RIGHT FIELD FOG

The Orleans Cardinals are riding high, but they’ll have to ride the rest of the way without two key contributors. The Cardinals announced that shorstop Cole Figueroa has signed a professional contract and that pitcher Eric Erickson has left with an injury.

Both are pretty big losses this late in the season. Figueroa, a draft-eligible sophomore from Florida who was a sixth-round pick of the Padres, was hitting .232 but catching fire. In July, he was hitting .333.

It was thought that Figueroa would be a tough sign, since he’s only played two years at Florida. But the Padres’ offer must have been good enough to lure him away. Keep an eye on the blog It Might Be Dangerous, which is written by Paul DePodesta, a central figure in “Moneyball” who’s now in the Padres front office. I imagine he will put something up soon about Figueroa.

As for Erickson, the sophomore lefty from Miami was having a decent summer, with a 3.27 ERA and a 21:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The good news for the Cardinals is that at various points this year, seven pitchers have made starts. Without Erickson, there are still six who can probably make it in the rotation.

At the shortstop position, I imagine Kyle Spraker would step in. He’s been used in a utility role and has hit .200.

The Harwich Mariners have suddenly opened up a pretty big cushion between themselves and the third-place team in the East. Thanks to their fifth straight win, a 7-0 victory over Chatham, the Mariners sit in second place at 19-13, with an eight-point lead on the A’s.

But the five-game winning streak hasn’t been the only driving forced behind Harwich’s run.

It also helps that the Mariners are 5-0 against the team that’s chasing them.

That’s a pretty huge swing. More than one-fourth of Harwich’s wins have come against Chatham, and if their record against the A’s was 3-2 instead of 5-0, the teams would have the same number of wins.

Instead, the Mariners have had Chatham’s number. They won 4-1 in the season’s first week and 10-4 in their second meeting. Then they put up a pair of 4-3 wins, both on late rallies. The first ended on a walk-off wild pitch and the second featured a rally to force extra innings, where the Mariners won it. Both times, Harwich got Chatham closer Brad Boxberger to blow saves.

The latest chapter in the story was last night’s 7-0 win, the most lopsided of the bunch. Shaver Hansen (Baylor), who is 8-for-17 against Chatham this year, went 2-for-4 in this one with a home run and two RBI. Andrew Giobbi (Vanderbilt) and Joe Sanders (Auburn) also drove in two, and that was more than enough for Harwich starter Michael Morrison (Cal State Fullerton). Despite throwing four wild pitches and walking five, Morrison was lights-out. He allowed three hits and struck out eight in six shutout innings. Brian Dupra (Notre Dame) and Matt Zielinski (Richmond) combined for three scoreless innings of relief.

The good news for Chatham?

They only have to play the Mariners one more time.

Elsewhere

• Two streaks came to an end last night. Y-D beat Orleans 5-4 to stop the Cardinals’ seven-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Hyannis snapped a six-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over Brewster.

• Orleans almost got the magic going again, rallying from a 5-2 deficit with two in the bottom of the ninth. But Y-D closer Joe Kelly (UC Riverside), who allowed both runs, got Rich Poythress (Georgia) to strike out with the tying run on second base. That made a winner out of Jerry Sullivan (Oral Roberts), who allowed one earned run in six innings. Mike Belfiore (Boston College) drove in what turned out to be a crucial run in the seventh for Y-D. He knocked in Nick Liles (Western Carolina), who had gotten on base and stolen second and third. Liles now has 14 steals.

• Hyannis got a strong performance from Graham Stoneburner (Clemson) to hold off Brewster. Stoneburner allowed one earned run in six innings, striking out seven and walking only two. Matt Ridings (Western Kentucky) struck out five and didn’t walk anybody in three shutout innings of relief. Dale Cornstubble (Central Michigan) hit his first home run of the year.

• Wareham picked up its fourth straight win with a 4-1 victory over Cotuit. Brandon Workman (Texas) turned in another solid start, striking out eight and walking none in seven innings. He allowed five hits and one run. Workman now has 58 strikeouts, which ties the league-leading total from last year by D.J. Mitchell. With Workman likely to get at least two more starts, he should put up some even bigger numbers.

