Posted on by Will Geoghegan

Daily Fog: Surf’s Up

On the ocean, whitecaps are a sign that things are a little unsteady. The Whitecaps in Brewster are anything but unsteady.

They haven’t won more than four games in a row this season, but more importantly, they haven’t lost more than two in a row. That steady play is the biggest reason why the Whitecaps have the best record in the league.

Last night, they headed to Orleans off a tough loss to Harwich, and the Firebirds were on a three-game winning streak. But with Andrew Gagnon on the hill and the offense ready to go, Brewster found a way. The Whitecaps scored two in the first, one in the second and one in the seventh and held off an Orleans charge to win 4-3. With a Y-D loss, Brewster now leads the East by four points.

The performance last night was pretty typical — good starting pitching and an offensive effort led by Drew Martinez (Memphis). Martinez came in as the league leader in hitting and he built that lead further with a 3-for-4 day. He scored a run, knocked in a run and stole two bases, taking over the league lead in that category.

Cohl Walla (Texas) and Tony Ard (Mt. Hood CC) also drove in runs, while Kirk Singer (Long Beach State) hit a home run.

Meanwhile, Gagnon (Long Beach State) turned in another solid start. You could make the argument that Anthony Ranaudo and Gagnon have been 1 and 1A atop the rotation and Gagnon held up his end of the bargain. He allowed one run on one hit in five innings and struck out eight, which put him into the league lead. Kyle Hendricks (Dartmouth), Luke Bard (Georgia Tech) and Daniel Renken (Cal State Fullerton) finished off the win. It was the second save for Renken.

Elsewhere

  • Falmouth stopped a five-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory over Hyannis. Mark Pope allowed one run and struck out three in 6.2 innings. Kyle Van Tungeln (TCU) went 2-for-5 with two RBI and Kevin Medrano (Missouri State) went 3-for-5. Matt Skole (Georgia Tech), Kyle Bluestein (Jacksonville State) and Chris O’Brien (Wichita State) had two hits each. Trent Howard (Central Michigan) was impressive in the losing effort for Hyannis, striking out 12 in six innings.

  • Cotuit moved within two points of first-place Bourne thanks to an 8-3 victory over the Braves. Bourne starter Mike Morin (North Carolina) didn’t allow a hit until the fourth but Cotuit broke through with some small ball and then blew the game open. Jordan Leyland (UC Irvine) and James McCann (Arkansas) drove in two runs each and Chad Wright (Kentucky) went 3-for-5. Newcomer Bobby Shore (Oklahoma), who pithed for the Sooners this season, got the start for Cotuit and allowed three runs in 5.1 innings. A.J. Achter (Michigan State) got the win and Matt Andriese (UC Riverside) worked three scoreless innings to finish off the win.

  • With a tie two days ago, Wareham hadn’t lost in four games. The Gatemen made it five yesterday with a 6-5 win over Y-D. Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) allowed five runs in the first three inning but muscled through it and ended up going eight innings, the last five of which were scoreless. Ken Ferrer (Elon) picked up the save. Max Muncy (Baylor) went 1-for-3 with four RBI to lead the Gatemen offense. Jonathan Smith (Tennessee Wesleyan) had two hits. Anthony DeSclafani (Florida) made his first start for Y-D and allowed three earned runs in 4.1 innings.

  • Harwich beat Chatham 5-2, handing the Anglers their fourth straight loss. Pierce Johnson (Missouri State) and Logan Verrett (Baylor) were locked in a pitchers’ duel early on. While Verrett didn’t allow a run in five innings, Chatham got to Johnson for two runs in six innings. Once Verrett left, though, Harwich got going. The Mariners scored five runs in the final three innings. Steven Proscia (Virginia) went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Brian Goodwin (North Carolina), John Hicks (Virginia) and Aaron Conway (Missouri State) also had two hits each. Daniel Burawa (St. John’s) struck out three in one inning of relief and Matty Ott (LSU) got the save. Harwich is now just a point back of Chatham for third.

    • What to Watch

    Wareham, one of the hotter teams in the league, visits Brewster. Max Perlman (Harvard) goes for the Gatemen against Mike Palazzone (Georgia).

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