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Matching shutouts

Brady Puckett tossed six shutout innings in Falmouth's win.
Brady Puckett tossed six shutout innings in Falmouth’s win.

 
At the Cape League’s annual workout at Fenway Park, hitters are on center stage, taking batting practice and running timed sprints. The pitchers don’t get to do as much.

Back on the Cape, a few pitchers put the spotlight back on themselves.

Led by Brady Puckett (Lipscomb), three Falmouth Commodores one-hit Bourne in a 1-0 win. Charlie Barnes (Clemson) set the stage for a similar result in Hyannis, as he and two teammates shut-out Harwich 1-0.

Puckett delivered another in a string of terrific starts for Falmouth. The 6-foot-8 rising junior right-hander had a great spring at Lipscomb. He allowed three runs in four innings in his first Cape League start but has been lights out since — 23 innings, one earned run, 10 hits. Take away the first start, and his ERA would be 0.39. As it is, it’s still at 1.33.

Friday, Puckett allowed one hit in six shutout innings for the second time in his last three starts. He doesn’t strike out a lot of guys — his five Friday were a season-high — but it’s clearly working. The only hit he allowed was a single.

Relievers Brac Warren (Oregon) and Corbin Martin (Texas A&M) didn’t allow a hit after Puckett departed.

Bourne got strong pitching of its own from A.J. Moore (Kennesaw State) but Falmouth broke through in the seventh on a J.J. Matijevic (Arizona) double and a Joshua Watson (TCU) triple.

Falmouth improved to 14-10 and remained in first place in the West.

As for Hyannis, the Harbor Hawks out-pitched Harwich, no easy task. Barnes came in with a 5.30 ERA thanks to two starts in which he gave up four runs in less than five innings. He had also turned in two strong outings and was even better this time. Barnes allowed three hits and struck out five in five shutout innings.

James Harrington (New Mexico) followed with three perfect innings and Garrett Cave (Florida International) closed the door in the ninth to take over the league lead in saves with six.

Harwich got seven strong innings from Hunter Williams (North Carolina), but just like Falmouth, Hyannis got a run in the seventh to make the difference. An RBI groundout by Cody Henry (Alabama) did the trick.

Hyannis ran its record to 11-13.
 

Y-D 8, Orleans 6

After Tuesday’s games, Yarmouth-Dennis and Orleans were tied for second place in the East. With back-to-back matchups between the teams going to Y-D, the Red Sox now have a four-point edge on the Firebirds for second place. A rally from a 6-5 deficit in the eighth sent the Red Sox to the latest win. Brendan Skidmore (Binghamton) had a two-run double to power the rally. Calvin Faucher (UC Irvine) and Bryan Pall (Michigan) pitched a scoreless inning each once Y-D grabbed the lead, with Pall earning his fifth save. The win went to Collin Snider (Vanderbilt), who tossed 2.2 shutout frames after starter Erich Uelmen (Cal Poly) was touched up for six runs – the first runs he had allowed all year. Nolan Brown (TCU) had a home run for the Y-D offense and Corey Dempster (USC) had three hits and two RBI. Orleans got a home run and four RBI from Ethan Paul (Vanderbilt) and four hits from Adam Hasely (Virginia).

  • Brewster 2, Chatham 1

    • The Whitecaps snapped a six-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over Chatham. After a string of slugfests, Hunter Martin (Tennessee) gave Brewster a strong start, going six innings and allowing one run. Zac Lowther (Xavier) then rescued the Whitecaps from some trouble in the seventh and went strong to the finish line, going 2.1 hitless innings for the save. Lowther – who has pitched entirely in relief – now leads the league with 28 strikeouts. Brewster got all the offense it needed in the third inning, with Bryce Jordan (LSU) and Nick Dunn (Maryland) coming through with RBI singles. Chatham fell to 11-13, one game ahead of Brewster at 10-14.

    Cotuit 3, Wareham 3

    Wareham took a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth, Cotuit tied it in the bottom half and the teams played one more scoreless frame before darkness set in at Lowell Park. Alex Destino (South Carolina) had an RBI single to give Wareham the lead in the ninth before Quinn Brodey (Stanford) came back with an RBI single in the bottom half. Josh Roberson (UNC Wilmington) followed with a scoreless tenth for the Kettleers and Ryan Wilson (Pepperdine) did the same for Wareham, leaving the winning run at first base. Brodey had two hits to lead Cotuit, while Robert Metz (George Washington) had three for the Gatemen.

     

    What to Watch

    The only reigning CWS champion on a Cape League roster makes his debut as Jason Bilous (Coastal Carolina) starts for Cotuit against Brewster. Bilous had a 4.43 ERA in his freshman campaign and made one start in Omaha.
     

