No hits and a historic pace

Peter Solomon pitched the first five innings of Wednesday's no-hitter. — Peter Solomon pitched the first five innings of Wednesday’s no-hitter.

The best pitching staff on the Cape hit its highest note yet Wednesday night – and it may have been just the beginning of a run to history.

Four Harwich pitchers combined on the first no-hitter of the Cape League season in a 10-0 win at Chatham. It was fitting – and not surprising – that the Mariners were the team to do it. They own nine shutouts this season and lead the league in ERA by a wide margin.

The staff is also on a stunning pace. With 83 runs allowed in 38 games, the Mariners are on track to allow just 96 runs in the 44-game season. That would be the fewest allowed by any team since at least 2000, which is as far back as the league’s online records go (and the Cape League online record book for some reason lists the runs allowed mark as a record for the most, rather than the least).

Regardless, you’re looking at one of the best pitching staffs on the Cape in decades. The previous low in runs was 116 by Orleans in 2002, so even if the Mariners fall off their ridiculous pace a bit over the final six games, they’ve got a cushion for beating that number.

And on the road to the potential big finish, the Mariners got their signature moment Wednesday.

Power arm Peter Solomon (Notre Dame) wasn’t at his absolute best – walking five and striking out three – but when he departed after five innings, there was a zero in the hit column for Chatham.

Exactly two weeks before, Solomon had pitched four no-hit innings against Chatham, but the innings came in relief, when the Anglers had already notched two hits.

This time, Chatham remained hitless through the sixth and seventh innings, with Zach Schellenger (Seton Hall) righting the ship after a tough outing in the All-Star Game by striking out five in his two innings. Tommy DeJuneas (NC State) walked two in the eighth but didn’t allow a hit. Nick Brown (William & Mary) then struck out two in the ninth and when he got Donovan Casey (Boston College) to ground in to the final out, the Mariners had themselves a combined no-hitter.

It’s the league’s first no-hitter since last June, when the Mariners themselves were shut down by Hyannis’ Devin Smeltzer.

The Mariners also had plenty of offense, with Austin Filiere (MIT) leading the way. Coming in, his average had dipped to .211 but he went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. He’s now tied for the league lead in home runs with seven and is one back of the league lead in RBI.

Pavin Smith (Virginia) added a home run and Nick Dalesandro (Purdue) drove in two runs, but the story of this night – and most nights for Harwich – was the pitching.

With Y-D losing, it led the Mariners back to first place in the East. It authored the league’s top performance of the summer.

And it kept up the pace for a historic season.

Wareham 5, Hyannis 0

The Gatemen won their eighth consecutive game with a 5-0 shutout of Hyannis. Gunner Leger (Louisiana-Lafayette) – who hasn’t pitched as much as some fellow stars but has had kind of an incredible summer – started the shutout with four scoreless innings and six strikeouts. Leger now has a 0.42 ERA and 29 strikeouts against just one walk in 21 innings of work as a starter and reliever. Nick Sprengel (San Diego) finished the shutout with five strong innings. He fanned four. Joey Bart (Georgia Tech) led the Wareham offense with a triple and three RBI. Joey Bartosic (George Washington) added three hits, Nico Giarratano (San Francisco) had two and Cole Freeman (LSU) scored two runs. Wareham is now 21-14-3.

Brewster 3, Bourne 0

The Whitecaps made it three shutouts on the day and gained a bit of breathing room on Chatham for the final playoff spot in the East. The Whitecaps now have a three-point edge. Hunter Martin (Tennessee) set the table for the win with eight shutout innings. He allowed three hits and struck out three while improving to 4-1 on the year. Wyatt Burns (Samford) allowed one hit in the ninth but finished out the win. Brent Rooker (Mississippi State) homered and drove in two for the Whitecaps, while Zack Gahagan (North Carolina) and Julian Infante (Vanderbilt) chipped in two hits each.

