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Battle for Carolina

On a basketball court, it’s North Carolina and Duke. For the baseball Tar Heels, I would think NC State might be a better rivalry. While Duke is typically solid, NC State is a perennial ACC contender. The rivalry gets another good chapter this weekend when the No. 13 Wolfpack hosts No. 1 North Carolina. The Tar Heels are an amazing 40-3. They’re the seventh-fastest team to 40 wins in NCAA history.

Schedule
Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, 7 p.m.
*Games will be broadcast on ESPN3

2013 Cape Leaguers
North Carolina
Landon Lassiter – INF – Chatham
Chris McCue – RHP – Chatham
Benton Moss – RHP – Chatham
Michael Russell – INF – Chatham
Skye Bolt – OF – Harwich
Mason McCullough – RHP – Harwich
Trevor Kelley – RHP – Orleans
Luis Paula – RHP – Orleans

NC State
Brett Austin – C – Harwich
Logan Jernigan – RHP – Harwich
Trea Turner – INF – Y-D

Notable
A Lot of Heels
Three certainties: death, taxes and a big group of North Carolina baseball players coming to Cape Cod. Eight Tar Heels are slated to be on the Cape this year, a pretty standard number for one of the Cape League’s biggest mainstays.

Swinging
It’s a good crop, too. While pitchers outnumber position players on the list, outfielder Skye Bolt and infielders Landon Lassiter and Michael Russell have all been key contributors. Bolt has been out with an injury but was hitting .392 before that. Lassiter is at .328 and Russell is hitting .274.

A Second Ace
Benton Moss is the clear leader among the pitching crew headed to the Cape. The sophomore righty slots in behind Friday starter Kent Emanuel, but he’s been tremendous in his own right. Moss is 7-0 with a 2.81 ERA and a team-best 67 strikeouts.

Delivering
Former Bourne Brave Colin Moran has long been labeled as one of the best hitters in college baseball, and that’s never looked more fitting than it has this year. Moran is batting .395 with 10 home runs and a nation-leading 67 RBI. His on-base percentage is .514 and he has struck out just eight times all season. He’s a surefire first-round pick.

Doing it All
I wrote about Trea Turner earlier in the week. He’s among the most dynamic players in college baseball and he now ranks second in the country in batting average.

Catching On
Brett Austin was a supplemental first-round pick in the 2011 draft and he joined Carlos Rodon in a fantastic NC State recruiting class. He hit .284 as a freshman then had a solid summer with Harwich. He’s hitting .294 this spring. While all those statistics are pretty good, they’re not quite the big numbers expected of a first-round pick. Austin is a prime breakout candidate for the summer.

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Streaking Cavaliers Head to Tech

Virginia was unranked in Baseball America’s preseason poll. Thirty wins in 34 games later, and the Cavaliers are ranked fifth. They’ll get a test this weekend when they head to Atlanta to take on No. 19 Georgia Tech, a team that’s full of former Cape Leaguers.

Schedule
Friday, 7 p.m.
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Sunday, 1 p.m.
*Games will be broadcast on ESPN3

2013 Cape Leaguers
Virginia
Branden Cogswell – INF – Harwich
Nick Howard – INF – Harwich
Derek Fisher – OF – Harwich
Brandon Downes – C/OF – Y-D

Georgia Tech
Matt Gonzalez – INF – Bourne

Notable
Cape League Nucleus
The four Virginia players that are slated to play in the Cape League this summer also happen to be four of the team’s top five hitters. Branden Cogswell (Harwich) leads the way with a .367 batting average, while Brandon Downes (Y-D) has been the team’s most productive hitter, with a .311 average and team bests in home runs (five) and RBI (35). Interestingly, only one of the four – Derek Fisher (Harwich) – was a full-time starter last year, which might have something to do with the lack of preseason love for Virginia.

