Category: Daily Fog

I finally made it to a game last night after some busy weeks, and I thought I had stumbled on one of the first genuine pitching gems of the season.

I had. It just wasn’t the one I thought.

Cotuit’s Chris Beck (Georgia Southern) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of last night’s game against Wareham but lost it on an RBI triple by C.T. Bradford (Mississippi State). With four Wareham pitchers combining to shut down the Kettleers, the one run was all Wareham needed to win 1-0 before a big crowd at Spillane Field.

Beck was cruising, although it was a sneaky kind of performance. He walked a couple, and Wareham had a runner reach on an error. Beck also worked slowly and went deep into a lot of counts.

But he still didn’t give up a hit until the fifth, and for Wareham, it came at a very good time. Ty Ross (LSU) walked to start the inning before Bradford smacked a deep fly ball to right. Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) couldn’t get to it, and Ross scored easily. Bradford motored to third.

The Gatemen pitchers did the rest. Josh Turley (Baylor) went 5.2 innings and Daniel Feehan (UConn) got a key out to finish the sixth. Barrett Astin, who was great as a freshman reliever for Arkansas this spring, then pitched two scoreless innings before Konner Wade (Arizona) worked a quick ninth for his second save.

Just like that, a gem was in the books.

A few other thoughts from the game:

Roache didn’t have a big game but he certainly looks the part of a national home run leader. Oddly enough, he batted leadoff last night.

A more typical leadoff hitter is Bradford, and he looks like a good one. Brandon Thomas (Georgia Tech) has been hitting leadoff and I don’t think Wareham can go wrong with either one.

Wareham had been shut out in its last two games, and it looked like Beck was going to do the same thing. He’s a big kid and he was throwing well.

Last year’s playoff MVP, Jordan Leyland, is back in a Cotuit uniform. A 44th-round pick this year, the UC Irvine junior picked up exactly where he left off, lining a single in his first at-bat.

Elsewhere

Falmouth got one of the best pitching performances of the season to cool off the first-place Hyannis Harbor Hawks by a 6-1 score. Joe Bircher (Bradley) went six innings, allowed just an unearned run, didn’t surrender a hit after the first and struck out nine against no walks. Bircher now has a 2.25 ERA and he leads the league with 25 strikeouts. He has also walked just one. Falmouth gave him a lead this time thanks to a five-run third. Spencer Kieboom (Clemson) and Billy Ferriter (UConn) each had two RBI in the surge. Max White (Oklahoma) later added a home run.

Kurt Heyer (Arizona) made his debut and turned in a pretty impressive line. He allowed four hits in five shutout innings and struck out three as Orleans beat Brewster 5-2. The Firebirds were actually out-hit 10-9, but managed to stay in front. Matt Duffy (Long Beach State) went 3-for-4 for Orleans while Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville) hit his league-leading third home run, a three-run blast in the first.

Harwich stayed three points ahead of Orleans for first place with an 8-3 victory over Chatham. The Mariners also matched Hyannis for the league-high in wins, and they set themselves on that path right out of the gates. Going up against Tim Cooney (Wake Forest), the Mariners scored seven in the first inning on seven hits and a Chatham error. Jabari Henry (Florida International) and Austin Wilson (Stanford) picked up an RBI each before John Wooten (East Carolina) knocked in two with a double. Jacoby Jones (LSU) also had an RBI to cap off the big inning. Armed with the lead, Andrew Leenhouts (Northeastern) went four innings for the win.

Bourne and Y-D ended up in a 6-6 tie as darkness forced the game to be called. There was plenty of offense before the sun set, though, with the teams combining for 31 hits. James Ramsay (Florida State) had three to lead Y-D while Anthony Melchionda (Boston College) had two hits and two RBI. Kyle Farmer (Georgia) had three hits for Bourne while Jason Coats (TCU) and Blake Crohan (Tulane) each had two RBI.

What to Watch
Game: Harwich, winners of four straight, will travel to Cotuit for a 5 p.m. game. The Kettleers have lost five in a row.
Players: There’s a standing order to watch Victor Roache of Cotuit. As for the Mariners, keep an eye on Jabari Henry, who’s had a big hand in their recent surge. Henry is hitting .262 with two homers, three doubles, a triple and 10 RBI. He’s tied for the league lead in RBI.

After two days of rainouts, the Cape League finally got back to baseball last night.

Chatham and Bourne made up for lost time.