Orleans 5, Cotuit 4

Cotuit rallied from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits to force extra innings but Orleans walked off in the bottom of the 11th for a dramatic win. Brian Miller (North Carolina) walked and stole second to create a threat in the 11th and Payton Squier (UNLV) brought him in with a base hit. The heroics made a winner out of Will Stokes (Ole Miss), who had pitched a scoreless top of the 11th. Before that, Brandon Bielak (Notre Dame) went 3.1 scoreless frames. And long before that, Orleans starter Kevin Smith (Georgia) struck out eight in five innings. Cotuit’s Alec Byrd (Florida State) also shined as the game headed to extras, pitching four scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Riley Adams (San Diego) had a huge day to lead the Orleans offense, going 4-for-5 with his first home run of the summer. The standout catcher is on a seven-game hitting streak in which his average has risen from .316 to .372. Squier added two hits. A.J. Balta (Oregon) added two hits for the Kettleers.

Falmouth 8, Y-D 5

If Wareham weren’t on an eight-game streak, the team the Gatemen are chasing in the West would be the league’s hottest. The Commodores won their third straight and their eighth in the last 10 games, improving to a league-best 25-13. Deacon Liput (Florida) hit his second homer of the summer and drove in three runs to pace a solid offensive showing. Michael Gigliotti (Lipscomb) added two hits and two runs scored, while J.J. Matijevic (Arizona), Joshua Watson (TCU) and Tyler Lawrence (Murray State) drove in one run apiece. Starting pitcher Brendan King (Holy Cross) was touched up for three runs in four innings – the first runs he had allowed since June 24 – but the Falmouth bullpen kept Y-D at bay. Thomas Ponticelli (San Francisco) earned the win in relief and Seth Elledge (Dallas Baptist) picked up the save. Y-D got a home run from Deon Stafford (St. Joseph’s), his fourth.

What to Watch

One last league-wide off-day today before a sprint to the finish line. When action resumes Friday, there will be a couple of intriguing games in the West. Cotuit, still not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, gets a chance to make up some ground as it hosts fourth-place Hyannis in the penultimate Barnstable Patriot Cup game. In Falmouth, the first-place Commodores will try to stop second-place Wareham’s eight-game winning streak.

June 25, 2016June 25, 2016

Eagles Have Landed

Chatham has welcomed in some good players from Boston College over the years – first-round pick Chris Shaw comes to mind – but they haven’t often welcomed in a group of Eagles coming off a spring like this.

Boston College made the program’s first-ever trip to a Super Regional this season and pushed host Miami to the limit before ending up one game shy of Omaha. As they embarked for their summer destinations, there was undoubtedly a desire to keep the momentum rolling into next year.

The Anglers have been one of the beneficiaries. In Friday’s game, BC’s Jacob Stevens went five scoreless innings for a 3-1 win over Bourne and teammate Donovan Casey went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Fellow Eagle Jake Palomaki added a run scored.

Chatham moved to 7-6 with the victory, good for a third-place tie with Orleans in the East.

Friday’s game was the Cape debut for Stevens, who showed early signs that he’ll be building on his big freshman year. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound right-hander was a stalwart in the weekend rotation for the Eagles, finishing with a 2.54 ERA en route to ACC All-Freshman honors. His 70 strikeouts ranked second on the team, just two behind the leader – none other than first-round pick Justin Dunn.

Friday, Stevens struck out two and walked two while allowing only three hits. When he departed after five innings, Chatham had a 2-0 lead and would stay in front the rest of the way.

Stevens’ lead was sparked by his college teammates, as Casey drove in Palomaki to make it 1-0 in the first inning. Batting first and third in the order, Palomaki and Casey are off to strong starts. Palomaki, who hit .258 and stole 19 bases for the Eagles, is batting .310 and has scored six runs in nine games. Casey, coming off a spring in which he hit .273, is at .357 for the Anglers and his 2-for-4 night was his third consecutive two-hit game. He has a hit in all but one of the seven games he’s played.

With the Eagles coming through, Chatham also got two hits and a run scored from Sean Bouchard (UCLA). Chase Pinder (Clemson) also scored a run. Three relief pitchers took the mound after Stevens and finished off the win, with Moises Ceja (UCLA) earning his second save.

