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Vintage Performance

Ryne Birk's triple in the fifth inning helped break things open in Hyannis' win Sunday night.
Ryne Birk’s triple in the fifth inning helped break things open in Hyannis’ win Sunday night.

 
Hosting its first championship game since 1991, McKeon Park was bursting at the seams Sunday night. Mrs. Right Field Fog and I arrived around 5:40, which was far too late to get a great seat. An announced crowd of 5,154 was packed into every nook and cranny.

And the Harbor Hawks delivered a game worthy of that stage.

Riding a dominant performance by Dakota Hudson (Mississippi State) and an opportunistic offense, the Harbor Hawks stayed perfect in the postseason and moved within game of the league championship with an 8-1 win over Yarmouth-Dennis. Hyannis will try to clinch the franchise’s first Cape League title since 1991 today at Red Wilson Field.

Hudson opened the postseason for Hyannis with a strong showing in a win over Cotuit, and he was even better Sunday. The righty went eight innings – keeping the bullpen in prime position for the rest of the series – and struck out eight. He allowed just two hits and one run. Kevin Roy (Columbia) pitched a perfect ninth to finish off the win.

The one run Hudson surrendered sent the Harbor Hawks to a rare postseason deficit. With a runner on third and two outs in the second inning, Mike Donadio (St. John’s) beat out a ground ball for an infield hit and a 1-0 lead.

But Hyannis – which only trailed in one game of its first two playoff series – wasn’t down for long. A two-out RBI single in the bottom of the second by Tristan Hildebrandt (Cal State Fullerton) tied the game.

Y-D starter Mason Kukowski (Yale) followed with two more scoreless frames, but the persistent Hyannis offense and some shaky Y-D defense changed the game.

With two outs in the fifth, Bobby Melley (Connecticut) and Jake Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) singled. Blake Tiberi (Louisville) then hit a ground ball up the middle. Joshua Vidales (Houston) made a great diving stop but his throw to first from the ground was off-target, allowing Melley to score.

That chased Kukowski, but the trends continued. Alec Eisenberg (Hofstra) issued a walk to the first batter he faced, which loaded the bases. Jake Rogers (Tulane) hit a ground ball to third and another errant throw allowed two more runs to score. Ryne Birk (Texas A&M) then laced a sinking line drive into center. Cole Billingsley (South Alabama) made a diving attempt but couldn’t make the catch and the ball rolled past him. Birk raced into third with a bases-clearing triple.

It was 6-1.

Hyannis added insurance in the sixth and eighth innings but didn’t really need it. Hudson retired 15 of 16 batters from the end of the second inning into the seventh. The Red Sox didn’t have a hit after the second inning, getting their only base-runners on two walks and a Hyannis error.

On the other side, eight different Harbor Hawks had hits. Bird, who might be the Playoff MVP favorite right now, went 1-for-4 and now has a hit in every postseason game.

Hyannis is 5-0 in the playoffs and has out-scored opponents 41-14.

They’ll be looking to ride the wave to another sweep Tuesday, but the last hurdle will be tough. Y-D will send its ace, Ricky Thomas (Fresno State) to the hill for game two today. Thomas went 7-0 with a 1.01 ERA in the regular season and tossed six shutout innings for a win in his first playoff start. Y-D has not lost a game that he has started.

Hyannis counters with another Mississippi State Bulldog in Vance Tatum, who had a 1.92 ERA in the regular season and allowed two run in five innings in his first playoff start.
 

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Celebrating for the Cavs

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University of Virginia players who make their way to Cape Cod often spend their summers with the Harwich Mariners. On the night when the Cavaliers won the national championship in Omaha – with Mariner alumni Joe McCarthy and Kenny Towns in the dog-pile – their brethren in Harwich also picked up a victory. The Mariners beat Brewster 5-3.

The Mariners actually don’t have a Virginia player on the roster this summer, but over the years, Whitehouse Field has been a frequent destination. Every Cape League team has school connections, and Harwich’s Virginia pipeline has remained strong as the Cavaliers have emerged as a national powerhouse. Some of their best players, like Derek Fisher, Steven Proscia, and Towns, have come through Harwich. Towns hit .250 for the Mariners last summer, while McCarthy finished at .314.

As those two got set for game three of the championship series in Omaha, Harwich used a four-run second inning to beat Brewster. The Whitecaps out-hit the Mariners 11-5 but didn’t have an extra-base hit and stranded seven runners.

Connor Justus (Georgia Tech) homered to spark the big second inning and Nick Walker (Old Dominion) had an RBI single. Stevie Berman (Santa Clara) added a sacrifice fly in the eighth as Harwich tacked on an insurance run.

Harwich starter Geoff Bramblett (Alabama) gave up eight hits but allowed just one run in five innings for the win, his third of the year, which is tied for the league lead. Luke Scherzer (Virginia Tech) picked up his league-best fifth save and kept his ERA at 0.00.

Robbie Tenerowicz (California) had three hits to lead Brewster and Nick Senzel (Tennessee) drove in two runs.

The win was the third in a row for Harwich, who moved to 8-5-1. Brewster dropped to 6-8.
 

Wareham 8, Hyannis 1

The Harbor Hawks still lead the West – as they have almost since day one – but Wareham still has their number. The Gatemen picked up their third victory in as many tries against Hyannis with an 8-1 victory at McKeon Park. Bailey Clark (Duke) matched the aforementioned Bramblett atop the league leaderboard with his third win, as he went five innings and gave up just a run. The offense did the rest, with six players delivering multi-hit games. Andrew Calica (UC Santa Barbara) went 3-for-4 with two RBI in just his second Cape appearance, while Jay Jabs (Franklin Pierce) went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Jarett Rindfleisch (Ball State), who was off to an 0-for-25 start this summer, broke out in a big way, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. David MacKinnon (Hartford) had two hits and scored three runs. For Hyannis, Blake Tiberi (Louisville) delivered his fourth consecutive multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 night.
 

Bourne 5, Cotuit 0

Continuing to leave its 0-6-1 start in the past, Bourne won for the sixth time in seven games and suddenly finds itself in third place in the West. Josh Rogers (Louisville) struck out six in 5.2 scoreless innings before Gavin Pittore (Wesleyan) and Austin Conway (Indiana State) finished off the shutout. Reid Humphreys (Mississippi State) and Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside) both homered for the Braves – matching the team’s previous season total in one night – to account for four of the five runs. Cotuit managed just four hits in losing its fifth straight.
 

Y-D 2, Falmouth 0

The Red Sox won their third straight with a shutout of Falmouth. Brett Adcock (Michigan), who had a very strong spring but had gotten off to a slow start this summer, delivered six scoreless innings and struck out four. Alec Eisenberg (Hofstra) was dominant in relief, striking out six of the nine batters he faced in three perfect innings. Connor Wong (Houston) and Nathan Rodriguez (Arkansas) drove in one run each for all the offense Y-D would need. Luke Bonfield (Arkansas) was on base twice and scored both runs.
 

What to Watch

Only two games on the schedule, but the first meeting of the year between rivals Chatham and Orleans has the makings of a good one. T.J. Zeuch (Pittsburgh), a 6-foot-7 righty who hasn’t allowed an earned run in two starts, is slated to go for Chatham against Eric Lauer (Kent State), who has a 1.80 ERA for Orleans.