The Anglers and Braves played a 15-inning marathon, the longest game this year and I believe the longest since another 15-inning game in 2009. After each team scored a run early, the played 12 scoreless innings before Bourne broke through for two in the top of the 15th.

The pitching stands out as the biggest story. Thirteen of them took the mound and they pitched so well, they left a lot of hitters with ugly lines.

Chatham’s Keith Bilodeau (Maine) struck out nine and allowed just an unearned run in 7.2 innings before giving way to the bullpen. Four relievers ate up the next 6.2 innings without allowing a single hit.

For Bourne, starter Josh Conway (Coastal Carolina) only lasted four innings, but the bullpen was up to the task. Six relievers combined to allow four hits and no runs in 11 innings of work. Among the stand-outs were Kevin Brady (Clemson), a 17th-round pick this year who struck out the side in the seventh in his summer debut, and Mason Melotakis (Northwestern State), who struck out five in three innings.

The Braves then got the lead in the 15th when Zach Alvord (Auburn) drew a leadoff walk, took second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a base hit by Garrett Cannizaro (Tulane). A squeeze bunt by Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook) brought Cannizaro home.

Chatham still had one last chance and got a two-out single by Joe Sever (Pepperdine) in the bottom of the 15th. But John Farrell (William & Mary) struck out Stephen Perez (Miami) to end it. Farrell ended up striking out four in two innings.

It’ll be interesting to see if a game like this can be a jumpstart for the Braves. They’ve had their struggles but they’re only a game out of second place at 4-6-1. Chatham is now 4-7-1.

Elsewhere

Harwich shut out Wareham 4-0 for its third straight win. The Mariners are now three games clear of Orleans for first place in the East. Taylor Rogers (Kentucky) got the start for the Mariners and dominated. After a loss in his first start, he went six shutout innings this time and struck out nine. The bullpen did the rest with three relievers pitching one scoreless inning each. Blake Hauser (Virginia Commonwealth) finished it off by striking out the side in the ninth, giving Harwich 15 strikeouts for the game. The Mariner offense was led by Jabari Henry (Florida International), who hit his second home run. Austin Nola (LSU) and Jake Davies (Georgia Tech) each had an RBI.

Once 0-7, Falmouth is now 4-8 after beating Cotuit 5-2 last night. Barrett Barnes (Texas Tech) went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead an offense that’s slowly waking up. Jake Rodriguez (Oregon State) had three hits and Eric Garcia (Missouri) added two. Andrew Heaney (Oklahoma State) walked five and struck out six but worked his way out of trouble and went five innings for the win. Nate Koneski (Holy Cross) followed with three scoreless innings before John Simms (Rice) picked up his third save. Simms is now tied for the league lead, which is kind of remarkable considering how long it took Falmouth to even have a save opportunity. Simms has seized the chances, though — he hasn’t allowed a run and has struck out 12 in 5.1 innings.

The sixth inning was decisive in Orleans. Y-D scored three in the top half, Orleans managed just one in the bottom and neither team scored again as Y-D went on to the 3-1 win. Doubles by the LSU duo of Tyler Hanover and Mason Katz plated Y-D’s first run. Anthony Melchionda (Boston College) followed with an RBI single and Y-D pushed a third run across on an error. Mike Marjama (Long Beach State) had an RBI single for Orleans in the bottom of the sixth, but the Firebirds could get nothing else. James Lomangino (St. John’s) turned in his third solid start of the summer, going five scoreless innings for the win. A.J. Vanegas (Stanford), making his summer debut, struck out four in three innings of relief and Matt Carasiti (St. John’s) worked a scoreless ninth for this third save. For Orleans, eighth-round pick Jason Wheeler (Loyola Marymount) allowed one run and struck out four in 5.2 innings.

Brewster and Hyannis had to cancel their game because of wet field conditions at McKeon Park.

What to Watch

Game: Orleans hosts Brewster at 7 p.m. in a battle of East teams who are just two points apart in the standings.
Player: That game was highlighted in large part because of who’s pitching for Orleans. Arizona’s Kurt Heyer is scheduled to make his season debut. Heyer was among the best pitchers in the country this year — and probably the best sophomore. He had a 2.41 ERA with 128 strikeouts and just 25 walks in 130.7 innings. He ranked fifth in the nation in strikeouts.

So much for the pitchers’ duel.

