RIGHT FIELD FOG

Chatham may have the best record in the league, but the Anglers are 0-2 against Cotuit, the team with the next-best record. The Kettleers beat the Anglers 3-1 last night. That’s their second two-run victory over Chatham, which has dropped its last two after six straight wins. Amazingly, Chatham and Cotuit are the only two teams in the league with winning records.

Last night, Chatham out-hit Cotuit 10-8 but stranded 10 runners. A second-inning solo home run by Steven Brooks (Wake Forest) accounted for Chatham’s only run. Cotuit responded quickly with two runs in the bottom of the second on a sac fly by Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) and an RBI single by Jeff Rowland (Georgia Tech). Cotuit added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI double by Cory Vaughn (San Diego State).

For the second straight night, strong pitching performances helped keep Chatham from putting together a comeback. Justin Grimm (Georgia) got the start for Cotuit and allowed just the one run in 4.1 innings. Seth Blair (Arizona State), a star on the Cape last year, made his first appearance this year since arriving from the College World series and worked four shutout innings to pick up the win. Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern) struck out two in the ninth to pick up his first save.

All in all, an impressive win for the Kettleers. Strangely enough, they didn’t necessarily play their game to do it. They didn’t have a stolen base, which I believe is the first time that’s happened all year. They also didn’t have a sacrifice bunt.

That’s the thing about this team, though. For all the speed and small-ball leanings, when you look at their lineup, you realize they have some hitters who can be very productive. The combination of the two gives Cotuit a real dangerous offense.

Of course, Chatham’s offense has been more dangerous. The Anglers still lead the league in runs scored, but last night, they didn’t have enough.

The Kettleers and Anglers won’t see each other again until July 12. It’ll be interesting to see what they do then, and where they stand.

Elsewhere

In a sadly unsurprising twist, two games were postponed last night, which means that just once in the last week has a full slate of games gone off without a hitch. Crazy.

One game got impacted by weather but went far enough to be official. Y-D beat Brewster 5-3 in a game called because of lightning and rain. Remarkably, the lightning didn’t flash until just after the bottom of the seventh inning. In the top half of the inning, Y-D had taken its 5-3 lead. If Brewster’s at-bat in the bottom of the inning hadn’t been completed, the seventh inning wouldn’t have counted and the game would have gone back to a 3-3 tie. Y-D got its lead on an error and a Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State) RBI single. Seth Simmons (East Carolina) picked up the win with four strikeouts in two innings of relief. For Brewster, Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) made his first appearance of the summer, going 1-for-3. Gyorko was at Team USA trials.

In the longest game of the summer so far, Hyannis outlasted Falmouth 6-5 in 12 innings. A passed ball on a strikeout allowed the go-ahead run to score in the top of the 12th. Cody Hawn (Tennessee) went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI to lead the Mets. He was one of five players who had two hits for Hyannis.

What to Watch For Right Today/Tonight

With doubleheaders at Y-D and Bourne, games are happening as I write this. In tonight’s action, Chatham will try to stop its two-game skid with a home game against Orleans. It’s the second match-up of the year between the East rivals. It appears that former Falmouth Commodore and CWS hero Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) will go for Orleans. He was not on anybody’s roster this year, but has just popped up for the Firebirds. He was a 17th-round pick this year.

The way things have been going, you got the feeling it would take something special to stop the Chatham Anglers.

Three Bourne pitchers delivered it.

Turner Phelps (James Madison), Justin Poovey (Florida) and Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) combined on a four-hit shutout as the Braves toppled the Anglers by a 4-0 score, snapping Chatham’s six-game winning streak.

It was the third start of the season for Phelps, who turned it into his longest and best start so far. The sophomore righty allowed just two hits, struck out nine and walked only one in six shutout innings. Bourne gave Phelps the lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth, and the bullpen helped keep the lead, a crucial part of the equation against the comeback-minded Anglers. Poovey struck out two and allowed one hit in two innings. Harrold surrendered a leadoff single in the ninth but got three straight groundouts to end the game.

It’s the first time this season that Chatham has been shut out. The Anglers came into last night’s game leading the league in hitting, but they dropped behind Y-D after their four-hit performance.

