Nick Solak starred for Bourne last summer and was tabbed as a first-team All-American by D1Baseball.com
A breakout summer in the Cape League has served as a launching pad for many a professional baseball career. Lost in the shuffle of that trajectory is what a breakout summer on the Cape can mean for a guy before baseball becomes his full-time job.
Last season’s All-America teams were dotted with guys who followed Cape League breakouts with big springs, like Donnie Dewees, Garrett Stubbs and Andrew Stevenson.
Kyle Lewis technically had his breakout last spring, when he hit 17 homers on his way to Southern Conference Player of the Year honors. But with a strong summer in Orleans, Lewis officially put himself on the national map. D1Baseball has him as a first-team All-American outfielder.
Also on the first team are Nick Solak and Errol Robinson, two of the Cape’s best middle infielders last summer. Solak hit .329 for Bourne while Robinson hit .312 and stole 15 bases in leading the charge for West champ Hyannis.
Reigning CCBL MVP Nick Senzel is the second baseman on the second team All America squad. I had kind of forgotten how great Senzel was for Brewster last summer. He slashed .364/.410/.558 and led the league in RBI with 33.
Bryan Reynolds and Bobby Dalbec joined Lewis in making Orleans probably the most talented team in the league last year. Both are second-team honorees.
The best breakout by a pitcher on these lists probably belongs to Dakota Hudson. A key part of Hyannis’ run to the Cape League championship series, Hudson leads the third team All-America squad.
We’ll see what the season holds, but it’s a safe bet these guys will be on target this spring. That’s the other thing about a Cape League breakout — it usually isn’t followed by a slump. If you can do it on the Cape’s sandy shores, you can do it anywhere.
Bobby Dalbec hit his 13th and 14th home runs of the summer as Orleans beat Chatham.
With one swing of the bat Wednesday night, Bobby Dalbec got the Orleans Firebirds right back on track.
After a stunning 1-0 loss to Chatham in game two of their playoff series Tuesday, Dalbec made sure there was no shut-out Wednesday, smacking a three-run home run in the first inning and sending the Firebirds on their way to a 10-1 win and a spot in the East Division finals.
Dalbec added another home run later in the game – finishing with six RBI – Jeremy Martinez also went deep and Corbin Burnes (St. Mary’s) gave up one run in 6.2 strong innings as the Firebirds stayed alive.
Chatham had gotten a terrific pitching performance Tuesday in sending the Firebirds to just their second shutout all season, but lightning did not strike twice. Bryan Reynolds (Vanderbilt) led off the bottom of the first with a single, Martinez walked and Dalbec smashed the home run. Orleans never trailed and led 7-0 before Chatham got on the board.
Dalbec continued what has been a remarkable season. The slugger from Arizona led the league in home runs with 12 in the regular season. Last night’s showing makes 14. And he has played in just 30 games, thanks to a stint with Team USA in the middle of the summer.
Dalbec is hitting a home run every 7.4 at-bats this summer. For a reference point, the Major League career leader in that category, Mark McGwire, hit a home run every 10.61 at-bats.
And, as RFF commenter Orville from Orleans has noted, Dalbec also hit five home runs for Orleans last year, giving him a career total of 19. That’s believed to be a Cape League wood-bat career record. Single-season wood-bat home run kings Dave Staton and Tyler Horan hit 16. Horan added two in the playoffs in 2012.
All that aside, Dalbec’s slugging ways aren’t the only thing that makes Orleans dangerous. Martinez went 2-for-3 with a homer, while leadoff man Reynolds went 4-for-4 and scored four runs.
Burnes also delivered. The righty had a few hiccups midway through the season but was on his game Wednesday, striking out four and allowing one run on four hits. Jared Carkuff (Austin Peay) finished off the win with 2.1 scoreless innings.
Orleans moves on to the East finals, where it will match up with defending champ Y-D.
What to Watch
The division finals get underway tonight, with Hyannis hosting Bourne at 6 p.m. and Orleans welcoming Y-D at 7 p.m.
Andrew Calica went 1-for-3 Sunday, finishing with a .425 batting average.
Andrew Calica made his Cape Cod Baseball League debut on June 23 at Spillane Field. He batted ninth for Wareham and went 0-for-3 in a 4-0 loss.