Last night’s match-up between Chatham and Y-D featured Buck Farmer (Georgia Tech) and Kyle Hansen (St. John’s), two pitchers who had great college seasons. But the game didn’t go the way you might have thought.

Farmer and Hansen were both out by the end of the fifth inning, and their teams kept swinging all night. In the end, Chatham won 10-9 in what was the biggest combined offensive game of the season. The teams totaled 15 hits each, with seven going for extra bases.

Farmer was making his first start for Chatham and though he struck out five in four innings, he also allowed nine hits. He was charged with five runs and seven total. Hansen, who had a solid debut last week, lasted 3.2 innings and allowed six runs — three earned — on five hits and four walks.

There was some pitching at the end, though, particularly from the Anglers bullpen. Matt Koch (Louisville) came on in the seventh and let two inherited runners score to tie the game, but got out of the frame without further damage. After Chatham took the lead in the top of the eighth, Koch got two quick outs in the bottom half. Zack Jones (San Jose State) followed him to the mound and finally slammed the door, allowing no runs on one hit in 1.1 innings for the save.

Chatham got the lead in the eighth on an RBI single by Alex Calbick (Maine), who went 3-for-5 on the day with three RBI. Dane Phillips (Oklahoma State) scored the go-ahead run and finished 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI. Joe Sever (Pepperdine) also had a home run, while Richie Shaffer (Clemson) and Jake Berry (Marist) had two hits apiece. Berry, who played two games with Wareham before coming to Chatham, is now hitting .357.

Y-D was led by Stanford standout Stephen Piscotty, who had a great day in his debut. He went 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Matthew Reynolds (Arkansas) also had a big day, going 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Chatham moved to 4-6-1 with the win while Y-D dropped to 5-5-1.

Elsewhere

Hyannis picked up its fourth win in a row and its league-leading ninth overall with a 7-0 shutout of Wareham. The Harbor Hawks were going against Justin Amlung (Louisville), who had allowed three hits in two starts, but they touched him up for six hits. Throw in three Gatemen errors, and Hyannis was off and running. Seventh-place hitter Cal Towey (Baylor) and eighth-place hitter Jeremy Dowdy (Appalachian State) each drove in three runs, with Dowdy hitting a home run. Scott Firth (Clemson) did the rest, scattering six hits in seven shutout innings. Kyle Kraus (Portland) and Kolt Browder (Baylor) each worked a scoreless inning of relief to finish off the shutout. Hyannis is now the only team above .500 in the West and is eight points ahead of second-place Wareham.

Harwich took over first place in the East with a 6-1 victory over Cotuit. Darnell Sweeney (Central Florida) went 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Mariners while Luke Voit (Missouri State) added a home run. Tanner Perkins (Western Kentucky) pitched 6.1 scoreless innings but didn’t factor in the decision as Harwich didn’t get the lead until the seventh. Carter Capps (Mt. Olive), a third-round pick this year who just arrive on the Cape, got the win with 1.2 innings of relief. Harwich is now 7-4 and sitting one point ahead of Orleans.

Brewster also stayed close in the East with a 4-2 victory over Orleans. Andrew Toles (Tennessee) went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Taylor Davis (Morehead State) had a home run for his league-leading 10th RBI. Taylor Ard (Washington State) and J.J. Altobelli (Oregon) had two hits apiece for Brewster. The Whitecaps used five pitchers, and none allowed more than three hits. Jeff Snell (Lafayette) picked up the victory.

Falmouth scored an unearned run in the seventh to edge Bourne 3-2. Both teams now have three wins. Barrett Barnes (Texas Tech) singled with one out in the seventh and eventually came around on a Bourne error. Josh Easley (NC State) got the win for Falmouth and John Simms (Rice) got his second save in impressive fashion, striking out three in 1.2 hitless innings. Simms has now struck out 11 in 4.2 innings this season. Offensively, Kyle Von Tungeln (TCU) had two RBI to lead Falmouth.

What to Watch

Game: Three games on tap tonight, including the first game of the Barnstable Patriot Cup Challenge between Hyannis and Cotuit. This one is in Hyannis at 7 p.m.

Players: Plenty of guys to watch in the Hyannis lineup, but Cal Towey (Baylor) has been as hot as anybody. He has five RBI in his last two games.

Maybe I shouldn’t have written about Hyannis winning yesterday. The Harbor Hawks had the only game on the schedule last night. I should have known I’d be writing about another Hyannis win today.