• Darin Ruf (Creighton) went 4-for-4 and Ryan Jones (Wichita State) hit his sixth home run of the year to lead Falmouth past Bourne 9-4. Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) came out of the bullpen in the third and tossed six scoreless innings of relief.

What to Watch For Tonight

• There are two Blairs you should keep an eye on. I don’t think they’re related, but still. Fresh off a dominant performance in his last start, Cotuit’s Seth Blair (Arizona State) will take the hill against Bourne and Nick McCully (Coastal Carolina). Chatham’s Kyle Blair (San Diego) will make his Cape League debut as the A’s visit Y-D.

It was strange today to see Grant Green’s name somewhere other than the top of the batting average leaderboard. That’s because, as other players have shot up the charts and shot right back down, Green has been remarkably consistent.

Actually, I wrote that before I went through and looked at the numbers. After doing that, I would like to amend my statement. We’ll go with “absolutely, astoundingly consistent.”

The USC sophomore has started at shortstop in all but one of Chatham’s games (he got his first night off on Sunday). He has gone hitless in a game exactly three times. Three times in 31 games. And guess what? In the three games he went hitless, he still got on base via the walk. So, Grant Green has been on base in every game he’s played this summer.

That’s pretty incredible, and, I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize it was that incredible. I knew he was consistent, but sometimes when a top player is consistent (and when they’ve been on the Cape since day one) they get lost in the shuffle, at least for me. It’s ho-hum when Grant Green gets a hit.

When all is said and done this year, though, there won’t be anything ho-hum about Green’s summer. Right now, he’s on pace for strikingly similar numbers to those put up by last year’s MVP, Conor Gillaspie, who turned in one of the great offensive summers of the last decade.
Here’s the comparison:
Green – .397 AVG, 10 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 17 RBI, .620 SLG, .490 OBP
Gillaspie – .345 AVG, 12 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 22 RBI, .673 SLG, .448 OBP

With Green now batting in the middle of Chatham’s order, the RBI numbers should go up. I’d expect a few more home runs too, and if the average were to somehow stay that high . . . well, that’s a very, very special year.

Breaking Down the Cardinals

It’s still jarring to see that the best team in the league has the second-worst team batting average in the league. That’s where the Orleans Cardinals are, hovering at .225 despite their torrid July. They may have the most wins in the league, but eight teams have better averages. Seven have scored more runs.

But it’s all a little deceptive. As anyone who has kept tabs on the Cape League season knows, Orleans started unbelievably slow at the plate, with a team batting average stuck below .200 well into July.

Since then, the team average has jumped to .225, and that jump is evident up and down the lineup. A quick glance at the team stats page shows that only one Cardinal — Rich Poythress — is over .300 for the season. But the numbers look considerably better for everyone else when you take away the first two weeks.

Cole Figueroa is hitting .232 for the season but .333 this month. Nate Freiman is at .273 on the year, but .289 this month. It’s a similar story for Alex Hassan (.231/.271) and Tim Wheeler (.283/.293). In all, just about everybody on the roster has been hotter in July than they were in June.

When you combine that with impressive pitching — the Cardinals now lead in ERA — you get success. Of course, Orleans has given success a whole new meaning lately, what with the 16 wins this month. Sometimes things just start rolling and nothing can get in the way.

But while timely hits and clutch performances have been hallmarks of Orleans’ run, the driving force behind everything is that the team started to hit. So it might be fair to call Orleans one of the worst hitting teams in the league. It’s just not all that true anymore.

Notes

• If you look closely at the Cotuit boxscore from last night, you’ll notice something interesting. Mike Bianucci came into the game in the eighth inning as a pinch runner. This seems strange, since, you know, he signed a pro contract and isn’t on the team anymore. I’m inclined to think that this is a mistake in the boxscore, but I suppose it’s possible that Bianucci didn’t actually sign and is still on the Cape. He actually is still listed as unsigned in the Baseball America Draft Database. If anybody knows what the deal is, please share. Update: Cotuit broadcaster Josh Weinstock just let me know that it was a typo in the boxscore.

• One of the unfortunate consequences of Hyannis’ recent losing streak is that Russell Brewer’s chase for the saves record has come to a grinding halt. Brewer has been stuck on 11 for quite awhile, and he hasn’t had a chance to get any more. Brewer needs five saves to tie the record. Hyannis has only 12 games left.

