The whole Right Field Fog crew is on the Cape this week so we took in the Chatham-Wareham game last night. RFF commenter Orville from Orleans was also on hand, and we chatted about this crazy summer of Cape League Baseball.
Then we saw it. A lot of it.
Four home runs and three hours, forty-three minutes later, Wareham outlasted Chatham 10-6. In this summer of offense, even the light-hitting Anglers have gotten in on the act plenty of times. But on this night, Wareham had a little more.
Chatham led 6-5 into the seventh, and reliever Tate Parrish (North Carolina) was doing his best to hold the league. He struck out the first two batters he faced in the fifth and worked a one-two-three sixth. But in the seventh, the Gatemen got to him. A single and an error put two on with two outs. Parrish jumped ahead of Daniel Palka (Georgia Tech) 0-2 in a lefty-lefty match-up. But Palka went with the next pitch and poked into left field. Two runners scored to give Wareham the lead.
Then in the ninth, with Konner Wade (Arizona) warming up and probably not needing any cushion, Wareham added to its lead. Kyle Schwarber (Indiana) smacked a two-run homer just over the fence — and the out-stretched glove of a leaping Adam Engel (Louisville) in center. One batter later, Palka absolutely smashed a solo home run to right-center field that landed at the top of the Veterans Field hill. It was the eighth home run for Palka, who’s not tied for the league lead.
Wareham was on its way. Chatham did put two on with two out in the bottom of the ninth, but Wade got out of the jam with a groundout to seal the victory.
Elsewhere
The other slugfest was in Harwich, where Y-D beat the Mariners 16-10 in another game that took, oddly enough, exactly 3 hours, 43 minutes. The win — and an Orleans victory — created a three-way tie for first place in the East between Y-D, Harwich and Orleans. The Red Sox had 18 hits and scored double-digit runs for the ninth time this season. Zak Blair (Mercyhurst) went 4-for-4 and took over the league lead in hitting at .402. Robert Pehl (Washington) went 3-for-6 with six RBI and he jumped to the top of the RBI leaderboard with 28. Tanner Mathis (Ole Miss) and Carlos Asuaje (Nova Southeastern) also had three hits, while Sam Travis (Indiana) drove in two runs. Eric Jagielo (Notre Dame) hit his eighth home run for Harwich, and Phillip Ervin (Samford) drove in two. Harwich has lost five straight while Y-D has won five in a row.
Orleans beat Cotuit 4-2 to do its part in creating the first-place tie. Conrad Gregor (Vanderbilt) went 2-for-4 with his sixth home run, while Max Rossiter (Arizona State) and Dominic Ficociello (Arkansas) had two hits and an RBI each. On the mound, Jimmy Reed (Maryland) had the tough task of cooling off the hot Cotuit offense but did it to perfection, striking out six and allowing just a run on three hits in seven innings. The Kettleers scored a run in the ninth, but Kyle Crockett (Virginia) stranded runners at second and third for his third save.
Hyannis has had some of the best starting pitching performances of the season, and David Garner (Michigan State) put himself near the top of the list last night. Garner, who’s pitched out of the bullpen and in the rotation, turned in by far his best outing. He struck out nine and allowed just an unearned run on three hits in eight innings of work as the Harbor Hawks beat Falmouth 5-1. Garner retired the last 12 batters he faced. And he had support. Brett Michael Doran (Stanford) had two hits and an RBI, as did Taylor Zeutenhorst (Iowa). Mitchell Garver (New Mexico) and Jeff Schalk (UAB) also had an RBI each. Hyannis has now gone 10-8 since its 0-9 start.
Bourne rallied from a 2-0 first-inning deficit and walked off in the 10th for a 3-2 victory over Brewster. Bourne starter Jaron Long (Ohio State) gave up the two in the first but dominated from there, allowing just two more hits in the next six innings. The Braves managed to chip away against Brewster star Tom Windle (Minnesota), getting two runs off him to tie the game. Then in the 10th, with two men on, Mason Robbins (Southern Miss) hit a ground-rule double to score Colin Moran (North Carolina) with the game-winning run. John Farrell (William & Mary) got the win after pitching a scoreless top of the 10th.
What to Watch
League-wide off-day today. Looking ahead to Wednesday, Sean Manaea (Indiana State) is scheduled to pitch for Hyannis in a 7 p.m. home game against Wareham.
RELATED POSTS
Great seeing you in Chatham, RFF crew. Palka’s home run one-hopped into the open window of a parked car with a woman inside. The woman gave it to her son who had it autographed. As my son was waiting for an autograph, I asked Palka if that was one of the longest balls he’s ever hit. Before he could respond, teammate Mott Hyde answered for him: “Naw, I hit ’em like that all the time.”
Let’s see if he can do it tonight against Manaea. McKeon’s short power alley in right-center will make an inviting target.
One disturbing trend, and I’ve seen it in past years as well, is the amount of bickering with the umpires.
A friend who is an umpire tells me the quality of the umpiring is not up to the quality of the players. Maybe so. But it was uncomfortable hearing Schiffner go after the poor home-plate ump at Chatham on Monday. And everybody in the stands could hear every word of it. We kept waiting for an ejection but for some reason the ump wouldn’t do it.
It reminded me of a fifth-grade bully picking on a kindergartener. Veterans Park, and Chatham in general, has a genteel feel to it, and Schiffner fits in like beef jerky on a raw bar.
Orville to respond to your second post on the umpiring this summer, it’s been for lack of a better word … AWFUL.
As an umpire myself of various levels of baseball all we ever ask of
ourselves is consistency. The umpires that are being provided to the most prestigious summer collegiate league this year can’t consistently walk and chew gum at the same time let alone call balls and strikes, they are atrocious. (At one game in Harwich, two weeks ago, I’m pretty sure there was a 5-ball, 4-strike walk after a combination of foul balls and a stolen base, as the “boys in blue blew simple math).
Players with their futures on the line are being called out on strike three looking on balls in the opposite batter’s box! Hopefully scouts take note of the players’ strike zone recognition and not just the strike out totals in the box score.
And on top off the awful lack of consistency, a large number of this summer’s umpires have a very combative attitude (or chip on their shoulder) and seemingly goad coaches and players into arguments. As a fan in the past, you’d always wait for July and August to come around when the quality umpires would arrive after completing their long springs umping in the ACC, SEC, Big Ten and various Regionals.
Dear Harry Greer and the “Good Guys” where are you?!?!
Alex to respond to your post I do think that the scouts pay far more attention to what they observe as the players’ ability to handle the strike zone than to the statistics. I don’t think stats play a very big role in their evaluations, though I’m sure they will take extra notice of a guy if he is hitting .380 or has 10 home runs.