The Harbor Hawks stretched their win streak to three and upped their league-best record to 8-2 with a 4-2 victory over Bourne.

The game was originally scheduled for last week, but rain forced umpires to call it. With the teams back together, Hyannis was up to its usual tricks. After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, the Harbor Hawks scored three in the fifth and one in the eighth and allowed Bourne just one more run.

Hyannis finished with 11 hits, the third time in the last four games that they’ve gotten to double digits. This time, everybody in the lineup had at least one hit, with Eric Stamets (Evansville) going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Joey DeMichele (Arizona State) and Matthew Black (Mercer) also had an RBI each. Black hit a home run, while Stamets, Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville) and Zach Vincej (Pepperdine) each had doubles.

As a team, Hyannis is hitting .317 in its last four games, and it now leads the league in team batting average.

The pitching hasn’t been overpowering, but as was the case last night, it’s been steady. Dean McArdle (Stanford) allowed one run in 4.2 innings, Ryan Gibson (Oklahoma) surrendered just an unearned run in 3.1 innings of relief. Jon Moscot (Pepperdine), whose first appearance this year came as a starter, closed this game and got the save.

What to Watch

Game: We’ll see what Hyannis can do in Wareham when it faces Justin Amlung (Louisville), who’s allowed just three hits in his first two starts.

Players: Elsewhere, there should be a good pitching match-up at Y-D, where Kyle Hansen (St. John’s) makes his second start for the Red Sox and goes against Chatham’s Buck Farmer (Georgia Tech). Farmer, who was 11-3 with 106 strikeouts this spring, will be making his Cape debut. Farmer and Hansen actually each struck out 106 this year.

What’s a good way to continue a hot start? Sweeping a doubleheader isn’t bad.

The Hyannis Harbor Hawks and Orleans Firebirds both took care of business on Sunday, with each sweeping a twin bill. Hyannis took two from Chatham to improve to 7-2, best in the league. Orleans won a pair of one-run games over Cotuit to move to 6-2-1, the best record in the East.

Hyannis was coming off a loss to Harwich on Saturday but had no trouble getting past the Anglers. In game one, starter Dylan Floro (Cal State Fullerton) took a no-hitter into the sixth, when Joe Sever (Pepperdine) broke it up with a single. Floro left right after the single, having gone 5.2 innings with eight strikeouts. He also walked five and allowed an unearned run but it was still an impressive performance. Floro’s two previous outings came in relief. If the plan is to stretch him out and make him a starter, he could turn into an ace.

Hyannis ended up winning the first game 5-1. In addition to Floro’s performance, Hyannis pounded 12 hits. Austin Elkins (Dallas Baptist) went 3-for-4 with three RBI.

It was more of the same in game two. Andrew Strenge (Cincinnati) allowed one run in five innings and Nick Wittgren (Purdue) picked up the save as Hyannis won 4-1. Joey DeMichele (Arizona State) drove in a run and Cal Towey (Baylor) knocked in two.

The Harbor Hawks are now four points ahead of Wareham for first place in the West.

As for Orleans, the Firebirds found a way to take two close ones from Cotuit for their third and fourth wins in a row. Cotuit came back from a three-run deficit with two in the sixth in game one, but Trevor Gott (Kentucky) worked out of a first-and-third jam in the sixth then pitched a scoreless seventh to seal the 4-3 win.

The Firebird offense was powered by three home runs, as many as the Firebirds had for the whole season coming into the game. Steve Selsky (Arizona) and Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville) each hit their second and Maxx Tissenbaum (Stony Brook) hit his first.

In game two, the Firebirds again struck with the long ball. With the game tied at one in the sixth, Rudy Flores (Florida International) cranked his first home run for the 2-1 lead. That’s where it stayed as Mike Hauschild (Dayton) picked up his first save.

Elsewhere

Bourne got a complete-game shutout from Tommy Collier (San Jacinto) to win game one 4-0 over Brewster before settling for a 2-2 tie in the nightcap. Collier, a 22nd-round pick this year, struck out eight and allowed just three hits in posting the league’s first shutout of the summer. He now has a 0.82 ERA in two starts. The Bourne offense was led by Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook), Josh Elander (TCU) and Colin Kish (Florida Southern), who each had an RBI. In the nightcap the teams went nine innings but couldn’t go beyond that because of doubleheader rules, and they couldn’t break the 2-2 tie. Jankowski drove in both of Bourne’s runs while Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook) hit a home run for Brewster. Five Whitecap relievers combined to allow just one hit in the final six innings.

