Orleans holds in the top spot for the third straight week. Y-D’s win streak vaults it into second. And really, it’s those two and everybody else right now.
1. Orleans Firebirds
Record: 21-11 (5-1 last week)
Previous Rank: 1
Yes, Y-D beat Orleans 11-2 last night and leads the season series over the Firebirds. But both teams had fantastic weeks and, with a good chunk of the season in the books, the body of work still favors Orleans. The Firebirds lead the circuit in team batting average and runs scored, and they lead in team ERA and opposing batting average. The lineup is extremely deep – as noted when Steve Passatempo hit three homers in a seven at-bat span – and the pitching is as good as the numbers indicate. Logan Gilbert is emerging as a bona fide ace on a staff of aces and the bullpen is rolling along.
2. Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox
Record: 19-11-1 (5-0 last week)
Previous Rank: 4
The Red Sox have won five in a row and eight of their last nine. They’re three games back of Orleans for first place and the gap the other way is growing – Y-D has a seven-point edge on third-place Chatham. The Red Sox rank fourth in the league in hitting and third in team ERA. The pitching rotation doesn’t look as deep as what Orleans can bring to the table, but it’s still one of the best in the league.
3. Cotuit Kettleers
Record: 16-14-1 (2-3 last week)
Previous Rank: 2
The top four teams in the West are separated by two points in the standings. For now, Cotuit has a slight edge and gets the nod here, too. The Kettleers have been the streakiest team in the league – owners of six-game and four-game win streaks and five- and four-game losing streaks. The Kettleers rank sixth in the league in both team batting average and ERA. But they’ve shown that, on their best days, they’re tough to beat.
4. Wareham Gatemen
Record: 15-15-1 (4-1 last week)
Previous Rank: 6
The underlying numbers hinted at a breakout, and the Gatemen appear to be in the midst of it. Ranking second in both team batting average and ERA, they were under .500 this time last week, but they’ve climbed back and are in the thick of the West race. Tanner Dodson leads the league in hitting and Steven Kwan has been terrific atop the order since his late arrival from Oregon State’s run in Omaha. What really stands out is the starting pitching – in a four-game stretch last week, Gatemen starters didn’t give up a run. One of the pitchers, Miller Hogan, departed with an innings limit, but the others are still going strong.
5. Falmouth Commodores
Record: 15-16-1 (3-4 last week)
Previous Rank: 3
Falmouth hasn’t been able to get hot and at times this week, its powerful offense showed some chinks against good pitching. Orleans shut them out and Bourne held them to one run. Still, the Commodores continue to lead the league in slugging and the lineup is only getting stronger, with catcher Joshua Breaux hitting five home runs over his last 11 games.
6. Bourne Braves
Record: 16-15 (2-3 last week)
Previous Rank: 7
The Braves are closest to Cotuit in the standings and have a chance to overtake the Kettleers with a head-to-head matchup tonight. Bourne is the opposite of Cotuit in terms of streakiness, with just two stretches of three straight anything. It’s made for a bit of a rollercoaster, but the Braves keep ending up on the positive side of the ledger. And if nothing else, they’ll always lead the 2017 Cape League highlight reel.
7. Chatham Anglers
Record: 16-16 (4-2 last week)
Previous Rank: 9
Chatham makes a jump after a strong week highlighted by a dominant pitching stretch. The Anglers went 30 innings across four games without allowing a run. They now rank fifth in the league in ERA, and if they can sustain anything like that stretch going forward, they could emerge as a clear No. 3 team in the East.
8. Brewster Whitecaps
Record: 15-16-1 (2-4 last week)
Previous Rank: 5
Brewster didn’t have a terrible week, but with Chatham surging and the top West teams so tightly-packed, the Whitecaps take a tumble in the rankings. A tough schedule didn’t help – the Whitecaps’ four losses were to East leaders Y-D and Orleans, along with streaking Wareham and Chatham. This still looks like a solid group. There’s a big gap in these rankings from eight to nine.
9. Harwich Mariners
Record: 10-21-1 (1-5 last week)
Previous Rank: 10
Harwich is out of the basement, but that’s mostly because Hyannis had a brutal week. The Mariners – after a decent stretch early last week – haven’t helped themselves much since. The team batting average is climbing, but still ranks 10th in the league. The team ERA is ninth.
10. Hyannis Harbor Hawks
Record: 11-19-2 (1-6 last week)
Previous Rank: 8
It wasn’t a great week for the Hyannis offense, which didn’t score more than four runs in any game, and that was particularly bad news given the kind of pitching week the Harbor Hawks had. After beating Chatham 3-1 last Thursday, the Harbor Hawks lost their next six and gave up an average of 8.2 runs per game. The team ERA now sits at 5.53.