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.

Brewster made the playoffs and had Cape League MVP Nick Senzel starring last summer. Several returning players are back to lead the way.

FIVE TO WATCH

1. Brett Cumberland
2. Brent Rooker
3. Kade McClure
4. Alex Schick
5. Mike Kaelin

NOTABLE

Brewster has five players set to return, and two more who played elsewhere on the Cape.

It wasn’t the best baseball year for the Pac 12 conference, but that doesn’t take anything away from the season Brett Cumberland had. Cal’s sophomore catcher earned Player of the Year honors after leading the league in home runs and RBI.

Mississippi State’s Brent Rooker made a late cameo with Brewster last year after his MVP campaign in the NECBL season ended. The sophomore has continued to shine this spring.

Brewster is slated to have three pitchers who check in at 6-foot-7, and they should at some point take a pitcher with 5-foot-9 reliever Mike Kaelin, who can probably throw a fastball harder than them.

Kaelin has been a standout closer at Buffalo and struck out 50 in 32 innings in the Northwoods League this year. He’s draft-eligible and it will be interesting to see where he ends up this summer.

Louisville’s Kade McClure, one of the 6-foot-7 guys, is perhaps the best mid-week starter in the nation, with numbers that would look fantastic in any team’s weekend rotation. He likely would have been a weekend guy for the Cardinals, too, but Kyle Funkhouser opted to return to school after last year’s draft, giving Louisville a logjam that it certainly didn’t mind having.

When Xavier shocked Vanderbilt in the Nashville regional, Zac Lowther was front and center, going seven strong innings and allowing just a run.

Washington was an upset-minded squad in the same regional and will send three players to Brewster.

PITCHERS

Vince Arobio – JR – Pacific – Second in school history in saves after tallying six this year, to go with 27 Ks in 17.1 innings
Hansen Butler – SO – North Carolina – Made 11 relief appearances for Brewster last summer, posted 2.00 ERA in UNC bullpen this year
Joe Demers – FR – Washington – Had up-and-down year in weekend rotation for regional club, finishing with 6.91 ERA
Chris Falwell – JR – Texas A&M Corpus Christi – Shined in pen and moved to weekend rotation, posting 2.91 ERA, 88Ks in 86.2 IP
Ryan Feltner – FR – Ohio State – Pitched as a starter and reliever, finishing with 4.06 ERA, 61 Ks in 68.2 innings
Mike Kaelin – RS JR – Buffalo – Saved five games, fanned 44 in 35 innings with only six walks out of Buffalo bullpen
Zacary Lowther – SO – Xavier – Friday starter tallied 3.09 ERA, 84 Ks in 102 IP en route to second-team all conference honors
Erik Martinez – SO – California – Struck out 45 in 37.1 innings and saved eight games with opponents hitting just .211 against him
Kade McClure – SO – Louisville – Excelled in mid-week starting role, going 12-0 with 2.54 ERA, 77 Ks in 78 innings
Joe Mockbee – SO – Michigan State – Versatile arm started six games and saved five, while posting 3.54 ERA, 59 Ks in 56 innings
Ryan Nutof – SO – Michigan – Made 11 starts, 10 relief appearances and was solid throughout with 3.67 ERA
Konnor Pilkington – FR – Mississippi State – Filling a void in weekend rotation and carries 2.01 ERA into Super Regionals
Rickey Ramirez – SO – Fresno State – Tallied four saves while striking out 42 in 39.2 innings to go with 4.54 ERA
Alexander Schick – JR – California – Posted 3.76 ERA for Brewster last summer and 2.03 ERA in injury-shortened spring for Cal
Aaron Soto – SO – Tennessee – Pitched in rotation and out of the bullpen, finishing at 6-2 with 3.63 ERA, 40 K in 62 innings
Jesse Stallings – SO – LSU – Has 3.64 ERA as valuable bullpen arm for Super Regional-bound Tigers
Alex Troop – JR – Michigan State – Posted 1.64 ERA in four relief appearances for Spartans
Jacob Westphal – SO – Tennessee – Pitched well in 12 relief appearances last year then missed all of 2016 season after Tommy John surgery
Tyler Zuber – JR – Arkansas State – Finished with ERA over six in swing role but lead team in strikeouts with 73 in 69.2 innings

CATCHERS

Jared Barnes – SO – South Alabama – Listed as catcher & outfielder, hit .292 and tied for team lead in home runs with six
Brandon Chapman – SO – George Washington – Batted .247 and led team in doubles with 16, while knocking in 25
Gavin Collins – JR – Mississippi State – Former Bourne Brave hitting .301 with team-best 10 HR for Bulldogs
Brett Cumberland – SO – California – Emerged as a star this year, hitting .344 with 16 HR, 51 RBI en route to Pac 12 Player of the Year award
Colby Fitch – SO – Louisville – Has forced his way into playing time by hitting .339 with five homers for No. 2 national seed Cardinals
Kekai Rios – FR – Hawaii – Finished second on the team with .331 batting average and drove in 18 in debut season

INFIELDERS

Matt Davis – SO – VCU – Led Atlantic 10 contending Rams with .321 average, 6 HR, 35 RBI
Nick Dunn – FR – Maryland – Burst onto the scene in College Park, hitting team-best .304 in freshman season
Zack Gahagan – SO – North Carolina – Had solid second season in Chapel Hill, finishing at .297 with five home runs
A.J. Graffanino – FR – Washington – Played in 54 games in debut season and hit .250
Ryan Gridley – SO – Mississippi State – Has started all but one game for Bulldogs and is contributing with .284 AVG, 9 XBH
Julian Infante – FR – Vanderbilt – Hit .259, belted six home runs in part-time role for Commodores
Bryce Jordan – SO – LSU – Hitting .299 and leading team with .426 on-base percentage, to go with five home runs
Ryan Noda – SO – Cincinnati – Played for Y-D last summer then hit .250 with six homers, 18 XBH in second season with Bearcats
Logan Warmoth – SO – North Carolina – Second-best hitter and top run producer for Heels hit .337 with 4 HR, 53 RBI
Dustin Williams – JR – Oklahoma State – Batting only .219 but has team-high 14 home runs and .323 OBP

OUTFIELDERS

Kel Johnson – SO – Georgia Tech – Struggled in 14 games with Brewster last summer but rebounded with .319 AVG, 11 HR this spring
Beau Jordan – SO – LSU – Batting .296 for Tigers and has chipped in five stolen bases
Jon Littell – SO – Oklahoma State – Hitting .264 with two homers for Cowboys
Colby Maiola – SO – Northern Essex CC – UMass-Lowell commit hit at a .453 clip with 10 HR, 43 RBI in second JUCO season
Jack Meggs – JR – Washington – Followed solid summer with Brewster by hitting .272 with two home runs for Huskies
Brent Rooker – SO – Mississippi State – NECBL MVP last year hitting .320 with 9 HR, team-high 52 RBI for Bulldogs

Tag: Colby Maiola

A different year