Falmouth started a winning streak with an 8-2 game-one win over Harwich before dropping the second game 2-1. Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s) went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the opener, and Andrew Aizenstadt (Babson) allowed one earned run in seven innings for the win. In game two, Harwich starter Kevin Gausman (LSU) was in control, scattering seven hits and allowing one run in 6.1 innings of work. The freshman who’s bound for Team USA struck out four.

Wareham and Y-D also split, with the Gatemen taking game one 7-3 and Y-D winning 7-6 in game two. Wareham scored three in the fifth and three in the sixth to take control of game one, finishing with 13 hits. L.J. Mazzilli (UConn) hit two doubles and had three RBI. Luke Farrell (Northwestern) pitched his second seven-inning complete game of the summer. He surrendered only three hits. The Gatemen made a similar late charge in game two, but Y-D held on for the one-run win. Cody Keefer (UCLA) drove in two to lead the offense. Andrew Thurman (UC Irvine) allowed three earned in four innings to get the win.

What to Watch

Game: Only one on the schedule today, a rescheduled match-up between Hyannis and Bourne. It’s at Bourne at 6 p.m.

Players: Harbor Hawks Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville) and Eric Stamets (Evansville) are both among the league leaders in hits with 11.

It took them a week and a day, but the Falmouth Commodores finally picked up a victory on Saturday, rallying from a 3-2 deficit with two runs in the eighth to beat Y-D 4-3. Falmouth had lost seven in a row to start the season.

Andrew Heaney (Oklahoma State) pitched well and kept Falmouth in the game early. He allowed just a run on six hits and struck out five in five innings. Reliever Taylor Sandefur (Western Carolina) allowed the go-ahead runs to score in his first inning of work but settled down to pitch two more scoreless innings. He eventually got the win when Falmouth rallied. John Simms (Rice) got the save with a scoreless ninth.

Falmouth’s rally started in the eighth when Jack Marder (Oregon) singled with one out. Marder, a draft-eligible sophomore who went in the 16th-round this year, has been one of Falmouth’s few hot hitters. He went 3-for-4 last night to take over the league lead in batting average.

After Marder singled, he stole second and came around on a pair of errors by Y-D. Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s) then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Spencer Kieboom (Clemson).

While the win isn’t a cure-all — the Commodores still have the lowest team batting average in the league — there’s no reason it can’t be a jump-start. I look at the Falmouth lineup and see a team that’s perfectly capable of hanging with everybody. Maybe Saturday was a first step.

Elsewhere

Brewster’s been the hottest-hitting team in the league, but Cotuit out-did the Whitecaps in a 4-3 win on Saturday — and became the hottest-hitting team in the process. With a nine-hit day, the Kettleers are now hitting a league-best .293. They were led on this night by Victor Roache (Georgia Southern), who has officially picked up where he left off after an enormous spring. Roache went 1-for-3 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBI. He’s now hitting .440 and is tied for the league lead with two home runs and nine RBI. Cody Stubbs (Walters State), a 14th-round pick this year who has struggled in Cotuit, also had two RBI. Kyle Zimmer (San Francisco) got the win for Cotuit. Brewster scored all its runs on a three-run homer by Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook).

Harwich tied Hyannis for the league lead in wins with an 8-5 victory over the Harbor Hawks. Mike Garza (Georgetown) went 3-for-4 with three doubles to lead Harwich and John Wooten (East Carolina) went 2-for-4 with three RBI, as the Mariners took a lead in the fifth and never lost it. Anthony Pisani (Rhode Island) got the win in relief and Blake Hauser (Virginia Commonwealth) picked up the save. For Hyannis, Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville) had another hit to stretch his season-long hitting streak to seven games.

Orleans beat Wareham 7-3 for its second win in a row. The Firebirds scored three in the second and on in the third and then never trailed. Steve Selsky (Arizona) went 3-for-5 with a home run for Orleans, and he’s now six for his last 10 with four RBI. Jake Hernandez (USC), who didn’t have ah it coming in, went 2-for-4 with three RBI. John Brebbia (Elon) started and pitched four scoreless frames. Nick Mutz got the win as Orleans moved to 4-2-1.

