The Cape Cod League championship series is set, and the participants look familiar. Y-D is back in the finals for the third time in the last five years, having won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. Cotuit is in the championship for the third year in a row.
The Red Sox and Kettleers both took their final steps on Tuesday, finishing off semifinal sweeps. Y-D rolled past Orleans for the second straight night, winning 13-4. Cotuit broke a 1-1 tie with Wareham in the sixth inning and won 3-1.
Y-D comes in with a ton of momentum from the semifinal series. Against the team that was the hottest in the league at the end of the regular season, the Red Sox smashed the ball. They delivered a record-breaking performance in game one, winning 23-10, and kept the pedal to the floor on Tuesday. Y-D had 16 hits and scored seven runs in the second inning. Ben McMahan (Florida) and Matt Jensen (Cal Poly) each hit home runs and Jordan Ribera (Fresno State) drove in four runs after knocking in six on Monday.
The Red Sox have really found something these last two days — they seem like an already team that’s catching lightning in a bottle. I think they’ll be tough to beat.
But you can’t count Cotuit out. The Kettleers have had their share of ups and downs this summer and they’ve dealt with plenty of changes, but they’ve pushed through. They lost six straight games to end the regular season but have now won four straight in the playoffs. On Tuesday, James McCann (Arkansas) hit a two-run homer in the sixth that proved to be the game-winner. Bobby Shore (Oklahoma) allowed just a run on two hits in seven innings to get the win. Brooks Pinckard (Baylor) got the save.
The championship series begins today at Y-D’s Red Wilson Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.