Misjudged

On the night Aaron Judge took the MLB Home Run Derby by storm, his former team played at the Cape League’s most homer-happy park. But the only balls that went flying came off the bats of the Y-D Red Sox.

Nico Hoerner (Stanford) and Alfonso Rivas (Arizona) went deep for Y-D and three pitchers combined on a shutout as the Red Sox won a battle for second place in the East 4-0 over Brewster.

Hoerner led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run, his fourth of the summer. Rivas hit a two-run shot in the third – his second homer of the summer – and Y-D was in business.

Kris Bubic (Stanford) ran with the early lead given to him by his Cardinal teammate and tossed six scoreless innings. He struck out five and allowed three hits, lowering his season ERA to 1.59 and giving him the league lead in strikeouts with 25.

Tanner Graham (UAB) and Andrew Quezada (Cal State Fullerton) finished off the shutout.

Brewster had been shut-out just once this season. Perhaps all the offensive vibes were sent to Miami to help a former Whitecap.

Orleans 8, Harwich 3

Trailing by a run in their last at-bat, the Firebirds exploded for six runs and a comeback victory over Harwich. Niko Decolati (Loyola Marymount) tied the game with an RBI single and Steve Passatempo (UMass-Lowell) doubled home the go-ahead run. Stephen Scott (Vanderbilt), Romy Gonzalez (Miami) and Cesar Salazar (Arizona) also drove in runs as the inning continued. Josh Hiatt (North Carolina) pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth – his ninth scoreless outing in as many tries – to finish off the win. Orleans ran its league-best record to 16-8. Harwich lost for the fifth straight time and fell to 7-16-1. CWS champ Jonathan India made his return to the Mariners after a strong 2016 summer and went 2-for-3.

Cotuit 9, Hyannis 9

The other division leader also delivered a ninth-inning rally, though the result wasn’t quite as good. Cotuit scored two in the bottom of the ninth to pull even with the Harbor Hawks but the game was called after the rally due to darkness. Michael Toglia (UCLA) came through with the heroics on a two-run homer with one out in the ninth. Brett Kinneman (NC State) had three hits and scored three runs for the Kettleers. Chandler Avant (Alabama) had two RBI. Robert Neustrom (Iowa) and Jake Mangum (Mississippi State) each doubled twice as part of three-hit nights for Hyannis. The tie ended Cotuit’s six-game winning streak.

Bourne 7, Falmouth 5

The Braves moved three points ahead of Falmouth for second place in the West with a victory over the Commodores. Bourne trailed 4-0 for much of the game but tied the score with a four-run sixth inning. A two-run homer by Scott Schreiber (Nebraska) put the Braves ahead for good. Schreiber finished 3-for-5 with two RBI. Zac Susi (UConn) had two hits and scored two runs for the Braves. Bryan Hoeing (Louisville) followed his college teammate Nick Bennett to the hill and tossed three scoreless innings of relief for the win. Kyle Marman (Florida Atlantic) recorded a two-inning save. Falmouth got home runs from George Janca (Texas A&M) and Cameron O’Neill (Holy Cross).

Chatham 8, Wareham 2

Chatham broke a 2-2 tie with five runs in the eighth inning to beat Wareham. Shea Langeliers (Baylor) hit a two-run homer – his fifth of the summer – to break the deadlock and the Anglers added three more runs in the big inning. Fabian Pena (Manhattan) finished 4-for-5 with an RBI for the Anglers and Antonio Ralat (UAB) had two hits and three RBI. Making his 2017 debut, Wake Forest star Johnny Aiello went 2-for-4 for Chatham. The comeback made a winner out of Rodney Hutchison Jr. (North Carolina), who pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of relief after UNC teammate Austin Bergner allowed two runs in 5.1 innings. Griffin Roberts (Wake Forest) allowed one earned run in seven innings for Wareham before the bullpen faltered.

What to Watch

The top two teams in the East meet for the first time since the second day of the season when Orleans visits Y-D. Stetson standout Logan Gilbert, who went five scoreless in his last start, gets the ball for Orleans. Tim Brennan (St. Joseph’s), one of the league’s top strikeout pitchers so far, goes for the Red Sox.

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