The fireworks continued for the red-hot Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox on the Fourth of July, but they’ve been popping for a while now.
Y-D’s 7-2 win over Hyannis was its fourth in a row and the 10th in its last 12 games. Since starting the season 2-4-2, the Red Sox have lost only twice. Their 12-6-2 record gives them 26 points, tied with Wareham for the best total in the league.
The Red Sox have done a lot of their damage with offense – they lead the league with a .283 team batting average and a .370 on-base percentage. They’ve also struck out the fewest times in the league, no small thing in an era of big swings.
Pitching, on the surface, has been more of an issue. The Red Sox have a 4.03 ERA, ranking eighth out of 10 teams. But a deeper look reveals that a few blow-ups inflated that number. Five games account for more than half of the earned runs the Red Sox have allowed. In their other 13 games, their team ERA is under 2.00.
That explains why the Red Sox are winning more often than not.
The holiday victory matched the usual offense with good pitching. Quin Cotton (Grand Canyon) and Noah Campbell each went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Reese Albert (Florida State), who’s scorching hot with a .412 batting average, went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Nicholas Quintana (Arizona), Jonathan DeLuca (Oregon) and Christian Koss (UC Irvine) drove in one run each. David Hamilton (Texas), who had a great spring and is off to a slow start through four games with Y-D, broke out with a two-run double in a key sixth-inning rally.
Brant Hurter (Georgia Tech) allowed two runs in four innings ahead of an impressive showing by the bullpen. Chandler Fidel (Arkansas Little Rock), Sam Kessler (West Virginia) and Tyler Madrigal (St. Mary’s) combined on five scoreless innings of relief.
Todd Lott (Louisiana Lafayette) homered for Hyannis, moving into a tie for the league lead with five, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Harbor Hawks afloat.
The fireworks show no signs of stopping for the Red Sox.
Orleans 3, Chatham 0
Five pitchers teamed up on a three-hit shutout and the offense arrived just in time as Orleans took the first game of a two-day holiday series with the Anglers. Andrew Abbott (Virginia) started things with five innings of two-hit ball, striking out three. He now owns a 1.13 ERA and hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last two starts. Four relievers handled one inning each. Kevin Kelly (James Madison), Carlisle Koestler (SE Louisiana), Nicholas Osborne (Tennessee Tech) and Aaron Ochsenbein (Eastern Kentucky) each struck out one and kept Chatham off the board. Anglers pitchers did the same for eight inning – Davis Daniel (Auburn) didn’t allow a hit in four frames – but the Firebirds busted through in the top of the ninth. J.J. Bleday (Vanderbilt) doubled and came around on a wild pitch, Osborne singled home a run and James Free II (Pacific) made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Harwich 8, Brewster 1
A six-run fifth inning and good pitching throughout sparked Harwich past Brewster. A two-run single by Aaron Schunk (Georgia) and a two-run double by Andre Lipcius (Tennessee) highlighted the big inning. Danny Casals (Maine) also finished the day with two RBI, while Chris Galland (Boston College) had one. Making his 2018 Cape debut, Tyler Baum (North Carolina) picked up where he left off last summer, when he led the league in ERA. Baum surrendered four hits in four shutout innings. Jackson Gillis (Vanderbilt) and Michael Bienlien (NC State) combined on the last five innings.
What to Watch
Back to a full slate of games on the day after the holiday. Another Tar Heel standout – Baum’s classmate Austin Bergner – makes his Cape return for Chatham when the Anglers visit Orleans. Bergner had a 1.16 ERA for Chatham last summer.