Bourne built a 6-2 lead and held off the hard-charging Chatham Anglers to win 6-5. R.J. Alvarez (Florida Atlantic) slammed the door for Bourne. He came in with the bases loaded in the eighth, got out of it with minimal damage then struck out the side in the ninth to seal it. The win went to starter Ryne Stanek (Arkansas). A third-round pick last year, Stanek made his first start and allowed two runs in five innings. The Bourne offense was led by Garrett Cannizaro (Tulane), who had two RBI.

What to Watch

Games: Another full slate of doubleheaders. Orleans, winners of two straight, is hosting Cotuit, who’s won three of four.

Players: Orleans will start two pitchers who are very much worth watching. In the first game, Ryan Carpenter makes his return to the Cape. Long a hyped prospect, the Gonzaga junior has never quite put it all together and slipped to the seventh round this year. He was good on the Cape last year, though. In game two, Orleans will start Marcus Stroman, the Duke sophomore who’s heading for Team USA in the near future. He struck out five in three innings in his first appearance of the summer.

A search for the word “cycle” on this blog yields one result — someone a few years back was a home run away from the cycle.

It seems kind of weird that I’ve never used that word again, but it’s also a pretty good indicator that it’s been a while since someone hit for the cycle in the Cape League. Since I started doing this in 2007, I don’t remember anybody.

That changed last night, when Chatham’s Richie Shaffer (Clemson) did it in a 10-4 Anglers’ victory over Cotuit.

Shaffer just arrive on the Cape. He went 0-for-2 as a pinch hitter in Wednesday’s loss to Brewster. But last night, he hit a single in his first at-bat and was off and running. He tripled the next inning and after reaching on an error in the fifth, he hit a ground-rule double in the seventh. Then in his last at-bat, with one out in the ninth, he hit a two-run homer.

Shaffer finished the game 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. That’s as good an offensive day as anyone has had this season. Factor in the cycle, and you’re looking at one of the best games anyone is likely to have for the rest of the season.

For Shaffer, the performance is quite a foundation as he tries to build on a strong sophomore season. A 25th-round pick out of high school in 2009, Shaffer hit .313 this year with 13 homers and 55 RBI.

Shaffer’s performance Friday helped Chatham turn in its best offensive performance of the season. The Anglers banged out 13 hits on their way to 10 runs. Dane Phillips (Oklahoma State) hit a home run and drove in three, while Jake Berry (Marist) had three hits and Stephen Perez (Miami) had two. Chatham’s Tim Cooney (Wake Forest) struck out two in seven innings for the win.

For Cotuit, Kyle Wren (Georgia Tech) went 2-for-4 and now has a hit in six of the team’s seven games. Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) went 1-for-4 with his fourth double, which is tied for the league best.

Elsewhere

The battle of the top hitting team and one of the top pitching clubs didn’t go exactly as you’d script it. Y-D allowed the hot-hitting Brewster Whitecaps just one run, but Brewster — whose team ERA ranks eighth — shut-out the Red Sox for the 1-0 win. Anthony Buccifero (Michigan State) made his second strong start of the year for the Whitecaps, allowing just one hit and striking out five in seven innings. He’s now allowed only two hits in 13 innings of work. Brewster scratched its lone run across in the fifth when J.J. Altobelli (Oregon) scored on a wild pitch.

Orleans snapped a two-game skid and kept Falmouth winless with a 7-4 victory. Falmouth got a strong start from Joe Bircher (Bradley), who struck out nine and allowed just a run in five innings, but Orleans did damage against the Commodore bullpen, scoring five runs in the last two innings. Steve Selsky (Arizona) went 3-for-5 with four RBI for the Firebirds and Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville State) hit his first home run of the season. Kenny Long (Illinois State) got the win in relief. For Falmouth, Jack Marder (Oregon) had three hits and three RBI.

Harwich had a solid offensive night to beat Wareham 6-2. Jabari Henry (Florida International) hit a home run and drove in three, while Austin Nola (LSU) went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Ronnie Richardson (Central Florida), who was drafted in the 31st round this year, made his 2011 debut and scored two runs. Pierce Johnson (Missouri State) got the win with five strong innings. L.J. Mazzilli (UConn) made his season debut for Wareham and went 1-for-3.

Bourne and Hyannis got into the fourth inning before the game was called due to rain.

What to Watch

Game: Falmouth will try again for its first victory when it hosts East leader Y-D at 7 p.m.

Player: Andrew Heaney (Oklahoma State) should give the Commodores a chance. He struck out 10 in seven innings in his first start.

