Heading into the playoffs, there wasn’t a lot about the Falmouth Commodores that would have you think they’d make a playoff run.
Except for one thing: their pitching. They led the league in team ERA.
Now their pitching is taking them somewhere big.
On the strength of an impressive start by Andrew Heaney (Oklahoma State), Falmouth beat Wareham 6-0 last night to clinch the Western Division title and earn a spot in the Cape League championship series. Falmouth will visit Harwich for game one tonight at 7 p.m.
The way the Commodores have pitched, it’s no surprise that they’re in the championship.
They lost their first game of the playoffs when Heaney had a not-so-great start. Since then, they’ve won four games in a row and haven’t allowed more than two runs in any of them. Sean Hagan (St. John’s), Joe Bircher (Bradley) and Tyler Duffey (Rice) have all pitched well in starting roles, and the bullpen has been great. Falmouth’s playoff ERA is 1.60.
Heaney took the cake last night. He allowed six runs in 4.2 innings in that first playoff start, but this time, he was cruising. He went seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out seven. He also walked four but managed to get out of trouble whenever he needed to.
Taylor Sandefur (Western Carolina) came out of the bullpen in the eighth and finished off the shutout with two scoreless innings. He struck out two.
With the pitching taken care of, the Falmouth continued to provide plenty of support. The Commodores finished with 13 hits and used a five-run third inning to blow the game open. Jake Rodriguez (Oregon State) and Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s) each had three hits, and Rodriguez drove in two runs. Barrett Barnes (Texas Tech), Billy Ferriter (UConn), Max White (Oklahoma) and Eric Garcia (Missouri) also drove in a run each. Garcia, Rodriguez and Reid Redman (Texas Tech) are now all hitting above .400 in the playoffs.
The loss ended a strong summer for the Gatemen, who had won seven games in a row before the Falmouth series.
As for the Commodores, they get to keep playing, and their pitching appears to be lined up again. Duffey is scheduled to start game one tonight in Harwich.
Have fun at the game tonight!! I hope you’re sporting your awesome Right Field Fog shirt (available at our Cafe Press store – see links on the right hand side of the page).
🙂