• I thought it was an anomlay last year when only three pitchers finished the year with more than five wins. But it looks like we’re headed down a similar path this year. Two pitchers have four wins, but one (Tim Clubb) isn’t even on the Cape anymore. Considering the balance in the league this year, wins will probably be just as hard to come by down the stretch.

• Marc Krauss is hitting .415 and A.J. Pollock is hitting .400. This is very late in the season for two guys to have their averages that high. Last year around this time, batting champ Conor Gillaspie was hitting .356. As far as I can tell, no one has hit .400 this decade. The highest mark came in 2003, when J.C. Holt hit .388.

• Orleans catchers Travis Tartamella and Hampton Tignor are two of the best defensive catchers in the league, and they’ve also got quite the platoon going. Tartamella has played 17 games, while Tignor has played 18. They each have 49 at-bats, with Tignor posting one more hit.

And to think, Marc Krauss might have slipped through the cracks.

Good thing he didn’t.

Krauss, a slugging sophomore from Ohio University, played four games early in the summer for Harwich. When the Mariners released him, he managed to hook on with Bourne. That kind of switch is common in the league, though Krauss is the only player this summer who has done it.

It’s working out for everybody involved. Krauss is in the thick of the MVP race and with his 3-for-4 performance last night, he led Bourne past Hyannis 9-2 and into first place.

Krauss is now hitting .415 with three home runs and 26 RBI. In 21 games since joining the Braves — he’s played in 25 total — he’s hitting at a .443 clip.

Those numbers are impressive, but not all that different from what Krauss has done throughout his career. The 6’3, 220-pound outfielder was a Freshman All-American in 2007, then a first-team all-league pick in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. He was also tabbed as the league’s Top Position Prospect. He followed that up with a strong sophomore season that saw him hit .332 with 10 home runs and 54 RBI.

I guess the surprising thing is that a player with Krauss’ ability ever switched teams. But sometimes it’s a numbers game, and I know Harwich was waiting on a lot of late arrivals.

The move couldn’t have worked out better for the Braves, who desperately needed a big bat in their lineup. They’ve got a slim lead in the West now, and as long as Krauss keeps doing what he’s doing, they’ll have a shot to stay there.

Elsewhere

• This Orleans business is getting ridiculous. The Cardinals beat Chatham 5-4 last night for their seventh straight win. They’re now 16-2-1 this month. Last night, Angelo Songco (Loyola Marymount) hit his fourth home run to break a 3-3 tie in the seventh before the teams traded runs in the eighth. Alex Hassan (Duke) picked up his fourth save in as many chances with a perfect ninth. The victory was also the 100th Cape League win for Orleans manager Kelly Nicholson.

• Harwich won’t quite go away in the East, which is the only reason why Orleans leads the division by seven points and not more than that. The Mariners won their fourth straight game last night, beating Cotuit 4-3 thanks to two runs in the top of the ninth. Both runs came on a two-run home run by Brandon Belt (Texas).

• Wareham rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Falmouth 9-7 for its third consecutive win. The Gatemen put up five runs in the seventh with Shea Vucinich (Washington State) and Raynor Campbell (Baylor) leading the way.

• Like Wareham, last-place Y-D made some headway with a 10-6 victory over Brewster. Eddie Burns (Georgia Tech) turned in a solid start for the Red Sox, and Whit Merrifield (South Carolina) had two hits and scored two runs.

What to Watch For Tonight

• Wareham will visit Cotuit, with each team sending standouts to the hill. Brandon Workman (Texas) is scheduled to go for the Gatemen against Nick Hernandez (Tennessee).

I just saw in the pitching probables that Kyle Blair is scheduled to start for Chatham on Tuesday at Y-D. Blair, a highly-touted freshman from San Diego, was on the Chatham roster in the spring but was removed just before the season began. He still isn’t listed on the roster, but he’s in the probables section.

If he’s here to stay, he could make a big impact on Chatham’s stretch run. It should also be a treat for those who get to see him. Blair was a fifth-round pick out of high school.

