Posted on

MVP Return

Kyle Schwarber went 4-for-4 with a game-tying home run in his return to the Cape.

 
Kyle Schwarber’s return to the Cape Cod Baseball League happened on the same field where he left it.

Little else in the setting was the same.

On August 17, 2012, Schwarber led the Wareham Gatemen to the league championship on a sunny afternoon at Red Wilson Field in Yarmouth, with fans tucked into every nook and cranny. On July 25, 2013, Schwarber helped a struggling Wareham team salvage a tie with Y-D on a cool, dreary evening.

The fact that he was here for both is one of the coolest stories of the 2013 Cape Cod Baseball League season.

Schwarber earned Playoff MVP honors last summer when he hit two home runs in Wareham’s championship-clinching victory. His emergence as a star continued on the same trajectory in the spring, when he hit .366 with 18 home runs and led Indiana to the College World Series. He was ticketed for a return to Wareham, but Team USA came calling and Schwarber ran with the opportunity.

But along the way, he told Wareham officials he wanted to come back when Team USA’s season ended. It was easy to envision him returning and pushing the Gatemen over the top, leading them to more playoff glory.

That probably isn’t going to happen. Wareham has had a tough season and needs a miracle just to grab the fourth spot in the playoffs.

And still, Schwarber came.

This is a guy who has been playing baseball non-stop since Indiana’s season began on February 15. The grind took him across the country, then to Omaha then to Japan with Team USA.

Coming back to Cape Cod for a few meaningless games, when scouts already have a good feel for who he is? Nobody would have blamed him if he headed home instead.

But still, Schwarber came.

Last night, karma smiled on that move. Schwarber went 4-for-4 in his 2013 debut and his two-run homer in the ninth inning tied the game at 2-2. Wareham and Y-D went on to finish in a tie. Andro Cutura (Southeastern Louisiana) delivered a strong performance on the mound for the Gatemen.

Schwarber’s move is reminiscent of something another Wareham great once did. Matt Murton, who went on to a Major League career, broke his finger at Team USA tryouts in 2002. The temptation would have been to take the rest of the summer off. Instead, Murton returned to Wareham – where he’d played the summer before – let the finger heal and was in the lineup as the Gatemen won their second consecutive league championship.

Schwarber likely won’t cap his return with the same kind of hardware, but the sentiment is the same. Both had great experiences in Wareham and both felt a measure of loyalty that isn’t always a priority in summer baseball.

Schwarber is now 6-for-9 with three home runs in his last two Cape League games. The gap between those games – when they happened and what they meant – is huge, but Schwarber was doing his thing all the same.

 

Brewster 2, Falmouth 0

The Whitecaps have hit another rough patch but last night was a pretty serious bright spot. Jake Stinnett (Maryland) struck out eight in seven shutout innings as Brewster topped Falmouth 2-0. Stinnett took a no-hitter into the sixth before a base hit by Cameron O’Brien (Northeast Texas CC). It was the only hit he allowed. Justin Kamplain (Alabama) and Brad Schreiber (Purdue) finished the shutout with an inning each. Nick Lynch (UC Davis) delivered all the offense Brewster needed with two RBI, while Boo Vazquez (Pittsburgh) had two hits and scored both runs. Vazquez has a six-game hitting streak. The win was made all the more impressive by the fact that Brewster’s bus broke down before the game and the team arrived just 30 minutes before game time.

 

Orleans 7, Cotuit 3

The Firebirds won their fifth straight, riding a dominant performance by Jared Miller (Vanderbilt) to a victory over the Kettleers. Miller started the summer in the bullpen but went seven shutout innings in his second start last week. This time, he went six scoreless and struck out 10 while allowing just two hits. Shawn O’Neill (La Salle) picked up the save. Austin Davidson (Pepperdine) had two hits and two RBI, while Jordan Luplow (Fresno State) also drove in two. Will Fulmer (Montevallo) and Chris Marconcini (Duke) added two hits each. Orleans is now 18-18, just a point back of Harwich for second place in the West. For Cotuit, Bradley Zimmer (San Francisco) made his return from Team USA and went 1-for-4.