Kaleb Fleck (Pitt-Johnstown) got the start for Chatham and pitched well, surrendering just a run on two hits in four innings. Cody Freeman (Mississippi State) hit a solo home run for the Braves. Raynor Campbell (Baylor) scored the second run on a wild pitch and a throwing error. A dropped fly ball allowed two runs to score in the ninth.

The Anglers still sit in first by eight points, and they’re the only team in the East with a winning record. Bourne improved to 4-4-2.

Elsewhere

Rob Gariano (Fairfield) got credited with the shortest complete game of the season as the Harwich-Hyannis game got called in the sixth because of rain. The Mets were trying to rally when the game was called. They had runners on second and third. Before that, Gariano had been lights-out. Making his second start, the junior righty struck out 11 and walked nobody through his 5.1 innings. For the season, he has struck out 19 without a single walk, one of the more impressive early pitching lines of the season. Harwich made a winner out of Gariano thanks to two runs in the second and one in the fifth. Levi Michael, North Carolina’s freshman who was making his first appearance, drove in a run, as did David Herbek (James Madison) and Marcus Niddifer (Kentucky).

Y-D got just enough offense, and Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) delivered a lights-out relief performance to lead the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over Orleans. After a strong start by Jared Ray (Houston), who allowed just an unearned run in six innings, Burgoon struck out seven and didn’t allow a hit over the final three innings. Burgoon is establishing himself as the league’s best reliever. He now has four saves and 16 strikeouts in 7.2 innings. He has not allowed a hit or an earned run. On the offensive side, Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State) led the way for the Red Sox with three hits and an RBI. Elliot Glynn (Connecticut) allowed one run in 5.2 innings for Orleans.

The other two games were postponed because of rain.

What to Watch For Tonight
Two first-place teams will get together in Cotuit as the 9-2 Chatham Anglers take on the 5-4-1 Kettleers. Before last night, Cotuit had handed Chatham its only loss. Chad Bell (Walters State) will get the start for Cotuit against Chatham’s Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State). Both have been impressive in the early going.

Notes written while wondering how on Earth it rained again today . . .

I wrote the other day about Chatham’s start and where it ranked in recent history. Right then, I didn’t have time to go back and really look, but I did I have time tonight.

Good thing I had a lot of time.

The Anglers’ 9-1 start is the best since 2002, when the Cotuit Kettleers started 13-0, breaking the all-time league record for most wins to start a season. Led by batting champ and league MVP Pete Stonard, that Cotuit team ended up tying two games before it lost its first game, which didn’t happen until July 1. Pretty remarkable.

Maybe more remarkable? The Kettleers won 10 games the rest of the regular season. They still won the division title, but lost in the Western Division playoffs.

So Chatham, your cushion is nice, but it’s not everything.

The league has announced some policy changes in response to all the postponements. Greg posted the full release on Codball . It looks like the big one is the allowance for seven-inning games in doubleheaders. Previously, league bylaws prevented that, but with a lot of doubleheaders on the horizon, this looks like the right move.

Some interesting names have popped up over the last few days, adding to the already large number of players drafted in 2009 who are on the Cape. Two were big names last summer on the Cape — Baylor’s Raynor Campbell and Mississippi State’s Connor Powers. Campbell was a 31st-round pick while Powers went in the 11th round. Also of note is Tennessee’s Bryan Morgado, who got the start for Bourne last night. Morgado was a third-round pick of the Dodgers. He missed his freshman year at Tennessee because of Tommy John surgery, but he’s got a power arm that can light up radar guns. I believe he’s the highest pick to play on the Cape in a few years. Last year, I think the highest pick was fifth-rounder Greg Miclat, who left pretty early in the summer.

Cotuit pitcher Drew Gagnier is the first Cape League player to come from the University of Oregon since the program was re-established. Oregon hadn’t played baseball since 1981, but the program was set on course in 2007 for a return and was officially brought back to life this spring. Gagnier, a redshirt sophomore who previously played at Fresno State, is a pretty good first representative. He had a 2.70 ERA out of the bullpen for the Ducks and was a 14th-round pick of the A’s earlier this month. In three appearances for Cotuit, he hasn’t allowed a run and has struck out six in four innings.

Some of the Virginia contingent has arrived from the College World Series, and they’re making sure everyone knows it. Dan Grovatt has gone 4-for-7 in his first two games for Harwich. John Barr went 3-for-4 last night in his first game with Brewster.

