two. Andrew Aplin (Arizona) and Tarran Senay (NC State) each had two hits and two runs scored.

With Wareham’s victory over Bourne and a 6-4 win of their own over Chatham, the Falmouth Commodores moved into a three-way logjam for second in the West. Andrew Heaney (Oklahoma State) picked up the win with five solid innings. He allowed two runs on four hits and struck out four. Tyler Duffey (Rice) and Nathan Thornhill (Texas) then bridged the gap to John Simms (Rice), who was lights out again. He picked up his league-leading fifth save with a perfect ninth, striking out two. Simms still hasn’t allowed a run this season. As for the Falmouth offense, they pounded out 10 hits, getting one from eight of nine spots in the order. Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s) had two RBI, while Billy Ferriter (UConn) went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Wareham topped Bourne 8-4 thanks to three-run rallies in the sixth and seventh innings. John Andreoli (UConn) went 3-for-5 with two RBI, and Johnny Field (Arizona) also had three hits and two RBI. Robert Refsnyder (Arizona) and Max Muncy (Baylor) each had two hits apiece as the Gatemen posted a season-high 14 hits. After Matt Grimes (Georgia Tech) allowed one earned run in 4.1 innings, Barrett Astin (Arkansas) got the win in relief with 2.2 scoreless innings. In three appearances, Astin hasn’t allowed a run.

What to Watch
There’s a league-wide off-day today. Looking ahead to tomorrow, there should be a good pitching match-up in Hyannis when Chatham sends Keith Bilodeau up against Hyannis’ Scott Firth.

Because their June 22 game was rescheduled for Monday, Cotuit and Hyannis have found themselves in an odd situation this week. While everyone else is in the normal grind, the rival Kettleers and Harbor Hawks have been staging a little three-game series, with three games on three consecutive days.

They’ll play tonight’s third game regardless, of course, but Hyannis made sure last night that the series — and the Barnstable Patriot Cup — would still be up for grabs.

Losers of three straight coming in — including a 3-1 loss to Cotuit on Monday — Hyannis snapped the skid with a 7-2 victory over the Kettleers on Tuesday.

Cotuit struck first on a solo home run by Victor Roache (Georgia Southern), his third of the season. But in the fourth inning, Hyannis slugger Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) answered with a two-run shot. Oddly enough, that’s the second time this year that Roache and Walker have hit home runs on the same night.

Walker’s blast was part of a three-run fourth, with Jeremy Dowdy (Appalachian State) knocking in the other run.

Cotuit made it 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth but never got closer. After Dylan Floro (Cal State Fullerton) went four innings, the Hyannis bullpen shined. Nick Wittgren (Purdue) got the win with 1.2 scoreless innings before Dietrich Enns (Central Michigan) closed the door with 3.1 hitless innings.

Hyannis added to its lead with a run in the eighth and three in the ninth. Walker finished 2-for-5 with three RBI, giving him a team-best nine for the season. Kevin Plawecki (Purdue) went 2-for-4 with and RBI while Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville) added an RBI double.

Hyannis will host tonight’s game at 7 p.m.

Elsewhere

Bourne stopped Harwich’s five-game winning streak with a 5-1 victory. Tommy Collier (San Jacinto) was listed as the probable starter yesterday morning but Brian Ward (UConn) went instead, and that was fine with the Braves. Making his second appearance, Ward struck out seven in five shutout innings and surrendered just two hits. The Mariners had put up 24 hits in their last two games. The Bourne bullpen was also strong, with four pitchers going an inning each to keep Harwich down. Mike Lebel (Rhode Island) had two hits and an RBI to lead the Brave offense, while Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) drove in two.

Wareham also stopped a five-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory over Falmouth. The Gatemen scored all three runs in the top of the first on a Max Muncy (Baylor) RBI single and a two-run single by Mott Hyde (Georgia Tech). Falmouth got a run back in the third on an RBI single by Ross Heffley (Western Carolina) but couldn’t get anything else. Brent Suter (Harvard) allowed just an unearned run in five innings for the win. Daniel Feehan (UConn) and Joe Flynn (Franklin Pierce) kept Falmouth off the board before Konner Wade (Arizona) worked a scoreless ninth for his third save. Wareham and Falmouth are now tied for third in the West.

