Chatham released Texas Tech standout Tanner Gardner Monday after a brief stay on the Cape. His time included a dramatic walk-off home run that gave the Anglers a win in his debut.
Tuesday, the Anglers found another Red Raider with a flair for the dramatic.
Orlando Garcia (Texas Tech) hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as Chatham beat Brewster 4-3. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and an eight-game winless streak that included one tie. Chatham’s last win was July 6 – when Gardner hit his walk-off.
The Anglers trailed 3-0 in the early going before pushing two runs across in the fifth. They still trailed in the ninth when three straight singles allowed them to tie the game. Stuart Fairchild’s (Wake Forest) base hit brought the tying run home.
Garcia came up next and fell behind in the count 1-2. He fouled two pitches off then smacked a single to right field to score Simon Matthews (Georgetown) with the winning run.
Garcia came in hitting .109 since his arrival July 2, after he had hit .265 for the Red Raiders. The walk-off gave him his first RBI of the summer.
John Aiello (Wake Forest) added an RBI for the Anglers and Hagen Owenby (East Tennessee State) went 3-for-4. Starter Lincoln Henzman (Louisville) allowed three runs in five innings. Three relievers allowed just one hit over the final four innings.
Brewster got two hits from Brent Rooker (Mississippi State). Zac Lowther (Xavier) struck out eight in five innings and remained in the league lead with 45 on the year.
The win was a big one for Chatham, which would have fallen five points behind Brewster for the final playoff spot with a loss.
Y-D 1, Orleans 0
The Red Sox continue to be at their best against Orleans, finishing the regular season series 5-1 and continuing to get some breathing room in the standings as a result. The lone run of the game scored in the bottom of the 10th inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Dillon Persinger (Cal State Fullerton). Kevin Smith (Maryland) had started the frame with a single then moved to second on a stolen base and third on a wild pitch. Two walks then loaded the bases. The rally made a winner out of Calvin Faucher (UC Irvine), who had pitched a scoreless top of the 10th. That followed two innings from Nathan Kuchta (San Diego) and a strong start by Bryan Sammons (Western Carolina), who delivered a second straight scoreless outing. For Orleans, Jason Morgan (North Carolina) went six scoreless frames. Y-D improved to 20-12 and has matched Falmouth for the best record in the league. The Red Sox remain tied for first place in the East with Harwich, who is 19-11-2. Orleans fell to 15-16-1.
What to Watch
Back to a full slate of games today and should be an interesting match-up in Harwich when Falmouth comes to town. League ERA leader Jeffrey Passantino (Lipscomb) goes for the Commodores against Ryan McAuliffe (St. John’s), who has a 2.16 ERA.
When was the last time the Anglers had a winning season? When they were the A’s? Looks like a change is needed in Chatham.
Best record in the league in 2013, but that’s been surrounded by some rough years.