The Hyannis Harbor Hawks became the first team to five wins last night with a 4-3 walk-off victory over Falmouth.

Exciting stuff, but for Hyannis, it’s become commonplace. The Hawks’ last three wins have all been walk-offs. Add in their first win of the season — when they scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth — and you’ve got a team with a flair for the dramatic.

Last night, Hyannis took a 3-1 lead in the first inning before Falmouth chipped away. Maybe Hyannis was just toying with the Commodores.

In the ninth, Zach Vincej (Pepperdine) reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. Richie Pedroza (Cal State Fullerton) then singled him home with the winning run.

Those two have now been directly involved in two of the walk-off wins. Vincej squeezed Pedroza home as Hyannis beat Chatham on Tuesday.

Nick Wittgren (Purdue) got the win in relief for Hyannis. Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonville) went 1-for-3 to continue his season-long hitting streak.

Falmouth dropped to 0-6 with the loss. Jack Marder (Oregon) and Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s) had two hits each, while Eric Anderson (Missouri) got the start and pitched well, striking out six in seven innings. Rice freshman John Simms was another bright spot, making his debut and striking out four in one inning of work.

Elsewhere

In the only other game on the schedule, Wareham got dominant pitching to beat Orleans 3-0. Justin Amlung (Louisville) started and allowed just one hit in six shutout innings. He’s now made two starts and has allowed a total of three hits. After Amlung left, Brent Suter (Harvard), Dillon Newman (Baylor) and Konner Wade (Arizona) each turned in a hitless inning to secure the combined one-hit shutout. The Firebirds’ only hit came in the third inning. Wareham’s offense was led by Jeff Reynolds (Harvard), who came into the game without a hit. He promptly went 4-for-4 with an RBI. Max Muncy (Harvard) also had an RBI. Wareham improved to 4-2.

What to Watch

Game: The top hitting team in the league will face the second-best pitching club when Brewster hosts Y-D at 5 p.m. The Whitecaps are hitting .303 as a team while Y-D has posted a 1.41 ERA.

Player: Brewster’s Ryan Jones (Michigan State) is six for his last eight and leads the league with a .526 batting average.

Before last night, Cape Leaguers had hit a total of six home runs since opening day.

Last night, they hit five.

A sign of power hitters getting comfortable? Coincidence? Probably a little of both.

But two teams in particular are happy it happened yesterday.

Hyannis salvaged a split of its doubleheader with Orleans when Adam Brett Walker (Jacksonville) smacked a three-run walk-off homer in the seventh. Cotuit got a three-run homer by Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) in the eighth inning on its way to a 4-2 comeback win over Bourne.

The home runs were the first of the summer for Walker and Roache, who had two of the best college seasons of any Cape Leaguers. Roache has been hot so far, and went 2-for-2 yesterday to raise his average to .500. Walker’s average is .211 but he does have a hit in four of the Harbor Hawks’ five games.

The other home runs last night came from Taylor Ard (Washington State), who just came back to Brewster after getting drafted in the 25th round, Chatham’s Kris Bryant (Chatham) and Y-D’s Mason Katz (LSU), who hit his second homer.

Elsewhere

Orleans took game one from Hyannis thanks to five strong innings by Tyler Gebler (Rutgers) and a four-run third. Steve Selsky (Arizona), Steve Nyisztor (Rutgers) and Rudy Flores (Florida International) each drove in a run. Ninth-round pick Nick Mutz made his first appearance in relief for the Firebirds and worked two scoreless innings. In game two, Matt Dunbar (Southern Nevada) worked six scoreless frames before giving up the blast to Walker in the seventh. Reliever Dylan Floro (Cal State Fullerton) got the win for Hyannis, after Zach Cooper (Central Michigan) had pitched six shutout innings. For Hyannis, Dan Gulbransen (Jacksonille) went 4-for-6 in the twin bill to raise his average to .500.

Roache’s homer sent Cotuit to its second win in a row. Paul Snieder (Northwestern) was credited with the win. Patrick Biondi (Michigan) drove in Cotuit’s other run.

Brewster put up its second 12-run game of the season last night, beating Chatham 12-2. Tanner Nivins (Stony Brook) and Chase Anslement (Washington) each drove in two runs, while Andrew Toles (Tennessee), Ryan Jones (Michigan State) and Jack Mayfield (Oklahoma) had three hits apiece. Jones now has six hits in his last two games and leads the league with a .526 batting average. Brandon Love (Mercer) got the win for Brewster. Chatham made four errors to hurt its cause.