Gone Fishin’
The aforementioned Fisher might be the best prospect of the bunch. He was named the top prospect in the Northwoods League by Baseball America last summer. Outside of being the Cape’s top prospect, that’s about as well as you can do in summer collegiate baseball. Fisher is hitting .306 with three homers this year.

Tech Vets
Georgia Tech’s starting lineup is dominated by juniors and seniors, which is why the program won’t have a big Cape League presence in 2013. Most of Tech’s standouts have already played on the Cape. That list includes CCBL stalwarts Brandon Thomas, who’s hitting .429, and Daniel Palka, who’s at .372 with eight homers. Then there’s Zane Evans. He hit .128 for Harwich last summer. This spring, he’s hitting .347 and is tied for sixth in the nation with 10 home runs.

Gonzo
The one freshman regular in the Tech lineup – and the one 2013 Cape Leaguer – is second baseman Matt Gonzalez, and he has more than held his own among the veterans. His .371 batting average is good for fourth on the team. Gonzalez was an 11th round pick in the MLB draft last year.

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Rebels, Commodores set for SEC showdown

No. 2 LSU and No. 10 Kentucky are squaring off this weekend, but that’s not the only SEC battle worth watching for Cape League fans. No. 3 Vanderbilt will visit Ole Miss, with each team featuring six players who are on 2013 Cape League rosters. As a bonus, all three games will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Vanderbilt is 26-4 overall and 8-1 in the SEC. The Rebels are 23-6 but have gotten off to a tough 4-5 start in conference play.

Schedule
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, 5 p.m.
Sunday, 2:30 p.m.

2013 Cape Leaguers
Vanderbilt
Tyler Beede – RHP – Cotuit
Carson Fulmer – RHP – Cotuit
Brian Miller – RHP – Cotuit
Rhett Wiseman – OF – Cotuit
Jared Miller – LHP – Orleans
Philip Pfeifer – LHP – Orleans

Missouri
Hawtin Buchanan – RHP – Bourne
Josh Laxer – RHP – Bourne
Chris Ellis – RHP – Cotuit
Brady Bramlett – RHP – Falmouth
Jacob Waguespack – RHP – Falmouth

Notable
Arms Race
Vanderbilt’s pitching has just been ridiculous this year. I don’t know how anyone can take a series from them. Former Cape Leaguer Kevin Ziomek has been the ace, but 2013 Cape Leaguers Tyler Beede (Cotuit) and Philip Pfeifer (Orleans) haven’t been far behind. Beede is 7-0 with a 0.99 ERA, best among starting pitchers in the SEC. Opponents are hitting .151 against him. Pfeifer has a 3.86 ERA.

Leading Off
Former Cotuit Kettleer Tony Kemp ranks sixth in the SEC in hitting at .375. He has also stolen 14 bases, and his on-base percentage is .486.

Bullpen Rebels
Hawtin Buchanan, Jacob Waguespack and Chris Ellis have all pitched sparingly for Ole Miss because of injuries, but Josh Laxer and Brady Bramlett have been two of the players who’ve picked up the slack. Bramlett has a 1.53 ERA in five appearances, with three starts. Laxer has also pitched out of the bullpen and in a starting role, posting a 2.45 ERA.

Emerging Ace
In his time on Cape Cod, Bobby Wahl was a lights-out closer for Cotuit. He’s now a starter – and an ace. Wahl is 6-0 for the Rebels with a 1.80 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 45 innings pitched. The Friday match-up between Wahl and Ziomek – both former Kettleers – should be a dandy.

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Tigers vs. Tigers

Before this season, a match-up between LSU and Missouri would have been a nice non-conference tilt. Now, with Mizzou moving into the Southeastern Conference, it’s got a little extra meaning. Missouri hasn’t quite put it together this season – with a 9-12 record – but they’re at home and will have a chance to make a splash with No. 4 LSU coming to town.

Schedule
Friday, 7 p.m.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sunday, 2 p.m.

