It was a big day for starting pitchers on the Cape, as you’ll see below, but the best pitching matchup – despite living up to the hype – had little bearing on the final outcome in the most dramatic game of the night.
Justin Montgomery (California Baptist) – the recently crowned Right Field Fog Midseason Outstanding Pitcher – went four shutout innings for Wareham, bringing his season total to 21 innings pitched without allowing a run. He also struck out five and is now tied for the league lead with 24 Ks.
Opposite him, Y-D’s Hogan Harris (Louisiana-Lafayette) didn’t allow a hit in five innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.50 and struck out four. He’s the guy Montgomery is tied with atop the league’s strikeout leaderboard.
It must have been fun to watch those two trading zeroes, but for purposes of a win or a loss, they essentially canceled each other out and made the late innings decisive. The teams each scored one run against the bullpens and went to extra innings. In the 11th, Y-D pushed two runs across for a 3-1 win.
It was the second consecutive extra-inning game for the Gatemen, who have played 23 innings the past two days, with just a tie to show for it.
The Red Sox sealed Wareham’s fate this team with a Christian Koss (UC Irvine) RBI single in the 11th, followed by an RBI single from Connor Kaiser (Vanderbilt).
Y-D closer Riley McCauley (Michigan State), who had come on in the ninth, stayed on the mound to protect the lead. Tanner Dodson (California) led off the bottom of the 11th with a double, but McCauley navigated his way through the middle of the lineup, retiring the next three in order to finish off the win.
Brewster 1, Falmouth 0
For dominant pitching that did have a bearing on the outcome, Brewster allowed just three hits to Falmouth’s powerful offense in a shutout of the Commodores. It was the fourth straight win for the Whitecaps, who remained tied with Y-D for second place in the East. Brewster’s lone run came in the bottom of the first on a Julian Infante (Vanderbilt) RBI single. Davis Daniel (Auburn) made the slim lead stand up with six innings of one-hit baseball. He came in with an 8.64 ERA, but struck out seven and walked two in the shutout performance. Paul Milto (Indiana) carried the torch with a scoreless seventh and Robert Broom (Mercer) struck out three over the final two innings to finish off the win.
Orleans 8, Chatham 2
Ryan Rolison (Ole Miss) had perhaps the best outing of the big night with five no-hit innings and eight strikeouts in Orleans’ win over Chatham. On the heels of a nine-strikeout performance in his last start, Rolison faced just one over the minimum – thanks to a five walk – and struck out exactly half the batters he faced. He left with a 7-0 lead as Orleans got two home runs from Romy Gonzalez (Miami), who went 4-for-4 with four RBI. Gonzalez was hitting .239 on July 3 but is 6 for his last 7 to push his average to .321. Brandon Riley (North Carolina) added two RBI for the Firebirds. Jake Palomaki (Boston College) homered for Chatham.
Cotuit 4, Harwich 2
The Kettleers won their sixth straight game and cleared a tough hurdle to do it. Harwich starter Tyler Baum (North Carolina) had allowed three runs all season, but the Kettleers touched him up for four in six innings. Griffin Conine (Duke) hit his fifth home run of the summer to break open a 2-1 game. Michael Toglia (UCLA) also had an RBI for Cotuit. Justin Hooper (UCLA) out-dueled Baum, striking out five and allowing one run in six innings for the win. Austin Kitchen (Coastal Carolina) and Clark Cota (UNC Wilmington) finished it out. Harwich lost for the fourth straight time.
Bourne 8, Hyannis 3
The Braves broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the third and never looked back en route to snapping a three-game skid. Andrew Fregia (Sam Houston State) homered and drove in four as part of a 2-for-5 night. Lyle Lin (Arizona State), Scott Schreiber (Nebraska), Jared Triolo (Houston) and Richard Palacios (Towson) all had two hits as Bourne matched its season high with the eight runs. Daniel Bies (Gonzaga) allowed two runs in five innings for the win. Chad Luensmann (Nebraska) and Ryan Feltner (Ohio State) closed it out.
What to Watch
Don’t be surprised to see more great starting pitching tonight. Zane Collins (Wright State) makes his first start since his nine-inning complete game as Cotuit hosts Hyannis. Kris Bubic (Stanford) and his 2.16 ERA are set to go for Y-D against Brewster’s J.R. McDermott (Colorado Mesa), who has a 2.01 ERA. Daniel Lynch (Virginia), with two straight scoreless outings under his belt, goes for Orleans at Harwich. And Austin Bergner (North Carolina), who went six scoreless in his last start, gets the ball for Chatham at Wareham.