Brewster 3, Harwich 2

The league’s highest-scoring offense broke through late against the league’s best pitching staff as Brewster rallied past first-place Harwich. The Whitecaps trailed 2-1 before tying the game in the eighth and walking off with a 3-2 win in the ninth. Logan Warmoth (North Carolina) doubled in the eighth and came around on an error on a ball off the bat of Brent Rooker (Mississippi State). Beau Jordan (LSU) then brought home Ryan Noda (Cincinnati) in the ninth with a walkoff RBI single. Jordan, Warmoth and Rooker all finished 2-for-4 to lead the charge for the Whitecaps. Konnor Pilkington (Mississippi State) gave the Whitecaps some good pitching of their own, allowing one run in five innings. Tyler Zuber (Arkansas State) was credited with the win thanks to two scoreless innings of relief. Harwich got another strong performance from a starting pitcher as Hunter Williams (North Carolina) allowed one run in seven innings before Brewster got to the Mariner bullpen. The Whitecaps grabbed sole possession of second place in the East with an 8-5 mark.

Hyannis 2, Cotuit 1

Hyannis made two early runs stand up and went to 2-0 in the Barnstable Patriot Cup with a win over sliding Cotuit, which dropped its eighth in a row. Cody Henry (Alabama) scored an unearned run in the second inning and Chris Cullen (South Carolina) had a sacrifice fly to score Dylan Busby (Florida State) in the fourth. That was all the Harbor Hawk pitchers would need, as Alex Eubanks (Clemson) went six shutout innings and Al Pesto (Duke) and Garrett Cave (Florida International) closed out the win. Cave struck out the side around a hit in the ninth for his fourth save. Keith Rogalla (Creighton) and Cal Becker (Sonoma State) pitched well for the Kettleers.

Y-D 12, Wareham 4

Y-D built a 6-0 lead and answered a four-run Wareham rally with six more runs in a 12-4 blowout at Spillane Field. Seven different Red Sox knocked in runs, with Tyler Houston (Butler) and Kevin Smith (Maryland) plating two each. Matt Winaker (Stanford), Brendan Skidmore (Binghamton) and Paul Rufo (Binghamton) had two hits each. Erich Uelmen (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) ran with the early lead, tossing five shutout innings with five strikeouts.

Falmouth 7, Orleans 3

Falmouth rallied from a 3-0 deficit with seven unanswered runs in the middle innings en route to a win over Orleans. Tyler Lawrence (Murray State) went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs to lead the comeback efforts. Cadyn Grenier (Oregon State) homered and drove in two. Seven different Commodores crossed the plate. The rally helped make a winner out of Brendan King (Holy Cross), who started and allowed three runs in five innings. Three Falmouth relievers combined to surrender just one hit over the final four innings.

What to Watch

The top three teams in the West are all within one point of each other in the standings, and two of them will meet Saturday as Bourne hosts Falmouth at Doran Park.

June 7, 2016June 11, 2016

Anglers have depth, experience

After a solid summer, Chatham is poised for a repeat as it welcomes in a team that’s older than most in the Cape League.

FIVE TO WATCH

1. J.B. Bukauskas
2. James Karinchak
3. Tanner Gardner
4. Chase Pinder
5. Nick Meservey

NOTABLE

The Anglers’ web roster includes everybody right now – temps and full contracts – so be prepared for a lot of names, some of which might not be around all summer.

I wrote last summer about the North Carolina aces that Chatham has had over the years. They have another one lined up in J.B. Bukauskas, though it remains to be seen if he’ll pitch on the Cape at all after accepting a Team USA invite.

Several teams on the Cape this summer will play with two or three rising seniors on the roster. Chatham has 20 of them listed on the roster right now. Some of them are on temporary contracts, but even in terms of full contract guys, the Anglers are very old by Cape League standards. They’ll risk losing some to the draft, but could be a veteran team if all pans out.

