Austin Shenton’s batting average just keeps going up.
This time of year, players who have gotten off to hot starts are usually cooling down. Averages in the .400s are dropping into the .300s, where they’ll remain for the rest of the summer. Maybe someone hangs above .400 a little longer after a late arrival.
Shenton (Florida International) has played in every game for Wareham this summer, a full half-season as the Gatemen hit the midway point Thursday.
And his batting average just keeps going up.
With a 3-for-5 day in a 13-1 blowout of Bourne, Shenton bumped his league-best mark to .435. He’s on a 10-game hitting streak and has logged two straight three-hit performances. The next best qualified hitter is .073 points behind him.
Shenton is no stranger to success with the bat. After a year at a junior college, he hit over .400 for the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast League last summer and was named the fourth-best prospect in the circuit by Baseball America. In his first year at Florida International this spring, he batted .344 with nine home runs.
Wood bats and Cape League pitching haven’t slowed him down. He started the summer with hits in eight of his first nine games. After going 0-for-7 in a three-game hitless streak – his only cold stretch of the summer – he’s 17 for his last 35 in the 10-game heater.
Thursday brought one of his best games yet. He picked up two singles then homered in his final at-bat, his second bomb of the summer. He finished with three runs scored and two RBI.
The good night was part of another strong showing by the first-place Gatemen. Pavin Parks (Kent State) had three RBI and Lael Lockhart (Houston) had two. Jeremy Ydens (UCLA) scored four runs. Ryan Garcia (UCLA) allowed one run in five innings for the win and Easton Lucas (Pepperdine) was dominant in a four-inning save.
As for Shenton, he’s bidding to become the fourth straight Wareham player to win the league batting title. Andrew Calica did it – while hitting over .400 – in 2015, Cole Freeman topped the leaderboard in 2016 and Tanner Dodson won the crown last year.
Shenton stands a good chance – his batting average just isn’t going down.
Falmouth 17, Cotuit 7
The Commodores blasted four home runs and matched the league season-high in runs in a blowout win over Cotuit. Davis Sims (Murray State) went deep twice to lead the homer parade. Cameron Cannon (Arizona) hit one homer and racked up six RBI. Logan Davidson (Clemson) also homered in a 3-for-6, 2 RBI night. Kyle Stowers (Stanford) added three hits and Austin Langworthy (Florida) – after a slow start in his first four games in Falmouth – broke out with a two-hit, two-RBI night. Michael Toglia (UCLA) hit his first two home runs of the season for Cotuit, but the Kettleers could not keep up with Falmouth’s 18-hit barrage. Mitchell Miller (Clemson) earned the win in relief for Falmouth with two scoreless innings.
Orleans 3, Chatham 0
Orleans shut-out Chatham for the second night in a row. Joey Lancelotti (North Carolina) out-dueled his Carolina teammate Austin Bergner, tossing five innings of three-hit baseball with eight strikeouts. Four relievers kept the shutout going, with Aaron Ochsenbein (Eastern Kentucky) closing it out for his fifth save. Orleans got all its offense in the third inning against Bergner, as Sal Gozzo (Tulane) homered and Carter Aldrete (Arizona State) hit a two-run double.
Harwich 6, Brewster 0
The Mariners led throughout and three pitchers combined on a shutout for a win over Brewster. Kyle Mora (UCLA) allowed four hits in five innings for the win. Caleb Freeman (Texas Tech) followed with three innings and Andrew Misiaszek (Northeastern) tossed the final frame. Danny Casals (Maine) had two RBI to lead the Harwich offense. Aaron Schunk (Georgia), Andre Lipcius (Tennessee) and Ben Norman (Iowa) knocked in one run each.
Y-D 7, Hyannis 7
Trailing 7-6, Y-D scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to pull even in what proved to be its last chance as the game was called due to darkness. Zach Ashford (Fresno State) tied the game with a two-out, two-strike RBI double off Hyannis relief ace Dylan Thomas (Hawaii), who was bidding for his fifth save. Quin Cotton (Grand Canyon) led the Red Sox with three hits and an RBI. Braden Comeaux (Rice) went 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead Hyannis.
What to Watch
The top two teams in the East will meet at Red Wilson Field as Y-D hosts Harwich.