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Casey at the Bat

Casey Gillaspie hit his league-leading seventh home run yesterday.

 
Casey Gillaspie was going to have a hard time matching his big brother’s success. That’s what happens your brother is a former Cape Cod Baseball League MVP.

But Gillaspie is doing his best.

The Falmouth slugger went 4-for-6 in a doubleheader yesterday and belted his league-leading seventh home run. Falmouth split the twin bill with Bourne, winning the first game 3-1 and dropping the second 4-3.

Gillaspie has now officially matched his brother in the home run category. Casey hit a league-best .345 with seven homers in his 2007 MVP campaign with Falmouth.

Casey got off to a bit of a slow start this summer. While teammate Rhys Hoskins was hot from the beginning, Kevin Cron was delivering huge games and Dylan Davis was bursting onto the scene with four home runs in his first four games, Gillaspie was a little more in the shadows. But he was clearly part of the sluggers crew, and he has steadily improved his all-around numbers in the last few weeks.

Gillaspie was hitting .235 on July 15. Since then, he’s had a hit in nine of 10 games and is batting .447 in that stretch with five extra-base hits. He leads the league in home runs by two and he ranks second in extra-base hits. His batting average is up to .292, his on-base percentage is .364 and his slugging percentage is .496.

Falmouth didn’t really need the help, but Gillaspie’s uptick makes them that much more dangerous. Davis had two RBI and Leon Byrd, Jr. (Rice) hit a home run in the game-one win yesterday. Trey Teakell (TCU) tossed seven strong innings on the mound.

In game two, Bourne got six strong innings from Austin Gomber (Florida Atlantic), who was making his final start. Tim Caputo (Rhode Island) and Mason Robbins (Southern Miss) drove in two runs each. That was enough to hold off Falmouth.

Gillaspie did his part with a double and a homer. If he stays hot, it’s going to get harder and harder to hold Falmouth off.

 

Hyannis 0, Brewster 0; Hyannis 5, Brewster 4

Hyannis and Brewster also staged a doubleheader and the Harbor Hawks came away from it with three points and a three-point lead in the West standings. Brewster got a dominant performance from Aaron Brown (Pepperdine) in game one. Brown went eight scoreless innings and struck out five. Rocky McCord (Auburn) and Jordan Foley (Central Michigan) matched him though, combining for eight strikeouts and five hits allowed in nine innings. The game ended in a 0-0 tie. In game two, the Harbor Hawks won a one-run game for the ninth time. Brian Anderson (Arkansas) brought in the go-ahead run in the sixth and Eric Eck (Wofford) notched his league-best ninth save to finish it off.

 

Cotuit 8, Y-D 3

Cotuit got two RBI each from newcomer Austin Byler (Nevada) and Team USA returnee Bradley Zimmer (San Francisco) on their way to a victory over the Red Sox. The Kettleers are three points back of Hyannis for first place in the West. Rhett Wiseman (Vanderbilt) added a double to take the league lead in extra-base hits. Wiseman is hitting .483 over his last nine games. On the mound, Ben Smith (Coastal Carolina) went four shutout innings with five strikeouts. John Hochstatter (Stanford) worked two scoreless innings for the win and Joel Seddon (South Carolina) got a save with three scoreless frames.

 

Wareham 11, Chatham 6

The Gatemen made the long trek to Chatham and came back with one of their best wins of the season. Ethan Gross (Memphis) went 3-for-4 with four RBI to lead the charge. Kyle Schwarber (Indiana), who went 4-for-4 in his first game back after Team USA, continued to mash, going 4-for-6 with a double in his second game. Brett Pirtle (Mississippi State) added a home run and Adam Toth (Baylor) knocked in two runs. Kurt McCune (LSU) picked up the win with five solid innings. He struck out five and allowed two runs. Jonathan Holder (Mississippi State) struck out three over the final 1.2 innings to finish it off. For Chatham, Jimmy Pickens (Michigan State) hit his fourth home run.

 

Harwich at Orleans, PPD

 

What to Watch

Chatham ace Lukas Schiraldi (Navarro College), who shut out Falmouth for six innings in his last start, draws the Commodores again as the Anglers hit the road. Kevin McKanna (Rice) is scheduled to start for Falmouth.
 

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One Night in Wareham

Jonathan Holder, pictured last year, combined with Sean Newcomb on a gem as Wareham shut out Hyannis last night.

 
Last summer in Wareham was defined by home runs, comebacks and a championship. This summer has been defined by what could have been.