It was not a sign of things to come.
From that beginning, Calica authored one of the best seasons at the plate in Cape League history. With a 1-for-3 night in Sunday’s regular season finale, Calica finished with a .425 batting average. Forty-eight hits in 113 at-bats. And a long list of achievements:
Calica’s average is the highest in the league since Terry Steinbach hit .431 for Cotuit in 1982 — with a metal bat.
Calica’s mark is the highest since the league switched to wood bats in 1985.
His average cracks the top five in Cape League history, ranking fifth.
Calica becomes the first player to finish with an average above .400 in 25 years, since Mark Smith hit .408 for Wareham in 1990.
In this day and age, batting average is not one of the cool stats. There are better ways to measure value. And as was the case when Miguel Cabrera’s Triple Crown took a back-seat to an MVP debate, value-driven stats tend to bury other numbers.
They shouldn’t. Hitting .400 is a big deal.
A Cape League season may be a small sample – and Calica arrived two weeks late – but if hitting .400 was easy, then it wouldn’t have taken 25 years to do it. It was reasonable to wonder if it would ever happen again.
Calica was the guy to break through. The 6’1, 190-pound outfielder hit .329 in his redshirt sophomore season at UC Santa Barbara this spring. He had hit .310 in his first full season with the Gauchos.
Following his 0-for-3 debut for Wareham, he went 3-for-4 the next night. That was a sign of a things to come.
Calica would go on to 16 multi-hit games out of 31 games played. Most of the hits were singles – 45 out of 48, to be exact, with two doubles and a homer mixed in – but Calica just kept knocking base hits.
He kept his average above .400 into mid-July, though he was off the qualifying pace for the batting title.
On July 15, Calica went 0-for-4 against Chatham. He went 0-for-4 again the next night, then 0-for-3. His average was at .371. He was human.
In his next five games, he went 15-for-23. That stretch included a 5-for-5 night against Hyannis on July 23. It was the moment when .400 became a true possibility.
Calica would stay well above the mark the rest of the way. When he finally reached the qualifying number for plate appearances – naturally, with a 3-for-4 night – his average was at .439 with four games to go.
He played in all four of those games and had a hit in all four. Sunday, with .400 all but secure – he would have had to go 0-for-8 to fall under .400 – Calica delivered a third-inning single for hit number 48, the finishing touch on a remarkable season.
The Cape League’s 400 club finally has a new member.
End of the Road
After pushing the teams above them to the limit, Falmouth and Harwich both bowed out of the playoff race with one-run losses Sunday.
The Commodores would have been in with a win, but lost a 10-inning heartbreaker 6-5 to Bourne. Trailing 5-4 in the ninth, Falmouth kept its season alive on a sacrifice fly by Tristan Gray (Rice), but Bourne pushed a run across in the top of the 10th. J.B. Woodman (Ole Miss) doubled with one out in the bottom half but was stranded at second by Braves reliever Nick Jensen-Clagg (Kent State).
Heading into Sunday, Harwich needed a little more help than Falmouth and got it when both Chatham and Y-D lost their finales. But Brewster scored early and often and held off a late charge for an 8-7 win over the Mariners.
Nick Senzel (Tennessee) homered, while J.C. Escarra (Florida International) and Ryan Peurifoy (Georgia Tech) delivered two hits each for the Whitecaps. The Mariners started down the comeback trail with three in the sixth but would get no closer than one run. Thomas Hackimer (St. John’s) struck out the side in the ninth to finish it off.
Thanks to those losses, playoff seedings are as follows:
East
1. Orleans
2. Brewster
3. Y-D
4. Chatham
West
1. Hyannis
2. Bourne
3. Wareham
4. Cotuit
Wareham 7, Cotuit 4
While three teams lost their finales but still clinched playoff spots, Wareham got in with a win. The Gatemen used a five-run sixth inning to break open a close game and held on from there. Kramer Robertson (LSU) and Connor Beck (TCU) had two hits and two RBI each to lead the charge. Ian Hamilton (Washington State) struck out nine in 5.1 innings for the win. Evan Hill (Michigan) went the final 3.2 innings for the save.
