I was wondering last night if Orleans closer Trevor Gott (Kentucky) might approach the Cape League’s career saves record, but it isn’t likely. The record is 34, held by three-year Chatham closer and CCBL Hall of Famer Zane Carlson.
But the way this season is going, I wouldn’t put it past Gott and the Firebirds.
Orleans played a one-run game last night. That’s the team’s fifth one-run game of the season — in five games.
And Orleans has won four of them, this time posting a 3-2 victory over Bourne to improve to 4-1 on the summer. It’s kind of incredible. I don’t remember anything like it since I’ve been following the league closely.
Compared to some of the dramatics of earlier games, I guess last night was a little more ho-hum. The Firebirds rallied in the seventh inning as opposed to the ninth. Trailing 2-1, Orleans got it started with a walk to J.T. Riddle (Kentucky). Michael Montville (Maryland), who’s been at the center of a lot of the Orleans drama, knocked Riddle in with a double to tie the game. Conrad Gregor (Vanderbilt) reached when Montville was caught in a rundown, and Gregor made it to second. He then stole third and raced home when the throw got away.
That was all the Orleans bullpen needed. Pat Christensen (La Salle) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings for the win. Kyle Crockett (Virginia) worked a scoreless eighth.
And then Gott did his thing.
The 2011 CCBL Reliever of the Year, Gott picked up his second save of the year and the 14th of his Cape League career with probably his most dominant performance yet. Gott needed exactly nine pitches to strike out the side and finish off another wild Firebirds win.
Phil and the Walk-offs
Could be a good band name, right? It’s made for a pretty good baseball team the past few days, too.
Phil Ervin (Samford) hit his third home run for Harwich last night, and this one was a grand slam that turned a 4-0 deficit into a 4-4 tie with Wareham. From there, the Mariners found some magic for the second time in three games. In the bottom of the ninth, after a walk to Sam Dove (Georgia Tech) and an intentional walk to Ervin, Eric Jagielo (Notre Dame) hit a walk-off double, his second walk-off hit in three nights. He won Saturday’s game over Hyannis with a walk-off home run.
Harwich improved to 3-2 with the victory. Both teams had 10 hits, with Jagielo’s three leading the way. Ervin was 2-for-3, Dove was 2-for-2 with an RBI and Matt Reida (Kentucky) was 2-for-3 with three runs scored. For Wareham, Mott Hyde (Georgia Tech) went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
As for Ervin, I did a little research last night and found that nobody in 2009, 2010 or 2011 hit three home runs faster. In 2008, Brewster’s Nate Lape hit three in his first four games with the Whitecaps. Those were not the first four games of the season, though, so Ervin’s feat still really sticks out.
Elsewhere
What to Watch
Lots of good pitching match-ups to choose from tonight. Standout LSU freshman Aaron Nola is slated to take the hill for Harwich as it visits Hyannis at 7 p.m. Scott Firth, an all-star with Hyannis last year and a 32nd-round pick this year, is scheduled to go for the Harbor Hawks.
San Diego closer Michael Wagner is scheduled to get a start for Chatham in a 7 p.m. home game. In Orleans at 7 p.m., Rice star Austin Kubitza will make his first start of the summer