While I’m not sure the 2013 Gatemen had the makings of a repeat champ, they never even got the chance to try thanks to the fact that nearly half their expected team was in Omaha for the College World Series. Factor in Team USA and other losses, and it’s been a rough summer. The playoffs are the longest of long shots at this point.

For one night, the Gatemen flashed what could have been.

Sean Newcomb (Hartford), who started on opening night and then missed nearly a month with mono, made his first start since returning and tossed seven shutout innings. Jonathan Holder (Mississippi State), who was in Omaha longer than any of the other Gatemen, relieved Newcomb and went two scoreless frames as the Gatemen shut out West-leading Hyannis 3-0.

Had those two – an ace and a dominant closer – been healthy or in town all summer, maybe the season looks a little different for the Gatemen. That didn’t happen, so they had to settle for one night.

Newcomb may still end up as one of the league’s top pitching prospect, despite the light workload. The hard-throwing lefty had gone six shutout innings in his first start. This time, he cruised for seven innings, striking out four and giving up just four hits. Newcomb didn’t do so well in his relief appearances, which will skew his numbers, but he has a 0.00 ERA in his two starts.

Holder has been dominant ever since he arrived, but he hasn’t gotten a chance to close many games since the Gatemen have struggled. Last night, Holder was at his best. Five of the six outs recorded came on strikeouts as he out-did his previous season strikeout total in one shot. He has yet to allow a run in five appearances.

Hyannis, which had scored 14 runs in its last two games, couldn’t keep up with the Gatemen aces. Wareham also backed their pitchers with Daniel Rosenbaum (Louisville), Adam Toth (Baylor) and Ethan Gross (Memphis) each driving in a run.

With Newcomb and Holder on the mound, three runs was plenty. It could have been like that all summer, a tag team making sure even a light-hitting team was winning every time they got the ball. It didn’t work out that way, but it made for one very good night.

 

Falmouth 14, Brewster 3

Locked in a 0-0 game in the fourth, Falmouth exploded for all 14 of its runs in the next five innings en route to a blowout victory over the Whitecaps in a game that was called after eight innings due to darkness. Kevin Newman (Arizona) led the hit parade with another in a long line of huge games by Falmouth players. He went 5-for-6 with six RBI. He had 10 RBI on the season coming into the game. Richard Martin, Jr. (Florida) had three hits and three RBI and is now seven for his last 15. Kevin Cron (TCU) added two hits and two RBI, while Sam Gillikin (Auburn) had three hits, Dylan Davis (Oregon State) had two and Casey Gillaspie (Wichita State) had two. On the mound, Kevin McKanna (Rice) gave up two earned runs in six innings for the win. His Rice teammate Zech Lemond followed him to the hill and pitched two hitless frames to finish it off.

 

Cotuit 8, Bourne 5

The Kettleers moved into a tie with Hyannis atop the West thanks to a win over Bourne and the Harbor Hawks’ loss. Rhett Wiseman (Vanderbilt) homered, his third of the year, and Jake Fincher (NC State) went 3-for-5. Two guys who could be big late-season additions, Mark Payton (Texas) and Austin Byler (Nevada) also chipped in. Payton had two RBI and Byler had one. Payton hit .393 for Texas this spring, while Byler hit .346 with eight home runs for Nevada. On the mound, Jared Walsh (Georgia) gave up two runs in five innings for the win. Adam Ravenelle (Vanderbilt) picked up the save.

 

Orleans 4, Y-D 3

This time last week, the Firebirds were trying to hold off Brewster for fourth place in the East. Thanks to last night’s win – their third in a row – they’ve now leap-frogged Y-D for third place and are just three points out of second. Y-D led 4-0 before the Firebirds tied it with four in the sixth and took the lead with one in the seventh. Luis Paula (North Carolina) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings for the win and Matt Troupe (Arizona) struck out three in two innings for his seventh save. Ross Kivett (Kansas State) led the offense with four hits. Austin Davidson (Pepperdine) and Collin Slaybaugh (Washington State) drove in two runs each. For Y-D, Jose Trevino (Oral Roberts) homered and Alex Blandino (Stanford) had three hits. James Kaprielian (UCLA) struck out seven in six innings.

 

Harwich at Chatham, ppd to August 1

 

What to Watch

It’s a league-wide off day today. When the teams get back to action Wednesday, look for a battle of division leaders as Chatham visits Hyannis.