Unsurprising strong pitching and a surprising home run led the Harwich Mariners into first place Tuesday night.
After four pitchers kept the league’s best ERA on target again, Chris Galland (Boston College) hit his first home run of 2018 in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Mariners walked off with a 4-3 victory over Orleans.
It was the fourth win in a row for Harwich, who jumps to the top of the East with a 5-3 record.
Pitching has set the course for the streak. In the four wins, the Mariners have allowed a total of six runs. The latest strong showing was spearheaded by Garrett Stallings (Tennessee). Making his second start, he struck out 10 and allowed two runs over six innings of work. So far in the Cape League season, there have been only four outings of at least six innings by starters, and Stallings can claim two of them.
Stallings departed in a 2-2 game. Danny Poidomani (Stevens), Michael Bienlien (NC State) and Andrew Misiaszek (Northeastern) took the torch and pitched well in relief.
It was a 3-3 game when Galland stepped to the plate in the ninth. Aaron Ochsenbein (Eastern Kentucky), who had nine saves this spring and a 12.5 K/9 ratio, had struck out the first two batters of the inning. And Galland, who hit .316 as a freshman at Boston College but with zero home runs, didn’t seem like a one-man rally. But on a 1-0 pitch, he crushed a ball to deep left and watched it sail out of the ballpark.
ICYMI: Chris Gallands (@BCBirdBall) HR lifts @HarwichMariners to 4-3 Win over Orleans. Mariners extend winning streak to four games, look to make it five in Bourne tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/zFDwqcFZ8M
— Thomas Zinzarella (@zinz21) June 20, 2018
Galland finished the night 2-for-4 with two RBI and is hitting .296 on the summer. Zach Watson (LSU) pushed his hitting streak to six with a 2-for-3 night and is batting .455.
Misiaszek was credited with the win in relief.
Cotuit 10, Hyannis 4
The Kettleers evened the Barnstable Patriot Cup series at one game apiece with a late surge, turning a 3-3 game into a blowout with seven runs in the final two innings. Thomas Dillard (Ole Miss) and Zachary Biermann (Coastal Carolina) hit back-to-back home runs to highlight the late push. Dillard finished 2-for-4 with four RBI. Beau Brundage (Portland) also had a good night, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Deacon Medders (Alabama) earned the win out of the bullpen with his third impressive outing of the summer. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 10 innings pitched, while striking out seven. Cotuit is 5-3 on the year and has scored the most runs in the league. Hyannis fell to 4-3.
Wareham 6, Chatham 3
Wareham stayed a game ahead of the pack for the best record in the league with a win over Chatham. Andrew Vaughn (California) continued his scorching start with a two-run homer in the first inning. He leads the league with four long balls and 10 RBI in eight games. Wareham’s other red-hot hitter, Austin Shenton (Florida International), also had a big game, going 3-for-4 and raising his league-best average to .522. Luke Roskam (Nebraska) added two hits and two RBI, while UCLA standout Jeremy Ydens went 2-for-4 in his Cape debut. On the mound, Ken Waldichuk (St. Mary’s) struck out six in five shutout innings. He has 12 strikeouts in nine innings of work this summer, to go with a 1.00 ERA. Tyler Yeh (Seattle) picked up the save.
Bourne 4, Falmouth 2
The Braves moved back to even in a couple of ways, pushing their record to 4-4 and putting their season runs and runs allowed totals both at 33. Chase Murray (Georgia Tech) had two hits and two RBI, Tyler Fitzgerald (Louisville) went 2-for-4 and Spencer Brickhouse (East Carolina) drove in his team-best seventh RBI. Zach Peek (Winthrop) – who was coming off a great spring but struggled in his first Cape start – got back in business with six strikeouts in four shutout innings. Mike Ruff (Florida Atlantic) was credited with the win in relief and Kyle Martin (Fordham) pitched three scoreless innings for the save. For Falmouth, Hayden Cantrelle (Louisiana Lafayette) went 0-for-2 but drew three walks and now has a .571 on-base percentage, tied for the best mark in the league.
Y-D 4, Brewster 4
Brewster had just enough time to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth before darkness crept into Stony Brook Field and the game was called. Michael Massey (Illinois) came through with the game-tying hit on an RBI single in the ninth, scoring Allbry Major (Xavier). Cameron Eden (California) and Joseph Donovan (Michigan) also had RBI for the Whitecaps. Quin Cotton (Grand Canyon) had two hits and an RBI to lead the Red Sox.
What to Watch
Graeme Stinson put up some ridiculous numbers for Duke this year, striking out 98 in 62 innings pitched, and he’ll make his return to Orleans tonight as he draws the start when the Firebirds take on Cotuit.