 

Harwich 10, Hyannis 0

Dillon Peters (Texas) turned in his second straight dominant start and the Mariners pulled away late for an easy victory. Peters struck out six in five scoreless innings after seven shutout innings in his last start. Logan Jernigan (NC State) struck out four in three innings of relief and Jake Drossner (Maryland) finished the job. Derek Fisher (Virginia) had two RBI to lead the attack, while Ben Moore (Alabama) and Tanner English (South Carolina) had two hits each.

 

Chatham 7, Bourne 3

The Anglers delivered a steady offensive performance and held off Bourne for their 24th victory of the season. Jimmy Pickens (Michigan State) had two hits, including a home run, to power the offense. Landon Lassiter (North Carolina) added two hits and two RBI, Michael Russell (North Carolina) had two hits, Blake Butera (Boston College) drove in two runs and recent arrival Brett Bell (Texas Tech) added two hits. Andrew McGee (Monmouth) gave up three runs in four innings. Dominic Moreno (Texas Tech) got the win with three scoreless innings of relief and David Speer (Columbia) shut down his former team over the final two innings for the save. Bourne got four hits from Mark Laird (LSU) but was again kept from clinching a playoff spot.

 

What to Watch

Orleans and Cotuit will meet for a second straight night, this time at Lowell Park. It should be a good pitching match-up with Bobby Poyner (Florida) starting for Orleans and Ben Smith (Coastal Carolina) going for Cotuit. Smith was one of the league’s top strikeout pitchers before he missed his last turn in the rotation.

Posted on

A Falmouth Fourth

Leon Byrd Jr. had a double and a triple as Falmouth ran past Cotuit in a Fourth of July victory.

 
No team in the Cape Cod Baseball League celebrated America’s independence quite like the Falmouth Commodores.

While one other team swept its holiday series, and the others all played to splits, Falmouth surged to a pair of victories over Cotuit, the team that came into the holiday week with the most wins in the league.

With a 5-3 victory Wednesday and a 13-6 win on the Fourth of July, the Commodores have now matched that win total with an 11-7 record. Hyannis also has 11 wins, creating a logjam at the top of the West.

Falmouth picked up No. 11 – and the holiday sweep – thanks to one of its best offensive nights of the season. The Commodores finished with seven extra-base hits and two home runs. Dylan Davis (Oregon State), who hit two home runs on Wednesday, added another last night, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI. He is tied for the league lead in homers with all of three games under his belt and he’s hitting a cool .538.

Conner Hale (State College of Florida) also homered and went 2-for-4 with four RBI. Leon Byrd Jr. (Rice) had a double and a triple, Kevin Cron (TCU) stayed hot with a 3-for-4 night and two RBI, and Rhys Hoskins (Sacramento State) went 2-for-4.

On the mound, Daniel Koger (Auburn) struck out six in four scoreless innings in his first appearance since week one. Kevin Mooney got the win in relief.

The Kettleers had 12 hits of their own – including four from Mike Ford (Princeton) and two home runs by Yale Rosen (Washington State), who also joined the tie for the league lead – but it wasn’t enough.

Falmouth, who’s been poised for a breakout all year with its productive offense and strikeout-happy pitching staff, started to do it in style.

 

Hyannis 9, Y-D 6

Jeff Hoffman (East Carolina) made his 2013 Cape League debut and didn’t disappoint. The rising junior lefty flashed the stuff that made him Baseball America’s seventh-best prospect in the Cape last year, striking out eight and giving up two runs on five hits in six innings of work. Frankie Piliere of Perfect Game tweeted that Hoffman’s fastball touched 97 and that “the title of best pitcher on the Cape is his to lose.” Hoffman’s debut set Hyannis (11-5) on the course to a victory as they led most of the way and then held off a late run by the Red Sox (8-9-1). Eric Eck (Wofford) picked up his fourth save, which is tied for the league lead. Austin Slater (Stanford) homered for the Harbor Hawks while Jay Baum (Clemson) had three hits and two RBI. Alex Blandino (Stanford) had three hits for the Red Sox.

 

Chatham 7, Orleans 2

After getting shut out on Wednesday, the Anglers (11-6-1) got right back on the horse with a 12-hit showing and a series split with the Firebirds (9-8). Dante Flores (USC), who has had more multi-hit games this summer (5) than single-hit games (3), delivered another one, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Five other Anglers had an RBI each as well, including Connor Joe (San Diego), who had two hits to go with it. On the mound, early-season star Andrew McGee (Monmouth) had his shortest outing of the summer but was still solid. He gave up two runs in four innings while striking out three. Tommy Lawrence (Maine) relieved him and got his second win in five days with two perfect innings. J.D. Davis (Cal State Fullerton), a two-way player in the college season, made his first pitching appearance of the summer and struck out two for the save.