As LSU tries to defend its national championship next year, Brett Bruening may play a big role. A juco star who has committed to the Tigers, Bruening has a 0.75 ERA in two starts for Harwich. He has struck out 12 in 12 innings of work.

Speaking of LSU, it’ll be very interesting to see what Anthony Ranaudo does this summer. He’s on the Y-D roster, but as Dave touched on over at Codball, Ranaudo pitched a lot of innings this year — 124.1 after just 12 last year. I too wouldn’t be surprised if Ranaudo is either shut down for the summer or kept on a very tight leash. To some extent, he’s done everything he needed to do this year, helping lead LSU to a title and, in the process, establishing himself as perhaps the top college prospect for the 2010 draft. On the surface, Ranaudo’s situation is similar to Alex White’s last year. A top prospect who carried his team deep into the tourney, White was scheduled to pitch in Chatham but was shut down for the summer. We’ll find out soon enough what’s going to happen with Ranaudo.

Man. It’s 2:30 p.m. and I have no reasonable excuse for why this hasn’t been posted yet. I have a day off, with nothing going on. I tried starting it three separate times, but no matter how many box scores I stared at, I couldn’t come up with a theme.

This is rare. For all the times I’ve had writer’s block in my life, I don’t think I’ve ever had Cape League writer’s block. In two years of putting out these daily updates, I’m pretty sure this has never happened. But today, I feel out of the loop, out of rhythm. It’s like the rainy interruptions killed every ounce of momentum. Nothing connects to anything else. Wednesday’s games offered a brief moment of excitement: Hey, they’re playing again. Today, it’s more of a “What now?”

I can only imagine how the Hyannis Mets feel.

They were on a two-game winning streak before the monsoons rolled in. Then they did nothing for four days. On that fourth day, when everyone else was back in action, they were postponed again.

Somehow, they fought through it.

Facing the same Cotuit team they beat in their last game on June 20, the Mets put a ninth-inning rally together to edge the Kettleers 3-2 last night. The bullpen shined, with Dallas Gallant (Sam Houston) and Kevin Brandt (East Carolina) tossing four shutout innings and setting the stage for the rally. The Mets delivered in the top of the ninth as Dustin Harrington (East Carolina) worked a walk and Eddie Rohan (Winthrop) knocked him in with a base hit. Brandt struck out two in the bottom of the inning to seal the victory.

That’s three wins in a row for the Mets, who improved to 4-4. I can’t imagine it feels much like a streak, but they’ll take it.

I’ll take it too. Rhythm or not, it’s about time this season gets in gear.

Elsewhere

Wareham, the only other team that missed four days, didn’t fare quite as well in its return. But that might have had more to do with the scorching Chatham Anglers, who came to Clem Spillane Field and beat the Gatemen 6-4 in 10 innings for their sixth straight win. That’s the third extra-innings victory of the year for the Anglers, who have shown quite a flair for the dramatic. Whit Merrifield (South Carolina), who pinch-ran after a walk to Tom Belza (Oklahoma State), scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch after he had moved up two bases on sacrifice bunts. Phillip Pohl (Clemson) also scored on a wild pitch for an insurance run. Thomas Keeling worked a perfect bottom of the inning to pick up the save. The win moved Chatham to a league-best 9-1. Wareham starter Eric Pfisterer (Duke) finally allowed a hit after surrendering none in his first two starts.

Ace Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) was scheduled to start for Y-D last night against Orleans. He didn’t go, but if he had, he might have been out-dueled. Orleans’ Casey Gaynor (Rutgers) allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings and struck out three as the Firebirds rolled to a 6-0 victory. It was the second strong start of the year for Gaynor, who has has a 0.69 ERA. Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton) went 3-for-5 with two RBI in his first game since arriving from the College World Series. Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) and Alex Hassan (Duke) each had two hits and two RBI. Hassan, a 20th-round pick this year, is now hitting .421 with seven RBI. He’s emerging as one of the most productive hitters in the league.

Bourne got a strong start from newcomer Bryan Morgado, a third-round pick this year out of Tennessee, but it went for naught in a 5-4 loss to Falmouth. Morgado struck out five in three shutout innings, but Falmouth jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the Bourne bullpen then held off a late charge. Taylor Wall (Rice) picked up the win with six shutout innings in his first appearance of the summer. Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt) and Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) each had two hits and an RBI for the Commodores.

