Posted on by Will Geoghegan

Daily Fog: Either Way

Last Thursday, the hype for the Harwich Mariners reached its crescendo when they put up a four home run inning in a marquee win over Orleans.

This Thursday, as the Firebirds came to town for another meeting, the Mariners were coming off back-to-back losses to Brewster, the second of which was a 19-1 defeat. They had fallen a game behind Orleans. The hype engine was losing a little steam.

Hype or no hype, the Mariners won anyway.

On the heels of the 19-run debacle against Brewster, four Harwich pitchers combined on a shutout and the offense turned in a workman-like performance as the Mariners beat Orleans 4-0 to move back into a tie for first place in the East with the Firebirds.

Harwich starter A.J. Reed (Kentucky) set the tone. He only lasted 3.2 innings when he faced the Firebirds last week. This time he struck out seven and scattered four hits in five scoreless innings. The Missouri State tandem of Tyler Burgess and Grant Gordon followed him to the mound and combined on three scoreless innings before Zane Evans (Georgia Tech) finished it off with a quick ninth. Orleans was limited to seven hits.

At the plate, the Mariners again went without a home run and only had eight hits themselves, but they got some big ones and took advantage of an uncharacteristically bad defensive night for the Firebirds. Orleans has the fewest errors in the league but made three last night, and Harwich scored three unearned runs.

Austin Wilson led the way for the Mariners, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Phillip Ervin (Samford) and JaCoby Jones (LSU) had two hits each while Austen Smith (Alabama) drove in a run with a sac fly.

Conrad Gregor (Vanderbilt) had two hits to lead the Firebirds. Arkansas standout Dominic Ficociello picked up the first hit of his young Cape League career.

Harwich is now 2-1 against Orleans this season.

Elsewhere

  • The team that knocked Harwich off twice this week got a taste of its own medicine. Chatham topped Brewster 9-1 in one of its best offensive games of the season. Pat Valaika (UCLA) went 2-for-5 with five RBI, and Andrew Knapp (Cal) went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. It was the first time Chatham had double-digit hits since the last time it played Brewster, on June 30. Pitching was also strong for the Anglers, with Thomas Lawrence (Maine) striking out five in 6.1 shutout innings. Chatham has now won two in a row, and the East now has four teams at 10-8 or better. The West has one.

  • Y-D joined Chatham at 10-8 with a lopsided victory of its own, 10-4 over Wareham. Robert Pehl (Washington) continued to surge, going 3-for-5 with four RBI and raising his batting average to .449. Sam Travis (Indiana) and Tanner Mathis (Ole Miss) had three hits and two RBI apiece, while Alex Blandino (Stanford) and Zak Blair (Mercyhurst) added two hits each. All of those aforementioned players are hitting .342 or higher. On the mound, Aaron Blair (Marshall) had his worst start of a great summer — but it was still pretty good. He allowed three runs on six hits and struck out four in 6.1 innings. His ERA is still just 1.48.

  • Hyannis scored double-digit runs for the first time this season in a 14-3 victory over Cotuit. Brandon Trinkwon (Cal) went 4-for-5 with five RBI and homered for a second straight night, while Brett Michael Doran (Stanford) had two hits and drove in three. Zac Zellers (Kentucky) also homered and Mitchell Garver (New Mexico) drove in two. Matt Maurer (Pepperdine) got the win in relief as the sometimes shaky Hyannis bullpen pitched 5.2 innings of one-hit baseball.

  • And one last lopsided game — Falmouth beat Bourne 10-4. Austin Anderson (Ole Miss) went 2-for-5 with a home run and five RBI, while Casey Turgeon (Florida) went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in his third game of the summer. On the mound for the Commodores, Jonathan Dziedzic (Lamar) allowed one run on three hits in six innings of work.

    • What to Watch

    Lots of good pitching on the docket tonight. Cape League strikeout leader Sean Manaea (Indiana State) goes for Hyannis in a 6 p.m. game at Bourne. Sean Hagan (St. John’s), who was dominant in his last start, gets the ball for Falmouth at 5 p.m. in Brewster. And Karsten Whitson (Florida), perhaps the best pitching prospect on the Cape, will make his first start for Orleans after two good relief appearances. That game is in Orleans at 7 p.m., with Wareham coming to town.

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    4 Replies to “Daily Fog: Either Way”

    1. Aaron Blair’s line is wrong. He gave up 2 unearned runs only. The play by play of the game has been changed to reflect this. He faced only one batter in the 7th, a strikeout, before being taken out because of pitch count.

    2. All three of Orleans’ errors were on throwing errors by pitchers attemtping to make pick-offs.

    3. Falmouth appears to be the top team in the west beating Brewster tonight beating Brewster 6-4.

    4. Falmouth’s starting pitchers go deep into the game and their relievers are lights out. Timely hitting and good defense make this team tough to beat.

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