Update: The A’s web site has confirmed the roster move. Blair replaces Jeff Lorick, who needs minor surgery, a procedure that’s been planned for awhile. Here’s the note about Blair: “Blair was part of the original 2008 roster assembled by John Schiffner in the fall. However, San Diego coach Rich Hill decided Blair needed arm rest after throwing almost 75 innings as a freshman for the Torreros. Significantly rested, Hill and Schiffner agreed Blair was ready to come to Cape Cod and will make his first A’s start on Tuesday at Y-D. “

On Monday, the last time I focused on the Hyannis Mets, Chris Dominguez was setting records, Russell Brewer was chasing a record and the Mets were sitting in first place with the best mark in the league.

What a difference a week makes.

Dominguez hasn’t hit a home run since last Sunday, Brewer hasn’t had a chance to get a save and the Mets have lost six straight games. Before that, they had won five straight.

That’s quite the dramatic turnaround. I tend to pay more attention when a team heads in the other direction, like Orleans has done. But as the Mets have shown, things can slip away just like they come together. Hyannis has had some good showings and could legitimately be 3-3 or even 4-2 in this six-game stretch. Four of the six losses have been by two runs or less, so it’s not like the Mets have fallen completely.

But things just haven’t worked. When the Mets scored eight runs on Wednesday, Orleans scored nine. When they got a dominant pitching performance, they went up against a better one, losing 1-0 to Wareham on Friday. Their losing streak continued with the worst loss of the bunch last night, a 13-2 deafeat at the hands of Wareham.

And yet, for all the struggles, the Mets are still in a tie for first place in the Western Division race, which is right there for the taking. With ace Andrew Carraway going tonight against Bourne, the Mets will have their best chance to jump to the head of the pack.

Elsewhere

• Wareham’s Matt Bashore (Indiana) had a strong outing in the 13-2 win over Hyannis, striking out 10 in six strong innings. Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge) went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI to lead the Gatemen. Connor Rowe (Texas) also had a home run. Shea Vucinich (Washington State) had three hits.
• Falmouth topped Bourne 8-4 for its third straight win. Chad Bettis (Texas Tech) pitched five shutout innings for the win, and A.J. Pollock (Notre Dame) had two hits and three RBI. Ryan Jones (Wichita State) had three hits, raising his average to .228. He was below .200 not too long ago.
• Harwich blasted Y-D 17-4 behind four hits each from the D.J.’s, Belfonte and LeMehieu. All-Star Mark Fleury (North Carolina) had four hits and four RBI while Andrew Giobbi (Vanderbilt), back in the lineup after a lengthy injury absence, drove in two.
• Chatham beat Brewster for the second consecutive night, riding a strong outing from Kevin Couture (USC) and a big offensive burst to a 10-3 victory. Couture allowed three runs over seven innings in his second start of the year. Evan Ocheltree (Wake Forest) had three hits and three runs scored.
• A night after Matt Thomson dominated for Orleans, Kyle Smith (Kent State) did the same, tossing eight shutout innings to lead the Cardinals past Cotuit 6-0. Smith struck out four and allowed only three hits. At the plate, Rich Poythress (Georgia) had two RBI.

What to Watch For Tonight

• Chatham will host Orleans in the first of four meetings between the teams in the final 14 games. Matt Zoltak (Clemson) will start for Chatham against all-star Martin Viramontes (Loyola Marymount).

The rosters for next weekend’s all-star game were released today. You can see the West roster here and the East roster here.

Overall, I’d say solid job all around. I didn’t see any big snubs or too many surprises. I’ll have some detailed thoughts later this week, but for now, some first impressions:

• A lot of late arrivals got picked, which was maybe the biggest surprise. Rich Poythress, for instance, has only played in 14 games. It’s a similar story for D.J. LeMahieu and Brent Milleville. But going down the stats page, I can’t really see anybody more deserving so it’s fair that they’ll get their shot.
• Two late arrivals who aren’t included: North Carolina’s Kyle Seager and Dustin Ackley. I thought for sure Ackley would be there.
• Bryce Stowell starts for the West, and that spot could have gone to any number of players, including Brandon Workman, Andrew Carraway and Nick McCully.
• On the East side, Orleans’ Matt Thomson gets the call. He’s probably on par with a lare group of players like Sammy Solis and Chris Manno. Maybe his eight-inning gem on Friday set him apart.
• In general, I think the West has stronger starting pitching than the East.
• There is only one freshman in the starting lineup — Cotuit’s Kevin Patterson in the West — but a fair amount on the bench.
• In general, the rosters don’t have the typical collection of big-school talent. There are more players from Loyola Marymount (2) than from Missouri, Texas, Vanderbilt or North Carolina.