Harwich snapped a six-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over Brewster. Eric Jokisch (Northwestern) struck out five and allowed one earned run in six innings. Recent additions Dan Grovatt (Virginia) and Connor Powers (Mississippi State) both had two hits and an RBI.

What to Watch For Tonight
Looks like a nice pitching match-up in Falmouth. Casey Schmidt (San Diego), a 15th-round pick this year, will go for Brewster against Jordan Cooper, who had an outstanding freshman year at Wichita State. Cooper allowed two runs in seven innings in his first start. Schimdt has made two starts and has a 2.70 ERA.

I always try to use this space to write about what seemed important from the night before. The most important thing last night?

They played baseball. On Cape Cod.

After two full days of rainouts and one day with four rainouts, the weather finally cooperated long enough last night to get most of the games in. Hyannis had to postpone its match-up with Wareham, but that was the only one. Everyone else played, and I, for one, am glad they’re back.

I’m guessing the Chatham Anglers are happy to be back, too.

I feel like I’ve partially lost it in all the unevenness of the early season, but it’s time to take notice: the Anglers are on fire. Last night, they won their fifth straight game as they topped Y-D 8-3. They’re now 8-1, a full seven points ahead of second-place Brewster in the East. They’re off to a faster start than even the 2007 juggernaut Y-D Red Sox, who were 7-2 through nine games.

Last night, they wasted no time jumping on top. They batted around in the first inning and chased Y-D starter Greg Holle (TCU) before he could record an out. Mike Murray (Wake Forest) had an RBI single, with three of the other runs coming home on bases-loaded walks or hit-batsmen.

Staked to a big lead, Chatham pitcher Pete Kennelly (Fordham) was just as dominant in his first start as he has been in relief. He went four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four. Kennelly now hasn’t allowed a run in four appearances. Parker Bangs (South Carolina) picked up the win in relief.

Murray went 3-for-3 to lead the offense, while Tom Belza (Oklahoma State) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Elsewhere

Chris Dwyer (Clemson) made his first start on the Cape, and it was a great one. A fourth-round pick this year as a draft-eligible freshman, Dwyer struck out nine in five scoreless innings to lead Cotuit past Falmouth 2-0. Greg Schimmel
breaks down Dwyer’s performance on his blog, saying that Dwyer is the most impressive pitcher he’s seen this summer. Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern), Chad Bell (Walters State CC) and Drew Gagnier (Oregon) came out of the pen to preserve the shutout, with Tillman striking out five in 2.2 innings and Gagnier striking out the side in the ninth to pick up his first save. Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) had an RBI double and Brian Guinn (California) hit an RBI single to power a two-run fifth.

Brewster has played five home games and tied three of them, including last night’s 2-2 result against Bourne. Braves starter Eric Cantrell (George Washington) was strong again, striking out eight in five innings. Brewster’s Kyle Blair struck out four and walked four in 4.1 scoreless innings. Stefan Romero (Oregon State) hit a two-run home run to power Bourne’s attack. Mark Canha (California) drove in both of Brewster’s runs with a sixth-inning single. He’s tied for the league lead in RBI with seven. Raynor Campbell (Baylor), a 31st-round pick who was an all-star for Wareham last summer, was in the lineup for Bourne and went 2-for-4.

Orleans scored four runs in the top of the ninth to rally past Harwich 6-4. Kevin Muno (San Diego State) knocked in a run to get the rally going before an error allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score. Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) knocked in two to lead Orleans.

What to Watch For Tonight
Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast), who has struck out 20 and hasn’t allowed a run in 14 innings, will make his third start of the year as Y-D hosts Orleans. The Firebirds will counter with Casey Gaynor (Rutgers), who allowed one run in six innings in his first start.

With its trials complete, USA baseball announced its final roster today. You can read the release here.