Orleans 8, Chatham 4
Orleans won its fourth straight to close the season and matched the 31-12-1 record of the 2007 Y-D Red Sox, the best mark of the last 15 years. Bobby Dalbec (Arizona) finished off his home run crown with his 12th (in 27 games). Tres Barrera (Texas) also homered, Willie Abreu (Miami) had three hits, and Kyle Lewis (Mercer), Alex Call (Ball State) and Bryan Reynolds (Vanderbilt) chipped in two hits each. Parker Bean (Liberty) was credited with the win in relief. Chatham finished the season on a four-game losing streak, including two in a row to Orleans. The two will meet again in the opening round of the playoffs.
Hyannis 5, Y-D 4
Hyannis completed its wire-to-wire run atop the West with a 5-4 win over Y-D. Bobby Melley (Connecticut), who had played only three games this summer and none since June 14, returned with a bang, going 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Jacob Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) homered as part of a three-hit night. Blake Quinn (Cal State Fullerton) went six strong innings for the win.
What to Watch
Teams will jump right into the playoffs tonight. The schedule:
Y-D at Brewster, 4 p.m.
Cotuit at Hyannis, 6 p.m.
Wareham at Bourne, 6 p.m.
Chatham at Orleans, 7 p.m.
Alex Call waits for a throw at second base against Cotuit earlier this week. The Firebirds clinched the East title Thursday.
It was back to regularly-scheduled programming in the Cape League’s East Division on Thursday night. After two losses and a tie in their previous three games, the Orleans Firebirds looked like their old selves as they clinched the regular-season division title with a 12-8 victory over Hyannis. With Brewster losing, Orleans now cannot be caught.
The Firebirds were not as sharp as usual on the mound, but their powerful offense was on target. The Firebirds hit two home runs in an eight-run second inning. They finished the night with 18 hits, five of which went for extra bases. Ten different players had at least one hit.
With All-Star Game West MVP Devin Smeltzer (San Jacinto) on the hill for Hyannis, you wouldn’t have predicted a slugfest. But after getting a run in the first, the Firebirds went wild in the second inning. Bobby Dalbec (Arizona) hit a grand slam and Kyle Lewis (Mercer) followed that with a solo shot.
Hyannis eventually found some of its offense, making it an 11-8 game in the eighth, but that was as close as it got.
Dalbec went 2-for-3 and the home run was his league-best 11th. I sound like a broken record, but his pace is incredible. Dalbec has played in 25 games. Eleven of his 26 hits are homers.
Lewis finished 4-for-5 with four RBI as he broke out of an 0-for-11 slump. Bryan Reynolds (Vanderbilt), Jeremy Martinez (USC), Daniel Pinero (Virginia) and Sean Murphy (Wright State) all chipped in two hits.
Corbin Burnes (St. Mary’s) was credited with the win in relief.
Orleans finishes its four-game season series against Hyannis with a 3-1 record. The Harbor Hawks are in line to win the West, but they aren’t there yet. In a season of Orleans success, it was fitting that the Firebirds got there first.
With three games remaining, the Firebirds could still match the record of the 2007 Y-D Red Sox, who went 31-12-1, the best record in the league in at least the last 15 years.
Y-D 2, Chatham 1
With fifth-place Harwich losing to Wareham, Y-D had a chance to get some breathing room in the East standings. A seventh-inning rally against Chatham did the trick. The Red Sox won 2-1 and moved four points ahead of Harwich for the final playoff berth and just two points back of Chatham for the third seed. The Anglers broke a scoreless tie with a run in the sixth on a Will Craig (Wake Forest) RBI double. But in the very next half-inning, Y-D pushed the tying run across on a passed ball and plated the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Gio Brusa (Pacific). Ben Bowden (Vanderbilt), who had come on in the sixth, ran with the lead, striking out seven of the 13 batters he faced in 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. Y-D is now 21-20. Chatham is 22-19.
Falmouth 11, Brewster 7
Falmouth isn’t dead quite yet. The Commodores snapped a seven-game losing streak with a victory over Brewster. Coupled with a Cotuit loss, the Commodores are only three points out of the final playoff spot in the West. J.B. Woodman (Ole Miss) went 2-for-4 with a home run to lead the offensive breakout for Falmouth. Mitch Longo (Ohio), Evan Skoug (TCU) and Tate Blackman (Ole Miss) each drove in two runs. J.J. Matijevic (Arizona) had two doubles. Conor Costello (Oklahoma State) got the win, giving up two runs in five innings. Brewster scored five runs in the seventh against the bullpen but the game was called due to darkness after that.