There’s no doubt that the Orleans pitching staff has been good this season. Their 3.01 team ERA is second in the league.

The starting pitching for the Cardinals, though, hasn’t been dominant. They have a solid rotation, but it’s their bullpen that really seems to shine. In a lot of Orleans box scores, four or five pitchers are listed, and for this team, that’s actually a good thing.

But at least one dominant starter is emerging.

Matt Thomson allowed three hits and struck out five in eight shutout innings as Orleans beat Y-D 5-0 last night. It’s probably the best individual performance by an Orleans starter this season. The Cardinals have won two other shutouts this season, but both were more of the combined variety. Thomson did most of last night’s work himself, with Isaac Morales (Cal State LA) only coming on for the ninth.

Thomson, a sophomore righthander from San Diego, has now become the Cardinals’ best starter. He has a 3-0 record and a 1.56 ERA, best in the rotation. He has struck out 24 and walked eight in 34.1 innings.

Thomson’s emergence is good news for a team that doesn’t need any more good news. Last night’s win was the fifth in a row for the Cardinals. I think now is a good team to officially say that they’re running away with it. At 19-9-1, they’re seven points ahead of second-place Harwich with 15 games to play.

Elsewhere

• When I went to the Chatham-Harwich game on Thursday, my dad asked me why Grant Green, with a near-.400 average and a few home runs, was hitting leadoff. I think the Chatham coaching staff may have been asking itself that, too. Green was in the third spot last night and he went 2-for-3 with a home run to lead the A’s past Brewster 7-5.
• One start after twirling a complete game, Wareham’s Dallas Keuchel went eight shutout innings to set the stage for a Gatemen walkoff win over Hyannis. With the score 0-0 in the ninth, Cole Leonida (Georgia Tech) knocked in Connor Rowe (Texas) with the winning run. Keuchel now has a 1.60 ERA.
• The loss was the fifth in a row for Hyannis, a team that’s just about the streakiest in the league. Before the current streak, the Mets had won five games in a row.
• Harwich won its second straight one-run game, beating Bourne 7-6. Shaver Hansen (Baylor) went 3-for-5 with three RBI to lead the Mariners. Dustin Ackley (North Carolina) was out of the lineup for the fifth straight game. I’m not sure what’s going on there.
• Falmouth jumped over .500 with a 10-6 victory over Cotuit. The teams combined for 11 runs in the eighth inning, but Falmouth came out of the frame with an 8-6 lead. A.J. Pollock (Notre Dame) keyed the rally with a two-run single.

What to Watch For Tonight

• At some point, all-star game rosters will be revealed.
• Hyannis will try to stop its skid with Alex McRee (Georgia) on the mound against Matt Bashore (Indiana) and Wareham.

So I went to a Cape League game last night and got back to the beach house my parents are renting, all ready to write something up . . . and we couldn’t find the internet. I guess we’re “borrowing” from some house down the street and it decided not to work. So that’s why there was no daily fog this morning. If this is an important part of anyone’s day, I apologize. I was having withdrawal myself.

The connection is working now, and with any luck, will be again tomorrow (come through for me, random people I don’t know). Since it’s too late to do the daily fog for today, here are some thoughts from the game last night.

Grant Green was all ready to be the hero. Bases loaded with two outs. Game tied, bottom of the ninth. When Corey Overholtzer drew a walk to load the bases, there was a little murmur in the crowd. They knew. There’s not a hitter on the Cape you want more in that spot than Grant Green. He would be the hero.

Steve Kalush had something to say about that.

Kalush, a righthander from Santa Clara, came in throwing gas and struck Green out on three pitches. All were fastballs, and it seemed each one was faster than the last. It was a thoroughly impressive performance and it set Kalush up to earn the victory. Harwich rallied in the top of the tenth and won the game 4-3.

The match-up between Kalush and Green looked more like a mismatch on paper. Green was leading the league in hitting. Kalush had an ERA over seven. But clearly, the moment was right. Kalush is a hard-thrower. Harwich needed a strikeout and he was the guy to do it. When he pumped his fisty after striking out Green, it was a cool moment.

Kalush will remember it.

