(Keep in mind: I wasn’t there so, in this case, I necessarily don’t know what I’m talking about. And there are no box scores up yet. I only know what the radio said.)
There was plenty of pitching this time around, and for one inning, there was just enough offense as the East squad beat the West 3-2 in the 45th annual Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game Saturday night at Clem Spillane Field.
A year after the game featured position players on the mound because of thin pitching staffs, the league — with some prodding from Major League Baseball and its scouts — didn’t let it happen again. They made sure by requiring teams to keep their all-star pitchers rested for Saturday’s game.
The result was two-and-a-half hours of dominant pitching, even if three hits in the fourth inning stole the show.
Locked in a scoreless tie, the East got things going when Brewster’s Yonder Alonso (Miami) got a base hit off Falmouth’s Christian Friedrich (Eastern Kentucky). Y-D shortstop Gordon Beckham (Georgia) followed with a double, scoring Alonso from first. Had catcher Robert Stock been able to corral the throw home, Alonso might have been out. Instead, the East had a 1-0 lead, and another runner in scoring position. Beckham took third on the throw home.
With league RBI leader Dennis Raben (Miami) at the plate, the East scratched its second run across without Raben’s help. Beckham scored on a wild pitch.
As it turned out, he was getting home no matter what. After Beckham scored, Raben crushed a solo home run to make it a 3-0 game. If the wild pitch stole an RBI from Raben, it didn’t steal too much of his thunder. The Orleans outfielder was named the East’s MVP, largely because his blast proved to be the game-winner.
The West squad got within two in the fourth then made it a one-run game on a solo home run by Hyannis’ James Darnell (South Carolina) in the fifth.
But that was as close as the West would get. East’s pitching staff flexed its muscles in keeping the one-run lead, and Orlean’s Ryan Perry (Arizona) pitched around a single by Dan Brewer (Bradley) in the ninth to close out the victory.
Falmouth pitcher Aaron Crow (Missouri) was named the West’s MVP for his work in the first inning. Crow started the game and struck out the side in the top of the first, continuing his dominant summer and setting the tone for the entire game.
In the pre-game festivities, Wareham’s Luke Murton (Georgia Tech) captured the Home Run Derby crown.
For those who didn’t listen, the radio broadcast featured some solid in-between-innings interviews. Asked about New Bedford’s quest for a Cape League team, Commisioner Paul Galop speculated that expansion wouldn’t be on the horizon any time soon. Baseball America’s Aaron Fitt was in attendance and sounded as enamored with the Cape League as the rest of us. And Jim Collins, the author of the spectacular book, the Last Best League, did a quick interview and mentioned one of the more intriguing human elements of a Cape League summer — the fact that, for these players who have always been the best, this is a crossroads, a place where everybody has always been the best, and only a handful keep that label.
More on the all-star game a little later.
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