Chatham lost a couple of big names from its initial roster. Seattle’s Tarik Skubal was dominating the WAC before a season-ending injury. UC Irvine’s Keston Hiura, a Perfect Game Summer All-American last year in the West Coast League, hit .358 with seven homers but is no longer on the Anglers roster.

Tanner Gardner hit over .400 for much of the year at Texas Tech. He’s now at .376 as the Red Raiders head to the Super Regionals, having earned all-Big 12 honors.

Bryant and Boston College are part of a banner year for New England college baseball, with the Bulldogs earning Top 25 love and a No. 2 seed in a regional and the Eagles still alive in Super Regionals. The Anglers will give several of those teams standouts a chance to build on the success, with four Eagles and a Bulldog ticketed for Chatham. The best of the bunch are Bryant ace James Karinchak and BC standout freshman Jacob Stevens.

The Anglers have two returning catchers in BC’s Nick Sciortino and Richmond’s Kyle Adams. Neither had a lot of success with the bat last year but can provide a pretty good foundation behind the plate.

Chatham was set to have to players from Seattle. With Skubal’s injury, they’re down to one – but he’s a good one. Nick Meservey earned WAC Pitcher of the Year honors and could be a potential ace for the Anglers.

The ACC batting champ wasn’t freshman star Seth Beer or former Angler Will Craig or likely top-five pick Corey Ray. It was Pittsburgh’s Charles LeBlanc, who hit .405 and is bound for Chatham.

Chatham has made a concerted effort to find some small-school guys hungry to success on the Cape in recent years. Several fit the mold this year, including Joe Tietjen of UNC Asheville, Matt Vernon of Appalachian State and D.J. Artis of Liberty. All had big springs and will be eager to prove themselves this summer.

PITCHERS

Reagan Bazar – SO – Louisiana Lafayette – Towering righty (6-7, 250) had 1.93 ERA in nine relief appearances for Ragin’ Cajuns
Kale Breaux – JR – Mississippi State – Highly-touted freshman has 5.40 ERA in 16 appearances out of bullpen, with 19 Ks
J.B. Bukauskas – SO – North Carolina – Turned in breakout sophomore season with 3.10 ERA, team-best 111 Ks in 78.1 innings
Moises Ceja – JR – UCLA – Led Bruins in ERA with 2.60 mark in 25 relief appearances and fanned 23 in 27.2 innings
Tanner Chock – JR – Presbyterian – Struck out 72 in 86 IP, 4.60 ERA for Blue Hose, who had program’s best-ever showing in Big South
Tom Cosgrove – SO – Manhattan – Turned in breakout sophomore season for Jaspers with 3.70 ERA, 80 Ks in 90 IP
Tony Dibrell – SO – Kennesaw State – After solid NECBL showing last year, tallied 4.64 ERA while striking out 66 in 54.1 IP this spring
Christopher Farish – RS SO – Wake Forest – After redshirt and injury-limited year, made 35 appearances and struck out 35 in 28 innings
Michael Fitzgerald – RS JR – Northeastern – Saved 11 games and struck out 32 in 38.2 innings, while leading team in appearances
Jason Foley – JR – Sacred Heart – Went 4-4 with 5.68 ERA and fanned 47 in 58.2 innings
Trevor Gay – SO – North Carolina – Led Charlotte in appearances last season before transferring to North Carolina, where he sat out this year
Caleb Gilbert – FR – LSU – Has 5.04 ERA in 25 appearances, mostly out of the pen, to go with 43 strikeouts in 44.2 innings
Lincoln Henzman – JR – Louisville – Standout reliever for Super Regional-bound Cards has 4.50 ERA, 27 Ks in 24 innings
Reed Howell – SO – Appalachian State – Led team in appearances by wide margin and posted 3.83 ERA with 37 Ks in 49.1 innings
James Karinchak – JR – Bryant – NEC Pitcher of the Year for breakout Bryant team went 12-3 with 2.00 ERA, 112 Ks in 94.2 innings pitched
Andrew Karp – SO – Florida State – Has 7.43 ERA in eight relief appearances for Seminoles
Erikson Lanning – FR – Texas Tech – In midst of Up-and-down freshman season with 2-3 record, 5.91 ERA, 27 Ks
Simon Matthews – JR – Georgetown – Moved into weekend rotation and went 5-4 with 2.45 ERA and 59 Ks in 95.1 IP
Isaac Mattson – SO – Pittsburgh – Followed strong debut in Panthers bullpen with more of the same this year – 3.71 ERA, 31 Ks
Nick Meservey – JR – Seattle – WAC Pitcher of the Year posted 2.32 ERA, 79 Ks in 81.1 innings
Matt Pidich – RS SO – Pittsburgh – New Jersey native had good numbers in limited action last year, did not pitch this season
Parker Rigler – JR – Kansas State – JUCO transfer served as weekend starter, went 4-9, with 4.89 ERA and 73 Ks in 77.1 IP
Jacob Stevens – FR – Boston College – Has burst onto the scene for upstart Eagles, going 4-3, 2.14 ERA, team-best 68 Ks

