Breakthrough

Tim Susnara hit .176 last summer and was hitless in two games this year. David Gerics and Ross Achter are on temporary contracts.

Wednesday, they provided the heroics as Cotuit grabbed its first win of the season.

Susnara’s pinch-hit, two-run single broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth while Gerics and Achter combined for a solid pitching performance in a 5-3 win over Brewster at Lowell Park.

Not much has gone right in the early going for the Kettleers, who rank last in the league in team batting average and eighth in ERA. But with the victory Wednesday, they’re at 1-4 and they avoided the 0-5 starts that have caught Y-D and Hyannis.

Susnara (Oregon) stepped to the plate for Dayton Dugas (Wichita State) with the bases loaded and two out in the sixth. Facing Hansen Butler (North Carolina), a returning Whitecap, Susnara worked the count full and smacked a base hit to plate two runs.

In the seventh, Cal Stevenson (Arizona) scored on a wild pitch for an insurance run, but Achter (Toledo) didn’t need it. After Gerics (Pomona-Pitzer) allowed two runs in 4.2 innings, Achter – a solid starter for Toledo this spring – put four zeroes on the board before the Whitecaps grabbed a run in the ninth. The Whitecaps threatened for more when they loaded the bases, but Achter struck out Logan Warmoth (North Carolina) to end the game.

Achter earned the win and struck out four. Jackson Klein (Stanford) and Jordan Pearce (Nevada) knocked in one run each for the Kettleers and Albee Weiss (Cal State Northridge) homered.

Falmouth 3, Y-D 0

The Commodores notched their second straight shutout and their third consecutive victory with a 3-0 triumph over Y-D. Jake Bird, who had a good freshman season at UCLA before struggling a bit this year, was terrific in his Cape debut, pitching six no-hit innings with five strikeouts. Y-D touched up Keegan Baar (Michigan State) for its first two hits but no runs. Justin Hoyt (Jacksonville State) and Stephen Villines (Kansas) finished out the shutout, with Villines grabbing his second save, which is tied for the league lead. Matt Duce (Dallas Baptist) and Tyler Lawrence (Murray State) hit solo home runs to lead the Falmouth offense, with Bryce Johnson (Sam Houston State) adding an RBI groundout. Y-D remained winless as it managed only the two hits.

Chatham 8, Bourne 3

The Anglers smacked 13 hits and got solid pitching to hand Bourne its first loss of the season. Gunnar Troutwine (Wichita State) led the Chatham offense with three hits and an RBI. D.J. Artis (Liberty) continued his hot start with two hits and two RBI, and Sean Bouchard (UCLA) delivered the same line in his Cape debut. Patrick Mathis (Texas) also chipped in two RBI, his sixth and seventh of the year, and stretched his season-long hit streak to five. Tony Dibrell (Kennesaw State) allowed two earned runs in five innings for the win. Three relievers had scoreless outings, including Seattle U standout Nick Meservey, who was making his first appearance in Chatham. For Bourne, Justin Yurchak (Binghamton) had two RBI.

Orleans 11, Wareham 7

Trailing 7-4, Orleans scored seven runs in the eighth inning to stun Wareham. Twelve men came to the plate in the big rally, with singles by Chris Triano (Keystone College) and Riley Adams (San Diego) getting things started. Amazingly, Wareham recorded two outs with those two still on base, but the rally went on a long time after that. Payton Squier (UNLV) had a pinch-hit two-run single and Drew Lugbauer (Michigan) knocked in the tying run with a base hit. With the bases loaded, Riley Mahan (Kentucky) hit a triple to give Orleans the lead. Adam Haseley’s (Virginia) RBI single capped the rally. Wareham put a runner on in the ninth as it looked for a rally of its own, but Brandon Bielak (Notre Dame) worked around it for a scoreless final frame. Hasely and Mahan had three hits each to lead the Firebird attack. Gavin Sheets (Wake Forest) hit a grand slam for Wareham.

What to Watch

Falmouth is riding a streak of two consecutive shutouts and will look for another with Lipscomb star Brady Puckett on the hill for a home game against Hyannis. Puckett, the Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Year, allowed three runs in his first Cape start on opening night.

