Maryland’s rise into the upper reaches of college baseball – marked by two recent trips to Super Regionals – has also included success in the Cape League. Kevin Smith won playoff MVP honors in Y-D’s run to the championship last year, and a number of other Terps have made their mark.
Nick Dunn and Marty Costes are joining the club this summer. Both have been red-hot lately for Brewster and big performances Sunday lifted the Whitecaps into a tie for third place. Dunn homered and Costes went 4-for-5 with two RBI as Brewster topped Y-D 5-1.
While Duke’s All-Star MVP duo is probably the best college teammate tandem in the league, Griffin Conine and Jimmy Herron are having their big seasons for different Cape clubs. Dunn and Costes are having a similar impact, but for one team, and the impact has been expanding.
Dunn hit .311 for the Whitecaps last summer. After batting .261 with five home runs in the spring, he returned to Brewster and didn’t exactly pick up where he left off. He was hitting .237 on July 10. Since that point, though, Dunn has had a hit in every game – 16 of them – and has raised his batting average to .339. He’s had a multi-hit performance in eight of the 16 games.
Costes has been on a similar trajectory. He had flashed some pop but was hitting just .197 on July 20. He’s had hits in seven of eight games since, with two three-hit games and last night’s four-hit barrage mixed in. After hitting .322 with 13 homers in the spring, Costes is now at .302 with five home runs on the Cape.
With Dunn and Costes leading the offense Sunday, William Tribucher (Michigan) tossed six innings of one-run baseball and struck out seven for the win. Sam Bordner (Louisville) and Ryan Cyr (Kansas) teamed up for three hitless innings of relief.
Brewster improved to 19-20-2 and is tied with Chatham for third place in the East.
Falmouth 3, Cotuit 2
The tight West division race yielded a very tight game in Falmouth, but the team on top of the standings stayed there as the Commodores won in extra innings. After scoring two runs in the first inning and nothing else, the Commodores broke through in the bottom of the 11th. Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) doubled and George Janca (Texas A&M) scored him with a walk-off single. Falmouth now leads the division by three points over Bourne and four points over Cotuit. Joshua Breaux (McLennan CC) added a home run for Falmouth, his sixth of the summer, and Larnach was 3-for-5. Derrick Adams (Jacksonville State) struck out four in 3.1 innings of shutout relief to keep the game tied. Brian Rapp (Boston College) was dominant in relief for Cotuit with six strikeouts in 4.1 innings and Michael Toglia (UCLA) homered for the Kettleers.
Harwich 2, Chatham 1
There were extra innings in Harwich, too, as the Mariners continued their post-elimination surge with an 11-inning win. Since their playoff hopes ended, Harwich has won three straight. Nick Dalesandro (Purdue) delivered the walk-off hit in the bottom of the 11th to score Antoine Duplantis (LSU). It was quite a night for Dalesandro, an all-star catcher/designated hitter. Long before his 11th inning heroics, Dalesandro started the game on the mound and went four scoreless innings. It wasn’t all new for Dalesandro, who pitched some in the 2016 season at Purdue. He didn’t take the mound at all this past season and hadn’t pitched for Harwich. Austin Hansen (Oklahoma) earned the win in relief for the Mariners.
Wareham 6, Orleans 5
Wareham snapped a seven-game skid and notched a key win, with Hyannis looming just two points back of a playoff spot. The Gatemen trailed 5-1 but scored three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh for the comeback win. Jarren Duran (Long Beach State) and Ben Baird (Washington) had three hits each and Jake Anchia (Nova Southeastern) homered and drove in two. Armed with the lead, Aaron Hernandez (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) pitched the final five innings, allowing one run and striking out six. For Orleans, Ethan Paul (Vanderbilt), Stephen Scott (Vanderbilt) and Kevin Strohschein (Tennessee Tech) all homered.
Hyannis 4, Bourne 2
The Harbor Hawks won their second straight game and handed Bourne a third straight loss. Tyler Frank (Florida International) had two hits and two RBI, while Reece Hampton (Charlotte) had two hits and knocked in one run. Ford Proctor (Rice) had the other RBI. Making his second start since arriving as a late reinforcement, Tyler Vaughn (Belmont) impressed again, striking out six and allowing one run in six innings of work. Ryan Weiss (Wright State) and Christian Tripp (New Mexico) closed out the win.
What to Watch
It’ll be a long day for the Cotuit Kettleers but it could be a fruitful one. Thanks to rainouts and a jam-packed final stretch, they’ll play a split doubleheader with a noon game at Hyannis and a 6:30 p.m. game at Wareham. If the Kettleers can win both games, with Falmouth idle, they would move into a tie for first place in the West.