Y-D scored two in the sixth and held on to beat Harwich 3-2 for its fourth win of the year. Katz’s home run accounted for the two runs in the sixth. Y-D starter James Lomangino (St. John’s) went eight innings, allowing just two runs on six hits. Matt Rush (Oral Roberts) pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.

What to Watch

Game: Just two games on the schedule tonight, with Wareham making the trek to Orleans, and Hyannis hosting Falmouth.

Player: Keep an eye on the Harbor Hawks’ Gulbransen, who’s had a hit in every game this season.

I really liked the way the Hyannis roster shaped up. The Harbor Hawks were one of the first teams in previewed, and as I got deeper into things, Hyannis continued to stack up well.

Can I say I was right yet? Probably too early for that.

But the Harbor Hawks are off to a fast start. With their 2-1 comeback win over Chatham last night, the Hawks moved to 3-0. They’re the only unbeaten, untied team in the league.

And against Chatham, they showed some fight. Keith Bilodeau (Maine), a Cape League vet and a 24th-round pick this year, started for Chatham and allowed just three hits in six shutout innings. But once he left with a 1-0 lead, Hyannis went to work.

Richie Pedroza (Cal State Fullerton), who was making his Cape debut, led off the seventh with a single, stole second and took third on a sac bunt. Zach Vincej (Pepperdine) brought him home with the tying run.

Then in the ninth, with the game still tied, Pedroza started things again when he reached on an error. After moving to third on a base hit, he raced home on a squeeze bunt by Vincej to give Hyannis the win.

It wouldn’t have been possible without the work of the bullpen, which didn’t allow a hit over the final three innings. Kolt Browder (Baylor) recorded eight outs, six by strikeout, and Dietrich Enns (Central Michigan) pitched a third of an inning to finish it off. Scott Firth (Clemson) started and allowed just the run on five hits.

The Harbor Hawks have now won two one-run games and a 3-0 shutout. With Dan Gulbransen and Adam Brett Walker anchoring the middle of the order, and Pedroza and Joey Rickard arriving, their lineup should only get better.

Elsewhere

Though Hyannis has the best record, Y-D has the most points in the league thanks to a 2-2 tie against Orleans last night. Y-D is now 3-1-1. The Red Sox sent St. John’s star Kyle Hansen to the hill for his Cape League debut and he allowed a run on four hits in five innings of work, striking out three. Kyle Hunter (Dartmouth) matched him, though, and when the starters left the game was tied 1-1. In the sixth, Y-D took the lead but Orleans tied it in the eighth on a single by Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville). Marcus Stroman (Duke) made his debut for Orleans and struck out five in three scoreless innings of relief.

Bourne got into the win column and dropped Falmouth to 0-5 with a 2-0 victory. Josh Carr (Kennesaw State), Slade Smith (Auburn) and Tyler Maloof (Georgia) combined on the shutout. Smith, who took a loss in his first relief appearance of the summer, bounced back with three hitless innings. Bourne matched Falmouth with five hits but pushed two runs across in the third.

Cotuit rallied from a four-run ninth inning deficit to beat Wareham 5-4. A Logan Vick (Baylor) two-run single made it 4-3 in the ninth, and a fielder’s choice brought the tying run in. Vick then scampered home on a sac fly by Kyle Wren (Georgia Tech) to give Cotuit the win. Victor Roache (Georgia Southern) led Cotuit with three hits, upping his average to .438. Mason McVay (Florida International) pitched three scoreless innings of relief to keep the Kettleers within striking distance.

Harwich beat Brewster 6-3 for its third straight win. Tanner Perkins (Western Kentucky) struck out eight and allowed three runs in six innings, before the Harwich bullpen slammed the door with three scoreless frames. The Mariners did all their offensive damage against Brewster starter Luke Bard (Georgia Tech), getting two in the first, one in the third and three in the fifth. Jabari Henry (Florida International) and Luke Voit (Missouri State) each had two RBI for the Mariners. Leadoff man Austin Nola (LSU) was on base three times and scored three runs.

What to Watch

Game: The only teams without a loss finally meet each other as the twice-postponed doubleheader between Orleans and Hyannis is set to go again tonight. The games are at Hyannis at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Players: Richie Pedroza, a sparkplug from Cal State Fullerton, had a great debut for Hyannis last night, and should be fun to watch whenever he gets on base.