June 14, 2016June 14, 2016

A different year

Last seen in a well-played, three-game Cape League championship series, Hyannis and Yarmouth-Dennis are still looking for their first victories of the 2016 season. The Harbor Hawks fell to 0-4 with a 6-1 loss to Orleans Monday, while defending champion Y-D dropped to 0-3 with a 9-1 defeat at the hands of Harwich.

Hyannis has had two close games mixed in with the winless start, falling 3-2 to Bourne on opening night and 5-4 to the Braves again two days later. Y-D has struggled a little more, with a league-worst 8.64 ERA setting the stage for some tough endings. The Red Sox actually lead the league in home runs with five but still haven’t had enough offense.

Both teams will have some reinforcements arriving as we get deeper into the season – particularly Y-D’s pitching staff – but there was no help on the way Monday.

Orleans raced to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first against Hyannis and never looked back. A two-run double by Chris Triano (Keystone College) was the big blow. Riley Adams (San Diego) also knocked in a run with a double.

Jason Morgan (North Carolina) ran with the early lead, allowing one run on two hits in five innings, while fanning five. A fourth-inning home run by Zach Rutherford (Old Dominion) provided Hyannis with its only offense. Charlie Barnes (Clemson) struck out seven in four innings for the Harbor Hawks but was touched up for the early runs.

For Orleans, Riley Mahan (Kentucky) and Adam Haseley (Virginia) each had three hits. Triano, who hit .405 with 13 homers for D-III Keystone, is off to a 5-for-7 start with the Firebirds.

In Harwich, Y-D ran into the team that’s off to the hottest start this summer. Harwich raced to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings and cruised to its fourth straight win.

Austin Filiere (MIT) hit his second home run of the summer and drove in four. Pavin Smith (Virginia) also went deep for the Mariners. Anthony Critelli (Holy Cross) added two RBI.

Harwich starter B.J. Myers (West Virginia) delivered one of the best starts of the young Cape League season with seven strong innings. He allowed one run and struck out four. Y-D managed just five hits against Myers and the Harwich bullpen.

Bourne 10, Cotuit 1

Cotuit also remained winless while Bourne ran its record to 3-0 with a 10-1 win at Doran Park. The Braves smacked 16 hits, with Willy Yahn’s (Connecticut) 3-for-5 day leading the charge. Former Wareham Gateman David MacKinnon (Hartford) had two hits, as did Connor McVey (Cincinnati) and Tyler Friis (Indiana State). Nine of Bourne’s 16 hits went for extra bases. Joshua Shapiro (Marshall), who had an ERA over five this spring, shined in his Cape debut, pitching six shutout innings for the win.

Falmouth 5, Wareham 4

The Commodores held off a late charge for a win over Wareham, as both teams went to 2-1 on the year. Willie Burger (Penn State) went 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Falmouth attack. Kevin Merrell (South Florida) added two hits and two runs scored. Jeffrey Passantino (Lipscomb) went 6.1 strong innings, while Tyler Jones (Wichita State) got the win in relief. Brac Warren (Oregon) went two innings for the save. Robert Metz (George Washington) had two hits for the Gatemen and Colton Shaver (BYU) continued his hot start with a double and an RBI.

Brewster 14, Chatham 6

The Whitecaps scored double-digit runs for the second straight game but took an unusual route. Trailing 5-4, they scored 10 runs in the seventh inning to blow the game open. Sixteen men came to the plate in the big inning and several of them reached more than once. Seven hits, four walks, two hit-batsmen and two errors accounted for the offense. Colby Maiola (UMass Lowell) drew a bases-loaded walk for the go-ahead run and the lead grew from there. Eight different Whitecaps finished with at least one RBI in the game. Matt Davis (VCU) drove in three runs. Nick Dunn (Maryland) had four hits. Jacob Westphal (Tennessee) was the beneficiary of the big inning and got the win in relief. Chatham got three hits from Patrick Mathis (Texas).

What to Watch

Harwich will try to get to 5-0 as it visits Orleans. Ryan McAuliffe (St. John’s), who’s coming off a pretty good spring in the Red Storm rotation, is slated to start for the Mariners. Colton Hatchcock (Memphis) is set for his Orleans debut.

June 13, 2016June 13, 2016

Shut down

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.