Wareham 5, Harwich 2
The Gatemen inched closer to a playoff spot while Andrew Calica (UC Santa Barbara) inched closer to hitting .400 for the year in a win over Harwich. Wareham now has a two-point edge on Cotuit for third place in the West and is five points in front of last-place Falmouth. As for Calica, he went 1-for-2, walked once and was hit by a pitch. It’s hard to raise a .439 average, but that line did it — Calica is now at .440 with just three games remaining. If you assume he gets 12 at-bats over those final three games, he would need just one hit in 12 at-bats to finish over .400. His teammates had a good offensive night Wednesday, as well. Jay Jabs (Franklin Pierce) went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Gavin Stupienski (UNC Wilmington) had two hits and an RBI. Brett Hanewich (Stanford) struck out eight and allowed just one earned run in five innings for the win. Shaun Anderson (Florida) pitched four innings of one-hit relief.
Bourne 10, Cotuit 7
Bourne rallied from a 5-0 deficit and won 10-7 in a game that was called after the seventh due to rain. Nick Solak (Louisville) went 3-for-5 with four RBI to spark the comeback efforts. Brendan McKay (Louisville) and Reid Humphreys (Mississippi State) knocked in two runs apiece, while Jason Delay (Vanderbilt) and Jacob Robson (Mississippi State) both had two hits and scored three runs. Joseph Christopher (St. John’s) gave up two unearned runs in 2.1 innings of relief to help set the stage for the comeback. Kyle Driscoll (Rutgers) got the win in relief. Bourne is 20-19-2 and still has a shot at the West division title. Cotuit fell to 16-25 with its second straight loss.
What to Watch
Chatham can clinch a playoff spot and clear up much of the East postseason picture if it wins tonight at Harwich.
Bobby Dalbec has eight home runs in just 17 games this summer.
Bobby Dalbec (Arizona) will not participate in the Cape League All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby.
So the Orleans slugger simply had his own personal derby Sunday night. Dalbec blasted two, giving him a league-best eight on the summer, as the Firebirds beat Y-D 5-4.
While Ronnie Dawson (Ohio State) was the hero with a walk-off single in the ninth, Dalbec continued to carry the torch for the Firebirds’ powerful offense.
Dalbec’s eight home runs match of the end-of-season totals for the league leaders in each of the last two seasons. And of course, the amazing thing is that he has hit eight home runs in just 17 games. Dalbec started the season in Orleans and played in only nine games before departing for Team USA. He has played eight games since returning.
Because it’s fun to play the pace game, if Dalbec had not played with Team USA and continued on his current home run track, he would have somewhere around 13 right now.
Even when you don’t consider what could have been, Dalbec is having a remarkably powerful summer. He hit a two-run shot in the first inning last night then hit a solo shot in his next at-bat.
Dalbec’s bombs upped the Firebirds’ team total to 28. They have nearly doubled up their next closest competitor in that category (Y-D’s 15).
For all of Dalbec’s pop Sunday, the Firebirds found themselves in a tied game with Y-D in the ninth. Dawson came up with runners on first and third and plated the winning run with a base hit. Kit Scheetz (Virginia Tech) got the win in relief. Bryan Reynolds (Vanderbilt) went 3-for-4 and his hit in the ninth set up Dawson’s game-winner.
Orleans is now 24-9 and has a whopping 12-point lead on second-place Brewster and Chatham. Y-D fell to 17-16 with Sunday’s loss.
Falmouth 6, Hyannis 6
Hyannis trailed 6-1 in the bottom of the ninth and scored five runs to tie it before the teams played three scoreless extra innings. Austin Hays (Jacksonville) had a two-run double in the big ninth and came home with the tying run on a triple by Colby Bortles (Ole Miss). Hyannis went on to load the bases in the 11th but couldn’t push a run across. Wyatt Short (Ole Miss) and Andrew Frankenreider (Northern Illinois) handled the extra-inning pitching duties for Falmouth, while Will Stillman (Wofford) and Collin Kober (McNeese State) did the job for Hyannis. For Falmouth, J.J. Matijevic (Arizona) hit his fourth home run.
