With the top scoring offense in the league, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox have a number of guys pulling a lot of weight this summer.
A pair of freshmen are shouldering perhaps the biggest load.
Wyatt Young (Pepperdine) leads the league in hitting and Austin Wells (Arizona) leads the league in home runs and RBI. Both did damage in Wednesday’s 13-1 blowout of Hyannis.
There’s a long history of freshman struggles in the Cape League, even for players who go on to stardom. Kris Bryant batted .223 for Chatham after his freshman year. Greyson Jenista hit .229 for Cotuit in 2016 and won the Cape League MVP award the next summer.
Young and Wells have had no such trouble so far.
A native of Hawaii, Young led Pepperdine with a .313 average in the spring. He started his Cape League career with an 0-for-4 night but has been on base in all but one game since then. He has six multi-hit games, and his .378 average now tops the league leaderboard. He has struck out only eight times in 45 at-bats.
Young has also starred with the glove. In 16 games, mostly at shortstop, he has yet to make an error.
Wells came to the Cape off a terrific debut at Arizona, in which he batted .353 en route to first-team Freshman All-American honors from Baseball America.
He made his Cape League splash on June 16 when he blasted three home runs in a doubleheader with Cotuit. He has been steady since then, and in the last week, he’s had two three-hit games. Wells is batting .328. His five homers are tops in the league and his 15 RBI are tied for the most.
Wednesday’s win featured more of the same from Young and Wells. Young went 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI. Wells was 3-for-5 with the home run and three RBI. Y-D also got a home run from Erik Tolman (Arizona State) and three hits from R.J. Yeager (Mercer).
It was the second straight win for the Red Sox.
Chatham 8, Orleans 7
Chatham walked off on a throwing error for a dramatic win over Orleans. The Firebirds had rallied from a 7-4 deficit to tie the game at 7-7 in the top of the ninth. Hueston Morrill (Oklahoma State) led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Ben Ramirez (USC) followed with what was intended to be a sacrifice bunt, but a throwing error allowed Morrill to race all the way around with the winning run. Before the drama, Chatham got a home run from Charlie Welch (Pepperdine), three hits from Jamal O’Guinn (USC) and two from Kaden Polcovich (Northwest Florida). Zarion Sharpe (UNC Wilmington) struck out five in four shutout innings of relief. And for a very random note, Sharpe was one of five players with a first name starting with Z who played in this game – three Zachs, a Zebulon and Zarion. The win moved Chatham within one point of Orleans for first place.
Falmouth 6, Cotuit 1
Nine of Falmouth’s 10 hits were singles, but they were well-timed enough to send the Commodores to a victory. Austin Masel (Holy Cross) followed up a four-hit night with a 2-for-3, 1 RBI day. Trei Cruz (Rice) and Kevin Kendall (UCLA) also drove in runs. Three Falmouth pitchers combined on a four-hitter. Nick Nastrini (UCLA) allowed one run in five innings for the win. Sam Weatherly (Clemson) and Bryce Miller (Texas A&M) pitched scoreless relief outings to finish it off.
Wareham 7, Bourne 5
Wareham and Cotuit traded places atop the West again. Five runs in the first inning and two in the second staked the Gatemen to an early lead, and they held off Bourne down the stretch. Wareham hit two home runs in the big first inning. Matthew Rudick (San Diego State) led off the inning with a solo shot and Kameron Guangorena (Cal State Fullerton) blasted a three-run homer. Jacob Teter (Florida Southern) chipped in an RBI double. Six different pitchers took the mound for Wareham. Trey Dillard (Missouri) was credited with the win. Landen Roupp (UNC Wilmington) earned the save.
Brewster 7, Harwich 5
Alabama teammates Brett Auerbach and Tyler Gentry both went deep as Brewster outlasted Harwich. Auerbach finished 2-for-4 with the homer, his second of the summer. Gentry’s blast – his first – was part of a 2-for-4, 4 RBI night that also included a triple. Marcos Castanon (UC Santa Barbara) and Kurt Wilson (Texas Tech) also knocked in runs for Brewster. Seth Lonsway (Ohio State) earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. Brewster snapped a two-game skid while handing Harwich its fourth straight loss.
What to Watch
Round two of the Chatham-Orleans Fourth of July set is slated for Eldredge Park.