In a series absolutely dominated by starting pitching, the Y-D Red Sox had a pair of aces up their sleeve.
After second-seeded Orleans won the first game of the East semis behind a 13-strikeout shutout from Kolton Mahoney, Y-D starting pitchers Walker Buehler (Vanderbilt) and Kevin Duchene (Illinois) allowed a total of three hits in more than 14 innings of scoreless baseball as the Red Sox rallied to win the series. Duchene struck out 12 last night, and Y-D made a second inning squeeze play stand up in a 1-0 victory.
That’s pretty remarkable stuff. In the entirety of last year’s Cape Cod Baseball League postseason, there were three shutouts. Y-D and Orleans authored three in three games, all by themselves. (Falmouth and Harwich have gotten in on the act, too, bringing the total so far this summer to five shutouts).
Last night’s performance was perhaps the best of all.
Duchene was a big part of Y-D’s late-season surge, a surge marked by tremendous starting pitching. But he also blinked in his last regular-season start, giving up five runs in five innings.
Last night, he allowed a single to David Thompson (Miami) with two outs in the first inning and didn’t give up another hit. He walked only two.
His team gave him the lead in the second. Jordan Tarsovich (VMI) reached on a fielder’s choice and took third on a Joey Armstrong (UNLV) single. Josh Lester (Missouri), one of the team’s top RBI men who you’d expect to swing away, put down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Tarsovich.
Armed with the lead, Duchene struck out the side in the bottom of the second inning before getting into a little trouble in the third when he loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batsman. But he escaped with a strikeout.
That K was the beginning as Duchene retired the next 14 batters he faced, seven of them via the strikeout.
After getting the first out in the eighth, with his pitch count at 103, Duchene was lifted for standout closer Phil Bickford (Cal State Fullerton), who picked up where his starter left off. Bickford struck out two and gave up one hit in 1.2 innings. Fittingly, he struck out the last batter he faced to clinch the series win.
Y-D will move on to face top-seeded Harwich in the East finals. The two last met in the finals in 2011, when Harwich won on its way to the Cape League championship.
Here Come the Kettles
The defending champs are on another run.
Cotuit scored early and got some of its best pitching of the season last night as it edged top-seeded Bourne 4-2 for a spot in the West finals.
Last year, the Kettleers got hot in the playoffs, but there was at least some sign that it was coming. They were the third seed but they went 25-18-1 and finished just one point out of a first-place tie between Hyannis and Falmouth.
This year? Try the opposite: 18-25-1. They were 18 points out of first place.
But here they go.
Jake Harper of Division II St. Joseph’s College in Indiana played the familiar role of conquering Cotuit hero who spent most of his summer somewhere else. Harper won the Pitcher of the Year award in the Valley League this summer, and when your season ends after you win an award like that, you’re usually ready to call it a summer. Harper came to the Cape and pitched in one regular season game, then made an appearance out of the bullpen in game one against Bourne.
Last night, he started and allowed just one earned run in 6.1 innings. He didn’t strike out a batter but scattered six hits.
The Kettleers built a lead with one run in the first, two in the second and one in the fourth. Kyle Holder (San Diego) had two RBI, and Cotuit scored three unearned runs thanks to four Bourne errors.
Harper gave way to Austin Sexton (Mississippi State), who walked the first batter he faced. Immediately, Cotuit went to Adam Whitt (Nevada), the Cape League’s most outstanding reliever, and he did the job. Whitt struck out four and didn’t allow a hit in closing out the game with 2.2 scoreless innings. Whitt had gone two innings for the save in Friday’s win and, at this point, may be Cotuit’s single most valuable player.
The loss ended a terrific summer for the Braves, who set a franchise record for wins in the regular season and had a really good, consistent group.
Like so many teams the past two years, they just ran into the streaking Kettleers. Cotuit beat Bourne in the West finals last year.
Cotuit advances to play Falmouth, which is another rematch of last year. Cotuit beat Falmouth in the West semis a year ago.
What to Watch
Y-D at Harwich, 5:30 p.m.
Cotuit at Falmouth, 5:30 p.m.
Pitching has been fantastic so far and there might be more of it tonight. Michael Murray (Florida Gulf Coast) and Robby Kalaf (Florida International) square off in Harwich. Alex Young (TCU), who’s been terrific after a late arrival, will go for Falmouth. Cotuit’s starter is TBA.