Bourne 4, Chatham 2
Bourne broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth on RBI singles by Mike Garzillo (Lehigh) and Nick Solak (Louisville) and went on to a 4-2 win over the Anglers. The key hits were part of 2-for-4 days for both Garzillo and Solak. Austin Conway (Indiana State) went 1.2 innings of relief for the win. Keegan Akin (Western Michigan) had gone five shutout innings before Chatham rallied. Luke Persico (UCLA) and Garrett Hampson (Long Beach State) both had two hits for the Anglers.
Harwich 8, Brewster 5
The Mariners stopped Brewster’s five-game winning streak with an 8-5 win at Whitehouse Field. Joe O’Donnell (NC State) tossed five shutout innings before the Whitecaps made a late surge against the Mariner bullpen that fell short. Sheldon Neuse (Oklahoma), Adam Pate (North Carolina) and Preston Palmeiro (NC State) all had three hits for the Mariners. Brock Deatherage (NC State) and Cavan Biggio (Notre Dame) each drove in two runs. Spencer Trayner (North Carolina) got the save for the Mariners, escaping a jam in the ninth.
Cotuit 5, Wareham 3
The Kettleers won for the second straight night and have now matched Wareham and Falmouth with 13 wins in the West. Cotuit trailed 3-0 into the fourth but scored all its runs from there. Jeren Kendall (Vanderbilt) went 2-for-3 with two RBI as he continues to be a major spark for the Kettleers. He’s hitting .297 since arriving from Omaha. Brett Stephens (UCLA), Tim Susnara (Oregon) and Jackson Klein (Stanford) each knocked in a run. Duncan Robinson (Dartmouth) got the win in relief and Justin Dunn (Boston College) had the save.
What to Watch
Off day around the league today. Tuesday night, second-place Bourne will try to continue its success against West-leading Hyannis at McKeon Park.
Nick Solak and Bourne improved to 4-0 against Hyannis this summer with a win Wednesday.
For most of the summer, the West Division standings have had Hyannis at the top and nobody else particularly close. The Harbor Hawks are 17-13 right now and no other team is even above .500.
But in that landscape, a funny thing has happened: Bourne has consistently gotten the better of the first-place Harbor Hawks.
With a 3-2 victory Wednesday night at Doran Park, the Braves moved to 4-0 against Hyannis this summer. That’s nearly a third of their 13 total wins on the season. Hyannis still owns a six-point lead on the second-place Braves but it would be a whole lot bigger if not for their head-to-head series.
Wednesday, the Harbor Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and made it 2-0 in the sixth. Starter Vance Tatum (Mississippi State) was cruising with the lead and took a no-hitter into the fifth.
Even from that beginning, Bourne still found a way.
The Braves scored three runs in the sixth inning, with a double by Jacob Robson (Mississippi State) and a single by Camden Duzenack (Dallas Baptist) setting up RBI for Pete Alonso (Florida), Corey Julks (Houston) and Reid Humphreys (Mississippi State).
Bourne’s Indiana State bullpen tandem then took over. Ryan Keaffaber, who had served up a home run in the top of the sixth, worked a scoreless seventh and college teammate Austin Conway followed with two perfect innings en route to his seventh save.
The Harbor Hawks got two hits from Blake Tiberi (Louisville), who now qualifies for the batting average leaderboard – and vaulted to the top spot with his .380 average. They also got the first home run of the summer from recent arrival Matt Thaiss, who won a national championship with Virginia.
But against Bourne, nothing the Harbor Hawks do has mattered much.
The Braves have their number.
Orleans 12, Harwich 3
Orleans is on its third streak of at least four wins this summer thanks to a 12-3 drubbing of Harwich last night. The Firebirds scored five runs in each of the first two innings as they put the game away quickly. Nick Zammarelli (Elon), who’s quietly been one of the team’s steadiest performers, had a loud night, hitting a three-run homer in the first and knocking in two with a single in the second. He finished 2-for-4 with five RBI. Willie Abreu (Miami) and Alex Call (Ball State) drove in two runs each. Leadoff man Bryan Reynolds (Vanderbilt) scored three runs. Starting pitcher Kyle Serrano (Tennessee) allowed two runs in four innings. Carmen Benedetti (Michigan) got the win in relief.