Here’s the breakdown, starting with the good news. Eight players on Cape League rosters were left off the final USA roster:

Micah Gibbs – C – Y-D
Thomas Girdwood – RHP – Hyannis
Jedd Gyorko – IF – Brewster
Anthony Ranaudo – RHP – Y-D
Logan Verrett – RHP – Chatham
Alex Wimmers – RHP – Bourne
Kyle Winkler – RHP – Falmouth
Ross Wilson – IF – Harwich

Though that’s not as high a number as last year, when 11 Cape Leaguers didn’t make the final roster, it’s still a good group. Ranaudo and Wimmers could be the two most highly-touted pitchers on the Cape if they do indeed make it. Same goes for Gibbs at the catcher spot, and Wilson and Gyorko on the infield.

The bad news is that 15 of the 22 who did make the final roster were slated for the Cape. That list includes Christian Colon, Bryce Brentz, Tyler Holt, Blake Forsythe, Gerrit Cole and Drew Pomeranz. It would have been cool to see all those guys in Cape League uniforms.

There are three names floating out there that I’m not sure about — Hunter Morris (Falmouth), Deck McGuire (Orleans) and Danny Hultzen (Hyannis). All three were/are on Cape League rosters and were on the initial USA invite list. But the most recent trials roster — even before the final roster came out — did not include them. I’m not sure what that means for their summer destinations, but I suppose we’ll find out soon enough. Morris and McGuire are still listed on the Falmouth and Orleans rosters, but Hultzen hasn’t been on the Hyannis roster since the Team USA invites went out.

Update (11:29): Just realized I missed Casey Harman, as well. He was not on the most recent trials list either and isn’t on the final roster. He’s slated for Hyannis.

And Another Update (11:53): The fact that their trial roster kept changing is killing me. There’s another name that falls into the unknown category, and it’s a big one — Fullerton pitcher Daniel Renken. He’s on the Harwich roster and was, at one point or another, a Team USA invite. I hope I’m not missing anybody else.

Why not another one? (11:55): I’m losing it over here. Jarrett Parker. Brewster. Also a one-time invite who disappeared from the trials roster. Though I’m quietly going crazy, this is actually looking better and better for the Cape League if all these guys make it.

The weekend got away from me and I had to work a super long day today, so I’ve missed a few things. But as lost weekends go, I guess this wasn’t a bad one to lose. I’m sure everyone has noticed: it’s raining a bit. In the last four days, only eight of the 20 scheduled games have been played. It’s kind of terrible.

With the entire slate getting washed out tonight, there will be nothing to recount tomorrow, but I’ll try to catch up on a few things that may have slipped through the cracks the last few days. For now, I leave you with some marginally coherent ramblings. Proceed.

If you look at team stat rankings, you can get a pretty good idea why Chatham has the best record in the league. The Anglers lead the league in hitting at .252 and are second in ERA, sitting at 2.19. They’re also coming through in the clutch: they’ve won half their games with late-inning rallies, including Sunday’s dramatic victory over Orleans. The Anglers trailed 7-1 before scoring four in the eighth and five in the ninth to win 10-7. I’d call that the craziest game of the summer so far. It moved Chatham to 7-1, a full six points ahead of Y-D in the East. That’s a nice little cushion to have this early in the season.

The league named Bourne’s Eric Cantrell and Kyle Roller the Pitcher and Player of the Week for the season’s first week. I can’t disagree with either of those. Roller, a solid Cape Leaguer who lasted deep into the draft, could become one of the stories of the summer if he continues to shine. I’ll be eager to see what Cantrell does in his second start after eight dominant innings his first time out.

So my pick for pitcher of the year, Max Russell? Yeah, he’s got an X by his name on the stat sheet, which presumably means he’s done. Is it too late to change my pick? I swear I was leaning toward Chris Sale all along.

Orleans’ Michael Olt (Connecticut) was tabbed by Baseball America as the NECBL’s top prospect last summer and he’s well on his way to making a mark in the Cape League, too. Olt leads the league in extra-base hits, RBI, runs scored and he’s tied for the lead in home runs. Orleans teammate Jaren Matthews is also off to a really nice start, with a .321 average, a home run and five RBI.

Just a quick note. The Daily Fog will not be up tomorrow until late in the day. I’m not going to be around in the morning.

At some point, the ERA leader board will not have 10 guys with 0.00 ERA’s.

But this is not that point.