Y-D hopped over Orleans in the East standings when it edged the Firebirds 5-4. James Ramsey (Florida State) and Matt Reynolds (Arkansas) each hit home runs for the Red Sox, with those homers accounting for all of Y-D’s runs. Andrew Thurman (UC Irvine) got the win with six strong innings. Kyle Hansen (St. John’s) came out of the bullpen for the first time this summer and struck out five in three innings. He allowed two runs in the seventh before retiring seven batters in a row to finish out the game.

Chatham and Brewster had their game fogged out at Veterans Field.

What to Watch
Game: Bourne has made a nice run lately and will try to keep it going with a 7 p.m. game at Wareham.
Players: Wareham leadoff hitter Brandon Thomas (Georgia Tech) has been among the best in the league so far. He’s hitting .370 with six stolen bases.

Not too long ago, Hyannis was threatening to run away and hide at the top of the West Division. The Harbor Hawks were eight points ahead of their nearest competitor.

But with Hyannis hitting a speed bump in recent days — the Harbor Hawks have lost three in a row — the opportunity was there for someone to get closer.

Two teams seized it and it’s not the two you might have picked. Falmouth and Bourne, who both got off to very rough starts this summer, are now within striking distance. Bourne is three points back of Hyannis while Falmouth is four back. The Braves have won two in a row and three of four, while Falmouth has won five straight.

Last night, Bourne got one of its best pitching performances of the season to beat Orleans 3-0. The Braves have had to patch things together and have frequently used four or five pitchers in a game. This time, Ryan Eades (LSU) went six shutout innings, striking out four and allowing only two hits. Slade Smith (Auburn) then worked two scoreless frames before R.J. Alvarez (Florida Atlantic) struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save.

The Braves offense tallied nine hits, with Jason Coats (TCU) going 3-for-3 with two RBI to lead the way. D.J. Hicks (Central Florida) also had an RBI.

As for Falmouth, the Commodores won for the seventh time in eight games since their 0-7 start, beating Y-D 2-1. Falmouth trailed into the seventh but picked up a run then and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth on a safety squeeze by Jack Marder (Oregon). Josh Easley (NC State) then worked a scoreless ninth to seal it.

Marder finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and Kyle VonTungeln (TCU) went 3-for-5. Taylor Sandefur (Western Carolina) got the win in relief after starter Sean Hagans (St. John’s) allowed one run in seven innings.

Elsewhere

One note from the Bourne-Orleans game. Pitching in relief for the Firebirds was Kent State’s Andrew Chafin, who was a supplemental first-round pick this year. I don’t know how long he’ll be staying, but he’s not the highest pick on the Cape. He was the 43rd overall pick.

Cotuit snapped a five-game skid with a 3-1 victory over Hyannis. Alex Yarborough (Ole Miss) went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead the offense while starter R.J. Fondon (Florida International) struck out six and allowed one run in six innings. Bobby Wahl (Ole Miss) cruised through two innings with four strikeouts for his third save. Hyannis starter Jon Moscot (Pepperdine) hadn’t allowed a run coming in, but was charged with all three in six innings of work.

Brewster edged Chatham 2-1 and moved into a second-place tie with Orleans in the East. The Whitecaps got a strong performance from Luke Bard (Georgia Tech). He had struggled in his first start, and though he walked five this time, he also struck out eight and surrendered only two hits in six shutout innings. Andrew Toles (Tennessee) led the offense with three hits, Preston Beck (Texas-Arlington) hit a home run and Taylor Davis (Morehead State) went 1-for-3 to stay atop the batting average leaderboard.

What to Watch
Games: Harwich will be looking for its sixth win in a row when it hosts Bourne at 7 p.m. Hyannis and Cotuit also meet for the second night in a row, this one in Cotuit.
Players: The Mariners won’t have an easy time getting that sixth straight win. Bourne is starting Tommy Collier (San Jacinto), who went six shutout innings in his last start. Harwich, though, does counter with Tanner Perkins (Western Kentucky) who went 6.1 shutout innings in his last start.

