There’s only one team in the league that isn’t thinking about the playoffs right now. Seven teams have qualified and two others are fighting each other for a spot.
Chatham was eliminated from contention last week. But at least one Angler is still making the most of the last few games.
Dane Phillips (Oklahoma State) has had a fantastic summer, and with a late surge, he may actually end up closer to the Triple Crown than Cotuit star Victor Roache.
In two games since the all-star break, Phillips has gone 7-for-8 with two doubles, a triple, a run scored and an eye-popping eight RBI. He now leads the league in average at .355 and he leads in RBI with 32. His four home runs aren’t too shabby either — he’s tied for seventh in that category.
Last night, Phillips went 4-for-4 with five RBI as Chatham beat first-place Harwich 10-5.
Phillips is in his second summer on Cape Cod. Last year, he played for Hyannis and had the struggles that a lot of freshman have. He hit .152 with just four RBI. But after a strong college season in which he hit .339, Phillips has come back with a vengeance in Chatham. He’s been the Anglers’ best player, and with his hot streak, he has cemented himself as one of the best in the league. In addition to his average and RBI leads, Phillips is tops in on-base percentage and slugging.
Chatham only has two games remaining, and then Phillips will have to say goodbye to the Cape. I think he’ll make the last two count as well.
Elsewhere
The race for the final playoff spot in the West continued to tighten up as Cotuit beat Bourne 5-4 and Falmouth lost to Wareham 2-1. The Kettleers are now just one point back of Falmouth for the fourth and final spot. Cotuit scored four in the first and held off the Braves to pick up the win, its second one-run victory in a row. Kevin Roundtree (USC), Logan Vick (Baylor) and Micah Johnson (Indiana) all had two hits for the Kettleers. Chris Beck (Georgia Southern) started and went 3.1 innings. Five relievers combined to keep Bourne at bay over the final six innings.
Falmouth has now lost five in a row. The Commodores had league strikeout leader Joe Bircher (Bradley) on the mound last night and watched him go five shutout innings. But the Gatemen got to reliever Taylor Sandefur (Western Carolina) in the sixth, scoring all the runs they needed. Jeff Reynolds (Harvard) and Tyler Ross (LSU) knocked in the runs for the Gatemen, who have won three in a row.
In the East, Orleans moved into a first-place tie with Harwich thanks to a 7-3 victory over Brewster. That win also puts Brewster five points back. With two games left, that means the Whitecaps can finish no higher than third; Harwich or Orleans will win the division. The Firebirds have now won two in a row since their eight-game win streak was snapped by Hyannis. Matt Duffy (Long Beach State) again led the offense last night, going 3-for-4 with an RBI to raise his average to .354. He’s six for his last nine. Anthony Gomez (Vanderbilt), Ben Waldrip (Jacksonville) and Jayce Boyd (Florida State) chipped in with two hits each as the Firebirds finished with 14. On the mound, Mike Hauschild (Dayton) went six strong innings.
Hyannis scored three early runs and let its bullpen do the rest in a 3-1 victory over Y-D. The Harbor Hawks picked up two runs on errors and added another on an RBI by Joey Rickard (Arizona). After Matt Dermody (Iowa) went four solid innings, Hyannis went to its pen and cruised to the win. Eric Ruth (Winthrop), Ryan Gibson (Oklahoma) and Nick Wittgren (Purdue) combined to allow just two hits the rest of the way.
What to Watch
Game: Only one on the schedule tonight. Wareham visits Bourne at 4:30 p.m. The teams will meet again in the season finale on Wednesday, and while both teams are safely in the playoffs, these two games will determine who finishes in second place. Wareham is currently four points back with just these two games to play. If Wareham can sweep, it would finish tied with Bourne and would win the season series.
Player: Robert Refsynder (Arizona) has a five-game hitting streak for Wareham and leads the league in triples.
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One of the footnotes to the five relievers Cotuit used to keep Bourne at bay, is the fact that Cotuit’s third-baseban, Logan Vick (Baylor) was pressed into spot relief duty. In a tight game, with Cotuit’s playoff life on the line, Vick was tremendous. He even struck out heralded Bourne third-baseman, and NCAA freshman of the year, Colin Moran (North Carolina), at a critical time in the game. Oh, and as reported, Vick had two hits, and also played his usual solid defense. He pretty much did it all in a baseball performance what was fun to watch.