CATCHERS

Kyle Adams – SO – Richmond – Back for second year in Chatham off breakout sophomore season – .321, three homers, 33 RBI
Joseph Freiday – SO – Virginia Tech – Former Massachusetts Gatorade POY hit .226 with three homers while splitting time behind plate this year
Alex LeFevre – RS JR – Connecticut – Transfer from junior college ranks hit .283 in part-time role for Huskies
Jordan Romero – JR – LSU – JUCO transfer is tied for the team lead in home runs with nine and hitting an even .300
Nick Sciortino – JR – Boston College – Returning Angler hit .169 last summer but has been solid this spring with .277 AVG
Gunnar Troutwine – SO – Wichita State – Hit .278 and led Shockers with seven home runs in sophomore campaign

INFIELDERS

John Aiello – SO – Wake Forest – Hit only .226, but nearly half of 44 hits went for extra bases
Sean Bouchard – JR – UCLA – Finished second on team with .295 AVG and chipped in two homers and 36 RBI
Orlando Garcia – SO – Texas Tech – Batting .261 with seven home runs for Super Regional-bound Red Raiders
Cam Hanley – JR – Northeastern – Hit .247 while starting 24 games for Huskies
Charles LeBlanc – SO – Pittsburgh – Native of Canada won ACC batting title at .405, drove in 46 and stole seven bases
Hunter Lee – SO – High Point – Started every game and hit .295 with 30 RBI
David MacKinnon – JR – Hartford – Earned spot with Wareham last summer and hit .292 then batted .392 with 4 HR for Hawks
Jake Palomaki – JR – Boston College – Infield and leadoff stalwart hitting .265 with team-high 19 stolen bases
Jeremy Vasquez – SO – Florida – Following good summer in Northwoods by hitting .289 for Gators
Matt Vernon – JR – Appalachian State – Hit .317 with 8 HR, 42 RBI, all team-bests for Mountaineers en route to all-conference nod

OUTFIELDERS

D.J. Artis – FR – Liberty – Red Sox 40th-round pick last year had big debut, finishing at .369 with two home runs and 23 stolen bases
Donovan Casey – SO – Boston College – Hitting .266 with big contributions in postseason and has also pitched some for Eagles
Matt Cook – SO – Wheaton – Harwich native hit .268 for D-III powerhouse Wheaton
Stuart Fairchild – SO – Wake Forest – Started every game and hit .293 while ranking second on team in RBI with 47
Tanner Gardner – SO – Texas Tech – One of nation’s top batting average guys all year, now at .376 with 3 HR, 18 2B, 43 RBI
Brock Lundquist – SO – Long Beach State – Followed up all-conference freshman year by hitting .315 with three home runs
Patrick Mathis – SO – Texas – Hit .297 with six home runs for Longhorns
Chase Pinder – JR – Clemson – Brother of former Angler Chad, hitting .294 with 11 home runs for Super Regional club
Joe Tietjen – JR – UNC Asheville – Earned second-team all-Big South honors by hitting .344 with 10 homers, 55 RBI