Y-D 4, Falmouth 3
The Firebirds aren’t the only hot team in the East, as Y-D pushed its win streak to five in dramatic fashion with a 4-3 walk-off victory over Falmouth. With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth, the Red Sox strung together four straight singles, with the fourth one winning the game. Tommy Edman (Stanford) delivered it, plating Joshua Vidales (Houston) with the winning run. Earlier in the at-bat, Edman had failed to get down a squeeze bunt, which caused the runner from third to get tagged out in a rundown. Edman then came through and now has a hit in 10 straight games and ranks fourth in the league in hitting at .341. Vidales and Cole Billingsley (South Alabama) each had three hits. Chad Hockin (Cal State Fullerton) made his first appearance of the summer and got the win with three innings of relief. Y-D improved to 16-14, tied with Brewster for third place in the East.
Brewster 2, Cotuit 1
The Whitecaps stayed hot with a little late drama as well, edging Cotuit for their third straight win. Trailing 1-0 in the ninth, the Whitecaps tied it on a J.C. Escarra (Florida International) RBI single and won it later in the inning when Escarra raced in from third on a wild pitch. Brewster had been shut-out by Jon Woodcock (Virginia Tech) but had managed to stay within a run thanks to a strong pitching performance of its own. Alex Schick (California) gave up one run in 6.1 innings Four relievers teamed up for the final 2.2 innings and allowed just one hit.
Chatham 2, Wareham 1
The Anglers rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to slip past Wareham at Veterans Field. Daulton Jefferies (California) made his return from Team USA for the Gatemen and allowed one run in four innings, but Chatham pushed through against the Gatemen bullpen, plating the go-ahead run in the seventh on an RBI single by Todd Czinege (Villanova). Brandon Miller (Millersville) earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief. Cameron Stone (Stony Brook) and Aaron McGarity (Virginia Tech) finished off the victory. Aaron Barnett (Peppedine) added two hits and an RBI for the Anglers.
What to Watch
Nothing on the schedule today. When games get going again Friday, Orleans will host Brewster in a battle of streaking East teams.
Chatham has had a lot to celebrate with three straight wins.
The only teams in the Cape League currently sporting a win streak are the teams already stationed atop the East division. With lopsided victories last night, first-place Orleans and second-place Chatham gained a little more cushion.
Orleans beat Cotuit 13-2 at Eldredge Park for its fourth straight win. The Firebirds are now 18-6 (that’s .750 baseball, if you’re scoring at home).
In neighboring Chatham, the Anglers won their third straight, beating Wareham 13-6. The Anglers are still eight points behind Orleans but have a three-point cushion on third-place Harwich and are just one win off the pace of Hyannis for the second-best record in the league.
For Orleans, a win streak is nothing new. At various points, the Firebirds have won six, four and three games in a row this summer, accounting for most of their wins. But the 13-2 win was their highest-scoring game and it came on the heels of an 11-2 win Tuesday. Perhaps the Firebirds are getting even hotter.
Orleans got 17 hits and blasted three home runs against the Kettleers. Ronnie Dawson (Ohio State) hit one for the second straight game, while going 3-for-5 with four RBI. Willie Abreu (Miami) and Justin Jones (Georgia State) each hit their first home runs. Orleans now has 20 homers on the summer, nine more than any other team.
Kyle Lewis (Mercer) and Nick Zammarelli (Elon) had three hits apiece, with Zammarelli doing it for the second straight night. Lewis went for a multi-hit game for the fifth time in seven games, raising his average to .360. Vanderbilt’s Bryan Reynolds, making his second appearance since arriving late from Omaha, went 2-for-4.
Eric Lauer (Kent State) had no trouble making the lead stand up, tossing six innings of no-run, one-hit baseball. He struck out eight and brought his ERA to 1.38.
Over in Chatham, the Anglers didn’t flash quite as much pop as the Firebirds, getting only one extra-base hit, but they piled up the singles in hitting a season-high in runs. Like Orleans, it wasn’t their first big game of the week. They beat Harwich 12-4 on Sunday.
