A lot of spotlight posts on pitchers lately. They keep forcing the issue.
Franco Aleman is the latest to join the party. He went six scoreless innings in Falmouth’s 2-0 win over Hyannis on Monday night, keeping his ERA at 0.00. He now qualifies for the ERA title and, obviously, leads the league.
Aleman pitched this past season at Florida International. He’s now headed to the juco ranks at St. John’s River and has committed to the University of Florida for the year after.
And he’s been terrific on the Cape.
He allowed three unearned runs in his last start but has otherwise been untouchable – five scoreless innings against Chatham, six scoreless against Bourne and now seven scoreless versus Hyannis. This time, he struck out six, matching a season high, walked one and allowed four hits. On the season, he has 18 strikeouts against two walks in 23 innings pitched.
Aleman is front and center in a group of starters who have just been awesome – Ian Bedell, Kolby Kubichek, Mac Lardner, Mason Black, Ian Seymour. There isn’t much depth around the league behind those guys in terms of workhorse performances, but they’ve been top-notch.
Aleman’s performance Monday helped Falmouth stop a two-game slide. Backing him, Baron Radcliff (Georgia Tech) homered and Trei Cruz (Rice) drove in the other run. Cruz has five two-hit games in his last six. Logan Hoffman (Northwestern State) and Thomas Girard (Duke) finished off the shutout.
Bourne 3, Cotuit 2
The aforementioned Mac Lardner (Gonzaga) gave up home runs to the first two batters of the game – in a span of six pitches – but he didn’t allow another run and the Braves rallied back for a win. Nick Gonzales (New Mexico State) led off the game with his fifth blast of the summer, and Casey Schmitt (San Diego State) went back-to-back, also hitting his fifth. From there, Lardner allowed four more hits and struck out five in six innings. Bourne’s comeback started quickly as Kyle Hess (Pittsburgh) hit a two-run single in the second inning to tie the game. The deadlock persisted until the eighth, when Jud Fabian (Florida) hit his fourth home run of the summer to break the tie and send the Braves on their way. Kieran Shaw (Harvard) finished off the win with a scoreless ninth for his third save.
Y-D 5, Harwich 4
Y-D trailed 4-1 in the late innings, but scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth en route to a comeback win. Tate Samuelson (Cal Poly) had an RBI single to start the rally and Jack-Thomas Wold (UNLV) finished it with one swing, cranking a three-run homer to give Y-D the lead. The Red Sox held onto it from there as Taylor Dollard (Cal Poly) pitched a perfect ninth for his league-best fifth save. Noah Campbell (South Carolina) added two hits and an RBI, and Austin Wells (Arizona) had three hits for Y-D. Joey Wiemer Jr (Cincinnati) went 3-for-4 with four RBI for Harwich. Jordan Butler (Florida) allowed one run in six innings before Y-D rallied against the bullpen.
Chatham 4, Brewster 2
Chatham won its third in a row and retained the best record in the league at 18-11-4. It was a second straight comeback victory. The Anglers trailed 2-1 before scoring three runs in the seventh inning to grab the lead. Kaden Polcovich (Northwest Florida) tied the game with an RBI single, Jamal O’Guinn (USC) drew a bases-loaded walk for the lead and Alejandro Toral (Miami) added insurance with a sac fly. Jeremy Wu-Yelland (Hawaii) was already on the mound and pitching well, and he ran with the lead once he got it. He pitched four scoreless innings with six strikeouts, his fifth consecutive scoreless outing. Starter Zarion Sharpe (UNC Wilmington) was also solid, allowing one earned run in five innings.
What to Watch
Fresh off his nine-strikeout, eight shutout inning performance, Connor McCullough (Kansas State) gets the ball for Harwich against Hyannis.