On a night when the Hyannis offense was held down for the second game in a row in a 5-0 loss to Bourne, the Harwich Mariners continued their surge and surpassed Hyannis for the best record in the league. Harwich beat Cotuit 7-3 for its fifth consecutive victory. The Mariners are now 10-4, and have gone 8-2 since a 2-2 start.

The win over Cotuit was a pretty typical performance — solid pitching from everybody who took the mound and plenty of offense. Joe Mantiply (Virginia Tech) started and allowed two runs in three innings. Anthony Pisani (Rhode Island) then allowed a run in a third of an inning before the bullpen slammed the door. Chris Overman (NC State) went 2.2 shutout innings for the victory andb(Mt. Olive) added two more scoreless frames before Blake Hauser (Virginia Commonwealth) got himself into then out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam to seal the win.

Harwich has now allowed three runs or less in every game of its winning streak. In fact, when you look at the whole season, Harwich has only allowed more than three runs in two games — and one was a victory. Orleans still has the edge on Harwich for the league lead in team ERA, but the Mariners have certainly been good enough.

As for the offense, the numbers say the Mariners haven’t completely hit their stride yet. As a team, they’re batting .226, eighth in the league. But last night, they had double-digit hits for the second game in a row — so maybe they’re starting to hit their stride.

Ronnie Richardson (Central Florida) and John Wooten (East Carolina) each had three hits in last night’s win. Austin Wilson (Stanford) added two RBI and Jake Davies (Georgia Tech) hit a home run. Everyone in the Harwich lineup had at least one hit and five of them drove in a run.

Elsewhere

After getting just one hit on Saturday, Hyannis had eight on Sunday but still couldn’t get in gear and lost 5-0 to Bourne. Chris Pickering (Rhode Island), a late addition to the Braves roster, had his third solid start of the year. He struck out four and scattered seven hits in 5.2 shutout innings. John Farrell (William & Mary), Kevin Brady (Clemson), and b (Florida Atlantic) did the rest, combining to allow just one hit in the final 3.1 innings to finish it off. Zach Alvord (Auburn) had a home run for Bourne while Colin Kish (Florida Southern) drove in two. With the win, Bourne moved into a three-way tie for second in the West with Wareham and Falmouth.

Speaking of Falmouth, break up the Commodores. The team that started 0-7 has lost just once since that skid and picked up its fourth win in a row last night, a 4-1 victory over Orleans. Falmouth has now beaten West-leading Hyannis and Orleans, the East’s second-place team, on consecutive nights. Andrew Aizenstadt (Babson) got the win for Falmouth last night, allowing one run in five innings to lower his ERA to 1.06. John Simms (Rice) picked up his fourth save, which is tied for the league lead — and he still hasn’t allowed a run. The Falmouth offense picked up RBI from Jack Marder (Oregon), Jake Rodriguez (Oregon State) and Max White (Oklahoma).

Chatham rallied from a 5-3 deficit with a run in the eighth and two in the ninth to beat Y-D 6-5. Amazingly, it’s the first home win of the year for Chatham. The Red Sox were still clinging to a 5-4 lead entering the bottom of the ninth, but Dane Phillips (Oklahoma State) walked with one out before Richie Shaffer (Clemson) hit a double to put runners on second and third. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Phillips scored the tying run on an error by the pitcher. Joe Sever (Pepperdine) then plated the winning run with a walk-off single to right field.

Brewster didn’t let Wareham have the same kind of comeback as the Whitecaps posted a 3-2 victory. The Gatemen picked up a run in the seventh to cut a two-run deficit to one, but the Brewster bullpen made sure they got no closer. Jordan John (Oklahoma) started and got the win for Brewster after allowing just an unearned run in five innings. Joey Chargois (Rice) picked up the save. Ryan Jones (Michigan State) had two RBI for the Whitecaps, while Taylor Davis (Morehead State) went 3-for-4 to take over the league lead in batting average. He’s now at .389.

What to Watch
Game: The rivalry game that was rained out last week is scheduled to be made up tonight as Hyannis hosts Cotuit at 7 p.m. The Harbor Hawks are trying to snap a mini-skid while Cotuit will be trying to end a six-game losing streak.
Players: Pepperdine’s Jon Moscot is the starting pitcher for Hyannis and could be just the stopper the Harbor Hawks need. Moscot hasn’t allowed a run in eight innings of work.