Tuesday, they scored five runs against highly-touted lefty Matt Krook (Oregon). Leadoff man Trenton Brooks (Nevada) went 4-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored. Jake Fraley (LSU) and Todd Czinege (Villanova) each went 3-for-5. Fraley is now hitting .400 and Chatham is 4-2 in the six games he’s played.
Luke Persico (UCLA) and Nick Sciortino (Boston College) drove in two runs each.
Ty Damron (Texas Tech) made his first start since June 22 and the big offensive night helped make it a warm welcome. Damron gave up one unearned run in six innings. Wareham scored five runs in the top of the ninth against the Chatham bullpen but the deficit was much too large.
Two streaking teams scoring 13 runs each are pretty tough to beat.
Falmouth 6, Hyannis 1
Falmouth’s Michael Tinsley (Kansas) hit the third pitch he saw from Hyannis ace Nick Deeg (Central Michigan) out of the park, and the Commodores were off-and-running. They scored five runs and chased Deeg – he of the 0.32 ERA – before he could even escape the first. J.J. Matijevic (Arizona) had an RBI and Shane Benes (Missouri) had two. Staked to the early lead, Conor Costello (Oklahoma State) turned in his best start of the summer, giving up one run on three hits in seven innings of work.
Harwich 4, Y-D 3
The bottom three teams in the East are trading places nearly every day and Harwich continued the musical chairs with a seventh-inning rally to beat Y-D. With his team trailing 3-2, Sheldon Neuse (Oklahoma) hit a two-run triple in the seventh and Harwich was in business from there. The bullpen didn’t allow a run in the final four innings and Luke Scherzer (Virginia Tech) nabbed his league-leading seventh save. Harwich also got a home run from Matt Gonzalez (Georgia Tech) and two hits from Brock Deatherage (NC State).
Bourne 5, Brewster 4
The Braves and Whitecaps scored all their runs in the final four innings, and Bourne managed one more in a 5-4 victory over Brewster. Corey Julks (Houston) had two hits and two RBI. Nick Solak (Louisville), Pete Alonso (Florida) and Jason Delay (Vanderbilt) had one RBI each. Bourne’s Josh Rogers (Louisville) and Brewster’s Alex Schick (California) both delivered solid starts before the bats arrived. Austin Conway (Indiana State) got the save for the Braves.
What to Watch
Just a make-up game between Brewster and Orleans on tap tonight. The Firebirds will be going for their fifth win in a row.
Orleans finished with the fourth-best record in the league last summer. With 11 incoming players heading to Omaha this week, rather than the Cape, it may be an uneven start to 2015, but on paper, the Firebirds once again have one of the league’s more talented teams.
FIVE TO WATCH
1. Bobby Dalbec
2. David Fletcher
3. A.J. Puk
4. Connor Jones
5. Zack Collins
NOTABLE
Orleans will be hard-hit by the College World Series, with 11 players on teams that are bound for Omaha. So the team on the field in Tuesday’s opener will look different than this one.
That said, there’s a lot of talent with or without the Omaha crew. The Firebirds have two returning standouts in Bobby Dalbec and David Fletcher and three players who were their conference’s freshmen of the year last year.
Dalbec has received a Team USA invite, as well, after he played for Orleans last summer. The two-way standout smacked 15 home runs for Arizona this spring.
Fletcher was great for Orleans last summer, with a .299 average and the same kind of presence at shortstop that made him the Alaska League’s top prospect in the summer of 2013 before he even got to college. He’s as good a building block as any team in the league can claim this year.
Virginia star Nathan Kirby, who was drafted last night, was ticketed for Orleans last year but never made it. His teammate, Connor Jones, who emerged as an ace when Kirby was hurt for part of this season, is now slated to be a Firebird.
Hayden Stone pitched 11 innings for Orleans last summer and allowed just one earned run. He’s slated to be back, although he has missed a lot of time for Vanderbilt this spring. Teammate John Kilichowski has bided his time for the Commodores behind first-round picks Carson Fulmer and Walker Buehler.
Ohio State had some standout freshmen in 2014 and three of them are headed to Orleans. Pitcher Tanner Tully was the Big 10 Freshman of the Year, Travis Lakins has joined him in the weekend rotation and outfielder Ronnie Dawson was one of the Buckeyes’ best hitters.
