Cotuit’s Peyton Burdick delivered perhaps the best opening night performance in Cape Cod Baseball League history Tuesday night.
The redshirt sophomore at Wright State blasted three home runs and racked up seven RBI in a 10-1 win over Brewster.
Three home runs matches the Cape League single game record, with Burdick becoming the eighth player to do it. Chris Dominguez of Hyannis and Louisville was the most recent to join the club in 2008. Before that, the last to do it was Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas in 1988. You can read about the record in a piece on the Cape League website after Dominguez’ big night.
Most of the three-homer performances came in July games. For Burdick to do it on opening night lends an extra layer to the achievement. The first week of the season usually features low-scoring games as hitters adjust to wood bats. Across the league Tuesday, that was not the case as four teams scored at least 10 runs.
Burdick was the grand marshal of that offensive parade. He started right away. Batting fifth, he stepped in with the bases loaded in the first inning. One runner scored on a wild pitch before Burdick smacked a three-run homer (crazy that, without the wild pitch, his night would have included a grand slam).
He walked in his next at-bat then hit a two-run double in the fourth inning. In the sixth, he hit a two-run homer, and in the eighth, a solo shot. Mercifully for Brewster, he did not bat again, finishing the night 4-for-4. Teammates Thomas Dillard (Ole Miss) and Adam Oviedo (TCU) added one RBI each. Starting pitcher John Baker (Ball State) struck out eight in five shutout innings.
The record night comes off a strong spring for the 6-foot, 210-pound outfielder. Burdick batted .347 with nine home runs and 65 RBI.
That kind of year could predict a good summer.
But nothing could predict the best opening night performance in Cape League history.
Yarmouth-Dennis 10, Bourne 9
Y-D won a wild slugfest over Bourne, with two runs in the bottom of the ninth after the Braves had taken the lead with three in the top of the ninth. Jim Govern (Eastern Illinois) tied the game with an RBI single and Matthew Dyer (Arizona) won it with a walk-off single. Zach Ashford (Fresno State) led the Red Sox with four hits, while Govern and Dyer had three. Adam Kerner (San Diego) had three hits, including a home run. WAC Player of the Year Quin Cotton (Grand Canyon) had a triple and two RBI. Bourne got home runs from Anthony Prato (UConn) and Spencer Brickhouse (East Carolina), with Brickhouse’s ninth-inning blast tying the game.
Wareham 12, Chatham 4
It was a 5-4 game in the ninth inning when the Gatemen exploded for seven runs and coasted to the finish. Andrew Vaughn (California) – the Pac 12 Player of the Year who’s with Wareham before heading to Team USA – led the late surge with a grand slam. Other offensive standouts for the game were Oliver Dunn (Utah), Austin Shenton (Florida International) and Bryson Stott (UNLV) with two RBI each. Joey Matulovich (California) went four scoreless innings and Brendan White (Siena) tossed two scoreless frames of relief. Ben Ramirez (USC) led Chatham with two hits and two RBI.
Falmouth 10, Hyannis 4
The Commodores used a six-run third inning to take control and kept adding on in a blowout win. Hayden Cantrelle (Louisiana-Lafayette) led the charge with two hits and three RBI. C.J. Schaeffer (Western Illinois) had two hits, two runs and two RBI. Davis Sims (Murray State) went 3-for-6. Ian Koch (Western Illinois) got the win with two scoreless innings of relief. Hyannis got a home run from Michael Barefoot (Campbell).
Harwich 3, Orleans 2
In the only low-scoring game of the night, Harwich scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, with the last one breaking a 2-2 tie and setting up a win over Orleans. Gabriel Rivera (Miami) had three hits and scored what proved to be the winning run on a wild pitch. Tanner Morris (Virginia) and Andre Lipcius (Tennessee) each had an RBI for the Mariners. Garrett Stallings (Tennessee) allowed two runs in six innings for Harwich, and the bullpen shined, with Christian Santana (Florida International) going two scoreless frames and Andrew Misiaszek (Northeastern) pitching a scoreless ninth for the save. Returning Firebird Jaxx Groshans (Kansas) went 3-for-4 with a home run to lead Orleans.
What to Watch
One of the top sophomore pitchers in the nation gets the ball for Wareham as it hosts Harwich. Ken Waldichuk (St. Mary’s) had a 2.05 ERA and struck out 118 in 92 innings.
Welcome back, Will! I was starting to worry that we might have to go a season without RFF, which would be disastrous.
Do you know if Peyton Burdick is on a temporary contract? It’s always tough to tell early in the season which players are on full contracts and which are just filling in until the big-school players arrive. I can’t remember the last time Wright State produced a full-timer.
I love the name Spencer Brickhouse. In box scores it’s abbreviated “S Brickhouse,” which makes me think of “Brick S’house.”
Burdick is a currently a temp in Cotuit. But that could change soon.
Good to be back, Orville!
Thanks for the clarity, Joe. I would imagine he finds a way to stick around.