2013 Cape Leaguers
LSU
Alex Bregman – INF – Harwich
Kurt McCune – RHP – Wareham
Christopher Chinea – 1B – Wareham
Sean McMullen – OF – Wareham

Missouri
Alec Rash – RHP – Falmouth

Notable
The next ace
With only one Cape Leaguer on its roster, Missouri isn’t exactly a team to watch from a CCBL perspective. But that one player is certainly worth watching. Freshman pitcher Alec Rash, a 6’6 righty, was the highest-selected high school player to head to college out of last year’s draft. He was a second round pick of the Phillies. Pitching on Sundays, he has been as good as advertised for the Tigers, leading the team in ERA at 0.53. He has stuck out 17 in 17 innings. The one earned run he gave up against Tennessee last weekend was the first he’s allowed in his career. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs against one of the nation’s best teams.

Explosive start
I wrote about Alex Bregman yesterday but I’ll mention him again here. The freshman shortstop is leading the team with a .443 batting average and looking like one of the top players in the country.

Waiting Game
Kurt McCune, who’s working his way back from injury, is expected to make his season debut in early April. He’s a former Friday starter for the Tigers.

Run Producer
Mason Katz had two pretty solid summers with Yarmouth-Dennis. Now the LSU senior is emerging as a star. He’s hitting .396 so far with 10 home runs, and he’s the national leader in RBI with 41.

Time to Shine
Fresh off the 2011 Cape League Pitcher of the Year award, LSU’s Ryan Eades wasn’t dominant last year. This year, he’s right back on track. Eades is 5-0 with a 1.63 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 38.2 innings.

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Ducks Welcome ‘Dores

College baseball’s best weekend match-up is also one Cape League fans will want to keep an eye on. No. 2 Vanderbilt is heading west to take on No. 11 Oregon in Eugene. It’s one of the bigger series the Ducks have hosted in the four years since the program was revived, although several ranked teams have come to town, including No. 2 Arizona State in 2010. Those teams have left unhappy, with the Ducks owning a 13-4 home record against ranked teams.

At this point, Oregon has three players on Cape rosters for 2013, while Vanderbilt has seven, which is among the highest of any school.

Schedule
Friday, 6 p.m.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sunday, 12 p.m.

Oregon
Steven Packard – OF – Brewster
Scott Heineman – C/INF – Falmouth
Cole Irvin – LHP – Falmouth

Vanderbilt
Tyler Beede – RHP – Cotuit
Carson Fulmer – RHP – Cotuit
Brian Miller – RHP – Cotuit
Rhett Wiseman – OF – Cotuit
Jared Miller – LHP – Orleans
Philip Pfeifer – LHP – Orleans

Big Z
Vandy junior Kevin Ziomek spent part of two seasons with Cotuit and though he made only five appearances last summer, he emerged as one of the top arms in the league. So far this season, he’s been one of the best in the country, a status that was cemented last weekend. Ziomek fired a one-hit, complete game shutout with 15 strikeouts against Illinois-Chicago. For the year, Ziomek has a 0.82 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched. He’ll get the ball in Friday’s opener.

Aces
Vanderbilt’s weekend rotation is shaping up to be one of the nation’s best, and the two pitchers who follow Ziomek are both slated to be on the Cape this summer. Sophomore Tyler Beede, a former first-round pick, has a 1.45 ERA this season and is on the Cotuit roster. Sophomore Philip Pfeifer actually has a better ERA than Ziomek at 0.45, and he’s been the SEC Pitcher of the Week already this year, as well. Pfeifer is on the Orleans roster.

Kettleer vs. Firebird
Pfeifer is scheduled to start Sunday against Oregon freshman Cole Irvin, who is on the Orleans roster for the summer. Irvin was a 29th-round pick out of high school and has jumped right into the weekend rotation for the Ducks. He’s 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA.

Wise
Vandy’s Rhett Wiseman, who’s also slated for Cotuit, is a Massachusetts native and is one of the most highly-touted freshmen in the country. He’s started only two of the team’s 12 games, but he hit a walk-off home run against Illinois-Chicago last weekend.