Kent State seems to churn out pitching prospects more than any other non-power conference program, and Eric Lauer may be next in line. A 17th-round pick out of high school, he struck out 103 this year.
Lauer, Lakins, Tully and Cameron Neff make up a pretty good foundation for a starting rotation, even before you factor in late arrivals. Logan Shore and A.J. Puk are stars for Florida and the aforementioned Jones has been terrific for Virginia.
Two of the best hitters for an Omaha-bound Miami team have Orleans as their next stop. Zack Collins hit 15 homers this year while Willie Abreu is a former 14th-round pick.
PITCHERS
Parker Bean – FR – Liberty – Big right-hander had ERA over seven in debut season
Alec Bettinger – SO – Virginia – Mid-week starter last year slid into full-time bullpen role and has 4.80 ERA
Chandler Blanchard – SO – Pepperdine – Strong reliever as freshman had 4.99 ERA, saved four games as a sophomore
Adam Haseley – FR – Virginia – Two-way player hit .252, put up 2.66 ERA in 10 appearances on the mound
Connor Jones – SO – Virginia – With UVA ace Nathan Kirby ailing, emerged as Cavs’ workhorse, going 7-2, 2.96 ERA, 105 Ks in 103.1 IP
John Kilichowski – SO – Vanderbilt – Lefty has started and relieved for Omaha-bound Commodores and has 2.97 ERA
Travis Lakins – SO – Ohio State – Tossed perfect game in Prospect League last summer, posted 3.75 ERA in weekend rotation this year
Eric Lauer – SO – Kent State – 17th-round pick in 2013 broke out as one of best in MAC this year with 1.98 ERA, 103 Ks
Cameron Neff – SO – St. Mary’s – Workhorse had 5 complete games as a freshman, delivered 2.32 ERA as a sophomore
Stephen Nogosek – SO – Oregon – Led team in appearances this year with 39 and had 2.02 ERA with 60 Ks
A.J. Puk – SO – Florida – Towering righty, Perfect Game’s top Northwoods prospect last summer, has team-best 99 Ks this season
Kit Scheetz – SO – Virginia Tech – Lefty made nine starts this year, had 4.34 ERA in those games
Logan Shore – SO – Florida – SEC Freshman of the Year in 2014 continues to shine with 2.50 ERA this year as Friday starter
Hayden Stone – SO – Vanderbilt – Struck out 80 in 58 relief innings last year but was limited to three appearances this season
Tanner Tully – SO – Ohio State – Reigning Big 10 Freshman of the Year had 4-4 record, 4.32 ERA in sophomore season
CATCHERS
Jeremy Martinez – SO – USC – Steady in first two years with Trojans, hit .296 this season
Sean Murphy – SO – Wright State – Horizon League Freshman of the Year in 2014 hit .329 with 4 HR this year
INFIELDERS
Zack Collins – SO – Miami – ACC’s top freshman in 2014 hitting .303 with 15 HR, 70 RBI as Miami heads to Omaha
Bobby Dalbec – SO – Arizona – Two-way player had huge sophomore season at the dish, hitting .319 with 15 HR
David Fletcher – SO – Loyola Marymount – Started 41 games at SS for Orleans last year, hit .308 and stole 14 bases this spring
T.J. Nichting – SO – UNC Charlotte – All-Star in Great Lakes League last summer scuffled to .198 average in sophomore year
Daniel Pinero – SO – Virginia – 20th-round pick in 2013 has been starting SS for two years, hit .300 with 6 HR this season
Colby Woodmansee – SO – Arizona State – Shortstop had solid sophomore year, hitting .308 with 5 HR, team-best 44 RBI
Nick Zammarelli – FR – Elon – Lincoln, R.I., native hit .288 with 7 HR in first season with Phoenix
OUTFIELDERS
Willie Abreu – SO – Miami – 14th-round pick in 2013, batting an even .300 and ranks fourth on team with six home runs
Ronnie Dawson – SO – Ohio State – Picked up where he left off after big freshman year, hitting .279 with 7 HR, 16 SB
Austin Miller – SO – Loyola Marymount – A Freshman All-American last year like teammate Fletcher, hit .314 with three homers this spring
Bryan Reynolds – SO – Vanderbilt – Consensus Freshman All-American last year hitting .311 with 5 HR, 17 SB this year
