Pretty much every day this season, I’ve checked to see if it’s the right time for the Duke post. Orleans’ Jimmy Herron and Cotuit’s Griffin Conine have been two of the best hitters in the Cape League since day one, Zack Kone is an all-star and several of their teammates are having solid summers. Duke’s presence is one of the stories of the summer, and I probably could have picked any random day to make it the Daily Fog theme.
But today is probably the best day.
Herron won East MVP honors and Conine took the West MVP award at Saturday’s All-Star Game as one of the big stories of the summer became the big story of the All-Star Game. They are the first college teammates in Cape League All-Star Game history to win the MVP awards. That dates back to 1988, when the game became a division vs. division affair. Previously, when the All-Star Game featured the Cape and the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, just one MVP was handed out.
Herron capped a comeback that gave the East squad a 5-3 win when he doubled home the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning. He finished 1-for-4 with the two RBI.
Conine had upped the West’s lead to 3-0 with a two-run homer in the third inning. He finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and was the only player on either team to log two hits.
With their first four pitchers tossing shutout innings and Conine pushing the lead, the West was poised for a bit of surprise result, given the dominance of the top two teams in the East this summer, both of whom had a heavy presence on the East All-Star squad. But the East chipped away on a home run by Brewster’s Michael Curry (Georgia) and an RBI groundout by Y-D’s Kyle Isbel (UNLV).
Falmouth reliever Mitchell Miller (Clemson) got in trouble with three walks in the seventh, and Herron made him pay, battling through a 10-pitch at-bat with six foul balls before smacking a lined drive up the middle to give the East the lead.
The West was unable to mount a comeback and the East prevailed, continuing an every-other-year trend in the All-Star Game. After a tie in 2012, the East has won in 2013, 2015 and 2017, with the West winning in 2014 and 2016.
As for Conine and Herron, the All-Star Game MVPs may not be the only MVP awards they’re in contention for, not with the Cape League’s leaderboard looking like this as the regular season gets back to action today:
Other All-Star Game notes:
– Great crowd at Wareham’s Spillane Field, announced at 7,163. There was nary a set to be had in any of the sets of bleachers, even in the outfield.
– Orleans’ Stephen Scott won the Home Run Derby over Brewster’s Chandler Taylor.
– Orleans’ Ryan Rolison was credited with the win and Y-D’s Riley McCauley grabbed the save.
– Kris Bubic of Y-D and Logan Gilbert of Orleans had the most impressive innings on the mound, with a pair of strikeouts each. Gilbert, who is emerging as the best pitching prospect in the league, was particularly impressive, as he struck out Willie McIver and George Janca on a total of nine pitches.
– Falmouth’s Alec Bohm was likely near the top of the list of players scouts wanted to see, and he didn’t disappoint, smashing a double to deep center in the second inning.