That’s about all I’ve got for now. The internet may disappear again soon so I must be careful. Anyway, all-star game rosters are out tomorrow. Enjoy.

I live in Rhode Island and, this year in particular, I haven’t been able to get over to the Cape very much. But my parents are on vacation in Chatham this week, so I headed over last night. On the way, I figured I’d stop in at Bourne and catch a few innings.

Two of the top pitchers in the league — Wareham’s Brandon Workman and Bourne’s Nick McCully — were on the hill. I watched for an inning and came away impressed, but I guess the game eventually turned into a late-inning slugfest with Bourne winning 5-4.

So I didn’t see the start of anything special, just a good inning from two good pitchers.

If I had really wanted to see the start of something special, I should have stopped in Harwich.

That’s where Cotuit’s Seth Blair turned in one of the best pitching performances of the summer. The freshman right-hander from Arizona State tossed a complete-game, one hitter as Cotuit blanked Harwich 4-0. Blair struck out 10, didn’t walk anybody and allowed only two baserunners, with the second coming on a hit-by-pitch.

Blair’s performance rivals that of Workman, and actually beats it in terms of hits allowed. Workman’s seemed a little more special because he took a no-hitter into the ninth, before surrendering two hits. Blair allowed his one hit in the second.

Either way, those are the top two pitching performances of the summer, and the interesting thing is that both came from freshmen. Blair didn’t come out high school with quite the hype of Workman — he was a 47th round pick, while Workman was tabbed in the third round — but he still saw a lot of action for the highly-ranked Sun Devils. He made 19 appearances, with 10 starts. Much like Workman, though, he had his struggles, finishing with a 6.96 ERA.

But since arriving on the Cape, Blair has been solid in each of his four starts. In his first two, he went seven innings, allowing three runs the first time and one the second. He went 4.2 innings in his third start, allowing four runs, but last night’s performance was a quick and impressive way to bounce back.

Blair now has a 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA. He has struck out 18 and walked five. He has also only allowed 17 hits in 27.2 innings, which, combined with the low walks total, gives him a WHIP of .81.

Elsewhere

• A match-up of first-place teams in Hyannis last night went like that kind of match-up should go, with Orleans beating the Mets 9-8 in 12 innings. Hampton Tignor (Florida), who has struggled with the bat all summer, delivered the heroics with an RBI single in the top of the 12th to score Angelo Songco (Loyola Marymount). Alex Hassan (Duke) picked up his third save to seal the victory, the fourth straight for the Cardinals. Thanks to their win and losses by Harwich, Brewster, and Chatham, they now sit in first place by nine points. For Hyannis, Ben Paulsen (Clemson) had a tremendous game, going 4-for-6 with a double, a home run and five RBI. He’s now second in the league with 24 RBI.
• Just when it looked like Y-D was out of the equation in the East, the Red Sox found their rhythm. They picked up their third win in a row last night, topping Chatham 6-4. Jerry Sullivan (Oral Roberts) turned in a quality start, allowing three runs in 6.2 innings and the offense put up two in the eighth to break a 4-4 tie. A two-run single by Tyler Marmion (Cypress) was the difference.
• Jimmy Cesario (Houston) continued his hot streak and Falmouth edged Brewster 7-6. Cesario, the Cape League’s Player of the Week last week, went 3-for-3, raising his average to .370. He also drove in three runs. Jonathan Kountis (Ohio Dominican) pitched two scoreless innings of relief and picked up the win.
• As I mentioned above, the Bourne-Wareham game turned into a bit of a slugfest, with the teams combining for eight runs in the last four innings. Marc Krauss (Ohio), who has quietly become one of the league’s best hitters, hit a walkoff single to give Bourne the 5-4 win. In the pitching department, Workman didn’t allow a hit until the sixth, before allowing four hits and three runs in 6.2 innings. He struck out nine. McCully allowed two runs in seven innings and struck out eight.
• For the first time this season, the batting average leaderboard is without a .400 hitter. The top hitter is Grant Green, who’s at .396.

What to Watch For Tonight

• Bourne’s Bryce Stowell (UC Irvine) will try to continue his remarkable start as he takes the hill at home against Hyannis. Stowell has a .36 ERA and has allowed only 10 hits in 25.1 innings. For Hyannis, Colin Bates (North Carolina) is scheduled to start. Bates has a 3.18 ERA in three starts.