Cape League starting pitchers have been dominant so far this season, and the trend continued in a big way last night. I count five legitimately dominant starts:

Mike Dennhardt, Chatham – 8 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 4 K, 1 BB
Rob Rasmussen, Orleans – 6 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 10 K, 1 BB
Eric Pfisterer, Wareham – 7 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 7 K, 1 BB
Sean Hoelscher, Brewster – 6.2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 8 K, 3 BB
Chris Sale, Y-D – 8.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 12 K, 1 BB

A little math tells you that those five combined to allow two runs on seven hits in 35.2 innings. They struck out 41.

Pfisterer (Duke) and Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) get special mention. This wasn’t their first time at the rodeo.

Pfisterer made a splash on the second day of the season when he went didn’t allow a hit in a five-inning outing. With seven more innings under his belt, he still hasn’t allowed a hit. He’s got 17 strikeouts and three walks. His performance Thursday helped send Wareham to a 7-0 victory over Harwich. It sounds like sloppy field conditions kept him from making a run at a full no-hitter.

Sale doesn’t have the no-hit thing going, but he’s been just as dominant. In 14 innings, he hasn’t allowed a run. He’s struck out a league-high 20 and walked only two. Thought he took a no-decision Thursday when the Y-D bullpen blew a lead, he’s been perhaps the best starter in the league.

The other three pitchers on the above list were new to the party but no less impressive. Dennhardt (Boston College) needed just 81 pitches to toss his eight-inning gem. Rasmussen (UCLA), who had an up-and-down season with Orleans last year, started his new summer with a huge performance. After one start, he already leads the Firebirds in strikeouts. Hoelscher (TCU) also made his first start a very strong one.

Elsewhere

• Of course, on the day I talk about the pitching, we’ve also got a slugfest to discuss. Hyannis scored a league season-high in runs in a 13-5 victory over Falmouth. Tennessee’s Cody Hawn made his first start and powered the offense with a grand slam. He finished 2-for-5, while Nick Crawford (UAB) and Dustin Harrington (East Carolina) also had two hits each. Seven Mets drove in runs, with Crawford and Eddie Rohan (Winthrop) knocking in two. Hyannis did most of its damage against Falmouth starter Mitch Mormann (Des Moines Area CC), who allowed seven earned in two innings after pitching four perfect innings in his first start. For the Mets, Austin Hudson (Central Florida) picked up his second win with five strong innings. In the lineup for Falmouth was a new addition — Wichita State’s Ryan Jones. He hit eight home runs for Falmouth last year and got drafted in the 38th round this year.
• Dennhardt and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) combined on the shutout for Chatham over Bourne, with Brewer working a scoreless ninth to seal the 2-0 win. Jeff Schaus (Clemson) went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Anglers.
• Behind Rasmussen, Orleans posted a 6-1 victory over Cotuit. Michael Olt (Connecticut) drove in two runs, as did new arrival and familiar face Alex Hassan (Duke), who was a 20th round pick of the Red Sox this year. The Kettleers got four more steals — though Chris Bisson (Kentucky) was shut out for the first time because he didn’t get on base.
• Wareham had a big night from Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech), who went 3-for-5 with two home runs, becoming the first player this season to hit two home runs in a game. Alex Dickerson (Indiana) drove in two. Harwich has now been shut-out two nights in a row.
• Sale’s big effort went to waste when Brewster rallied from a 1-0 deficit with four in the ninth to win 4-1 over Y-D. The Whitecaps orchestrated their rally without getting a hit. Three errors were the biggest culprits for Y-D.

What to Watch For Tonight
Oklahoma State’s Tyler Lyons, a 10th-round pick of the Yankees earlier this month, will make his first start for Chatham as the Anglers visit Falmouth. The Commodores will counter with Nick Tepesch (Missouri), who struggled his first time out. In Cotuit, a pair of 15th-round picks will duke it out, with Mike Nesseth (Nebraska) going for Cotuit and Casey Schmidt (San Diego) getting the ball for Brewster.

I just stumbled on a new Cape League blog that you should check out. Simply titled “Cape Cod League Blog,” it’s written by Greg Schimmel, a freelance scout who’s following the league this summer. It looks he’s catching a game every night and giving a scout’s perspective on the proceedings. There’s a lot of great stuff on there already.

You can find the site at http://capecodbaseballleague.blogspot.com

Two years ago, the Cape Prospects site was a real nice compliment to Cape League coverage, but it wasn’t around last year. This new blog looks like it will fill the void and then some.