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    Shut down

    Zach Schellenger, pictured last summer, struck out four batters in one inning in his 2016 debut as Harwich shut out Falmouth.
    Zach Schellenger, pictured last summer, struck out four batters in one inning in his 2016 debut as Harwich shut out Falmouth.

     
    The first shutouts of the 2016 Cape League season were authored by a pair of teams that stayed perfect in the process.

    Three Wareham pitchers combined to hold down Cotuit in an 8-0 win Sunday while three Harwich pitchers did the same against Falmouth in a 3-0 win. The Gatemen improved to 2-0, while Harwich is the only 3-0 team in the league.

    The Gatemen shutout was the more impressive of the two. Cotuit got an infield single from Jake Bivens (Michigan) in the second inning and literally nothing else. Bivens was caught stealing and Wareham pitchers retired 23 in a row from there – no hits, no walks, no errors. And because Bivens was caught stealing, Gatemen pitchers faced the minimum for the full nine innings.

    Jake Walters (Alabama), the best starter for the Crimson Tide this spring, went three innings with a strikeout. Reliever Cole Stapler (Nicholls State) fanned three in five perfect innings and Nick Sprengel (San Diego) tossed a perfect ninth to finish it off.

    Wareham’s hitters provided plenty of backing, with Colton Shaver (BYU) leading the way. Coming off a big spring, he homered for the second time in as many games and went 4-for-4 with four RBI. Joey Bartosic (George Washington) knocked in two and Trevor Ezell (Southeast Missouri State) had three hits and two runs scored.

    Cotuit’s Matt Ladrech (California) allowed only one earned run in six innings, but the Gatemen tallied two unearned then broke the game open with four runs against the Kettleer bullpen.

    Over in Falmouth, Harwich pitchers scattered seven hits but didn’t let a runner come home. Shane McCarthy (Seton Hall) went six innings and struck out five. Teddy Rodliff (Stony Brook) struck out three in two innings, and Zach Schellenger (Seton Hall) out-did even his big K-rate from the spring by fanning four in one inning (the first batter of the ninth reached on a dropped third strike).

    Harwich had only four hits, but three unearned runs in the sixth inning were plenty. Trey Harris (Missouri) had an RBI single and two other runs scored on an error.
     

    Bourne 5, Hyannis 4

    The Braves have had a flair for the dramatic so far this season. After a walk-off win on opening night, they edged Hyannis with a run in the top of the 10th Sunday. Toby Handley (Stony Brook) had an RBI single to plate the 10th-inning go-ahead run and Conner O’Neil (Cal State Northridge) pitched around a double in the bottom half to close out the win. Handley was one of four Braves to notch a multi-hit game. Conner McVey (Cincinnati) went 3-for-5 with an RBI while Willy Yahn (Connecticut) and Connor Wong (Houston) had two hits apiece. Starter A.J. Moore (Kennesaw State) struck out seven in five innings for Bourne. Hyannis was let by Carl Stajduhar (New Mexico). The Mountain West Conference Player of the Year went 2-for-4 with three RBI and his first Cape home run. The blast tied the game in the eighth. Bourne improved to 2-0. Hyannis is 0-3.

    Chatham 3, Orleans 2

    The Anglers broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the eighth and held off Orleans in the ninth for a 3-2 win at Veterans Field. Patrick Mathis (Texas) delivered the big hit in the eighth, a two-run triple that snapped the tie. Orleans loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth, but Chatham sacrificed a run for a double play then got a groundout to end the game. Isaac Mattson (Pittsburgh) was credited with the win in relief and Michael Fitzgerald (Northeastern) the save. Joseph Freiday (Virginia Tech) had the other RBI for the Anglers. Chris Triano (Keystone College) led Orleans with three hits. Both teams are 1-1.

    Brewster 11, Y-D 6

    The Whitecaps scored all their runs in the first five innings and coasted to their first victory of the season. Ryan Noda (Cincinnati) – who hit three home runs for Y-D last summer – hurt his former team with his second blast of the 2016 campaign. Logan Warmoth (North Carolina) added two hits and three RBI, while Nick Dunn (Maryland) had two hits and three runs scored. Aaron Soto (Tennessee) surrendered three earned runs in five innings for the win. Y-D was led by Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Deon Stafford (St. Joseph’s), who hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning.

    What to Watch

    A full slate of games is on tap for your Monday. Harwich will try to go to 4-0 as it hosts Y-D at Whitehouse Field, with West Virginia’s B.J. Myers on the hill.