Last seen giving up 19 runs in a loss to Orleans, the Brewster Whitecaps were a lot better on the Fourth of July thanks to a pair of Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Harrison Rutkowski (Rutgers) pitched six scoreless innings and teammate Brian Fitzpatrick (Rutgers) finished off the shutout with three scoreless frames as the Whitecaps beat Harwich 7-0.
Rutkowski has been dominant so far this summer. Following a spring season in which he led the Scarlet Knights in strikeouts, he has made two carbon copy starts for Brewster. He tossed six scoreless innings in his debut and did it again on Sunday. He’s allowed just three hits across the two starts. On Sunday, he struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.
Fitzpatrick gave up two runs in each of his first two outings with the Whitecaps but he was on target in this one, striking out one and allowing only one hit en route to a three-inning save.
The Rutgers duo had offensive support throughout, with Brewster scoring three runs in the second inning and adding on over four of the final six innings. Shawn Goosenberg (Northwestern) went 3-for-4 with two RBI, and Dillon Carter (Texas Tech) went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Brewster is now 5-4-2.
Bourne 4, Wareham 0
At some point, the Bourne Braves are going to lose a game. Right? It didn’t happen on the Fourth of July. With a 4-0 win over Wareham on Sunday, the Braves are now 9-0-2. Gordon Graceffo (Villanova) delivered his third impressive start of the season, allowing three hits in five scoreless innings. Behind him, the bullpen was even better. Trystan Vrieling (Gonzaga) struck out four and didn’t give up a hit in three innings. Eric Adler (Wake Forest) didn’t surrender a hit either while pitching the ninth for his third save of the summer. Wareham pitchers were pretty good, too. It was a shutout into the sixth, but the Braves broke through for two runs in the sixth and two more in the ninth. Kyler Fedko (UConn) broke the tie with an RBI single and Nick Goodwin (Kansas State) drew a bases loaded walk to plate another. Max Anderson (Nebraska) delivered two insurance runs with a single in the ninth.
Cotuit 4, Falmouth 3
The Kettleers snapped a two-game skid with a narrow victory over Falmouth. Two runs in the second inning and two more in the third ended up being enough as Cotuit held off a Falmouth comeback. RJ Schreck (Duke) led Cotuit with two RBI. Ben Rice (Dartmouth) and Eric Brown (Coastal Carolina) knocked in one run each. Justin Meis (Eastern Michigan) was terrific on the mound, allowing just one hit and striking out seven in five innings of shutout ball. After Falmouth made some headway against the bullpen, Andre Granillo closed the door with 2.1 scoreless frames. Cotuit is now 5-6 and Falmouth is 4-5-2.
Y-D 7, Hyannis 1
Y-D has had more ties than anyone else in this no-extra-innings summer, but they avoided one here with a late surge. It was a 1-1 game in the seventh, when the Red Sox broke out with four runs. They added two in the eighth to finish it off. Chase Luttrell (Long Beach State), Pascanel Ferreras (Western Carolina) and Tanner Smith (Oregon) drove in one run apiece. Patrick Gallagher (UConn) had one of the best strikeout games in the league so far, fanning 11 in five innings. The Red Sox go to 5-3-4. Hyannis is 2-9.
Orleans 8, Chatham 3
The Firebirds continued to put up big offensive numbers in their third straight win. They’re averaging 13 runs per game in the streak. Chase DeLauter (James Madison) hit his league best fifth home run and Peyton Chatagnier (Ole Miss) homered for the second straight game. Rhylan Thomas (USC) went 4-for-5 with two RBI and continues to lead the league in hitting with a .457 batting average. On the mound, Jonathan Cannon (Georgia) allowed his first run of the summer but only one in four strong innings. Donovan Benoit (Tulane) was credited with the win in relief. Orleans improves to 6-4-1 and Chatham falls to 4-6-2.
WHAT TO WATCH
Can Orleans keep it up against a premium arm? Bryce Hubbart (Florida State) starts for Brewster against the Firebirds after fanning nine in five scoreless innings last time out.
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