Come October, Major League teams may want to consider signing Michael Sansone.
In addition to being a very good pitcher, he’s quite the good luck charm.
Sansone was a key part of the pitching staff for a fantastic Fairfield team in the spring. The story of college baseball in the northeast this spring, the Stags opened the season with 28 consecutive wins and finished 39-5, even making some noise in the NCAA regionals.
Now, Sansone is pitching for the league-leading Bourne Braves, and he helped them improve to 21-3-3 with a win Saturday night. He tossed five scoreless innings as Bourne beat Chatham 2-1. Sansone is now tied for the league lead in wins.
His teams this year have gone 60-8-3, which is pretty ridiculous.
On a pitching staff full of standouts in Bourne, Sansone has been among the best, just as expected after his spring success. He went 9-2 for Fairfield while pitching mostly as a starter. He had a 2.58 ERA and finished second on the team in strikeouts. When Fairfield upset Arizona State in the regionals, Sansone was the winning pitcher.
With Bourne, Sansone started the summer in a long relief role. He was good in that spot and has been even better since jumping into the rotation. He’s gone five shutout innings in each of this two starts with nine total strikeouts.
On Saturday, Sansone allowed three hits – all singles – and got stronger as the game went on. After giving up two hits to start the second inning, he retired the next three batters in a row, the beginning of a streak of 12 straight retired.
Sansone lowered his ERA to 0.78.
Cole Chudoba (UConn) pitched well in relief and Sansone’s Fairfield teammate Bryson Cafaro completed the all-Connecticut effort with the save.
Two early runs were enough for the Bourne pitchers. Zach Agnos (East Carolina) hit a home run that made it 1-0 in the second inning. Max Anderson (Nebraska) singled and scored on an error for the other run.
Harwich 18, Hyannis 16
The highest scoring game in the league this year went to Harwich. The Mariners knocked 18 hits and drew seven walks as they took over the league lead in runs scored. Dylan Phillips (Kansas State) stretch his hit streak to five with three hits, including a home run. Brock Wilken (Wake Forest) went 2-for-5 with his fifth homer. Max Cotier (Virginia) had three hits and five RBI and Pres Cavenaugh (UNC Greensboro) took over the league lead in hitting at .348 by going 3-for-6 with three RBI. Josh Hood (Penn) chipped in three RBI. Hyannis trailed 18-6 before scoring eight runs in the eighth and two in the ninth. Clark Elliott (Michigan) reached base seven times and had three RBI. Luke Mann (Missouri) had two hits and two RBI. Danny Wilkinson (Villanova) eventually stopped the rally after the two runs in the ninth, striking out the last two batters he faced, with the tying runs on base. Harwich has won three straight and is 15-8-4. Hyannis is 5-22.
Brewster 5, Y-D 2
Scoreless for the first five innings against dominant pitching, Brewster scored five runs over the final four innings for a comeback win. That outcome was hard to imagine early, as Y-D starter Adam Maier (British Columbia University) – a rare Cape Leaguer from a Canadian college – struck out 12 of the first 19 batters he faced. He didn’t allow a run until Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) hit a two-out home run in the sixth inning. At that point, the Brewster comeback was on. Against the Y-D bullpen, Chad Castillo (California Baptist) gave Brewster the lead with a solo home run. Jake Thompson (Oklahoma State) added an RBI triple in the eighth and Will Simpson (Washington) hit a solo home run in the ninth. Dylan Simmons (Florida State) pitched four scoreless innings of relief to make the comeback count. For Y-D, Dominic Kegan (Vanderbilt) hit his fourth home run in just seven games. Brewster is 17-8-2 and Y-D drops a little off the pace in the East at 11-11-6.
Wareham 6, Orleans 4
Tyler Locklear (VCU) and Chase DeLauter (James Madison) each hit their league-best eighth home runs for Orleans, but it was Wareham getting the win. Returning after a Team USA stint, Paul Skenes (Air Force) allowed two runs in three innings before strong relief work by Garrett Schmeltz (Louisville), who struck out five in four scoreless innings for the win. Kamren James (Mississippi State) homered for the Gatemen, while Kellum Clark (Mississippi State) and Tommy Troy (Stanford) each had two hits. Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) added two hits for Orleans. Wareham is 10-14-4 and Orleans is 10-12-4.
Falmouth 9, Cotuit 4
With Wareham’s win and this Falmouth victory over Cotuit, it’s now a three-way tie behind Bourne for second place in the West. Kristofer Armstrong (Florida) went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI to lead the Commodores. Jace Bohrofen (Oklahoma) had three hits and three RBI. Luke Boyers (TCU) drove in two runs, while Anthony Hall (Oregon) and Michael Curialle (UCLA) chipped in two hits each. Carter Trice (Old Dominion) homered for Cotuit but the Kettleers couldn’t quite keep up. Anthony DeFabbia (Stetson) got the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.
WHAT TO WATCH
Harwich’s only loss in its last 11 games came against Bourne. The Mariners will try to avenge it Sunday as they visit Doran Park in a matchup of two of the league’s top teams.
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