 

Bourne 6, Wareham 1

Bourne (9-9) had lost its only game with Wareham (3-15) before the holiday, but the series went to the Braves. After a 4-2 victory on Wednesday, they cruised to a 6-1 win on Thursday. Tim Caputo (Rhode Island) went 2-for-5 to finish the holiday series going 6-for-9. Mason Robbins (Southern Miss) and Max Pentecost (Kennesaw State) each had three hits while Tyler Kuresa (UC Santa Barbara) homered, his first. Clint Freeman (East Tennessee State) had two hits and drove in two runs. On the mound, Jaron Long (Ohio State) turned in his third impressive start, striking out two in five innings and giving up his first earned run of the season. Cody Livingston (Southern Miss) had a dominant relief outing, striking out six of the nine men he faced in three perfect innings. Nigel Nootbaar (USC) finished the job with a scoreless frame. For Wareham Fred Shepard (Amherst) struck out eight in 4.2 innings but was touched up for six runs.

 

Brewster 10, Harwich 5

The teams combined for 34 hits but the Whitecaps (4-13) had a little more production and knocked off the Mariners (10-8). Jose Brizuela (Florida State) went 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead the parade, Trevor Mitsui (Washington State) had three hits and two RBI and Scott Heineman (Oregon) continued a hot streak with a 4-for-5 night in the leadoff spot. Heineman was hitting .143 on June 25. He is now hitting .321. Nicholas Vazquez (Pittsburgh) added two hits and an RBI. On the mound, Jake Stinnett (Maryland) gave up 10 hits in six innings but limited the Mariners to two runs on his way to the win. He struck out six. Corey Taylor (Texas Tech) pitched three strong innings to close it out. Harwich got a hit from every spot in the lineup, including three from Derek Fisher (Virginia), who has a six-game hitting streak and is batting .359.

 

What to Watch

Falmouth will try to stay hot as it heads to Harwich for a 7 p.m. match-up with the Mariners, who have been one of the top teams in the East. Brandon Magallones (Northwestern), who has a 1.86 ERA, goes for Falmouth against A.J. Reed (Kentucky), Harwich’s two-way standout who’s just back from Team USA.

And a quick site note – Daily Fog will take a brief hiatus Saturday but will be back on Sunday.

Posted on

New Faces

Harwich's Ian Happ, a late roster addition, is off to a great start.

It’s easy to miss the boat on potential stars when they aren’t part of preseason outlooks and previews, but late additions to Cape League rosters often come to town with pretty good credentials.

In an effort to keep up, we begin the notebook with a quick look at some of the stand-outs who may not have been on the preseason radar:

Erich Weiss, Chatham – Texas stand-out had a down junior year, but was still selected in 13th round this year
Joe Goodman, Chatham – Undersized righty had an ERA under 1.00 for High Point
Cole Lankford, Brewster – Starred for Texas A&M this year, hitting .352 with three homers
Jake Stinnett, Brewster – Maryland pitcher was a 29th round pick of the Pirates this June
Ian Happ, Harwich – Cincy freshman hit .322 with six homers in debut
Ryan Lindemuth, Harwich – William & Mary junior hit .351 in the spring, was drafted by Pirates in 20th round this year
Ian Tompkins, Harwich – Western Kentucky reliever struck out 59 in just 35 innings this spring
Geoff DeGroot, Orleans – Hit .345, stole 25 bases for UMass Lowell
Jeremy Rhoades, Orleans – Saves six games with an ERA under two for Illinois State
Jeremy Null, Y-D – Had a tremendous year on the mound for Western Carolina, striking out 109 in 91 IP
Chad Carroll, Bourne – Terrific season at James Madison – .389, 3 HR, 55 RBI on way to All-CAA honors
Connor Castellano, Cotuit – TCU commit started his career at Vanderbilt before going the JUCO route
Steven Duggar, Cotuit – Hit .300 for Clemson as a freshman; ranked 15th best frosh in the country coming into the year
Alex Haines, Cotuit – Top prospect in the NECBL last year and a 33rd round pick this year
Trevor Seidenberger, Cotuit – Struck out 63 for TCU and was drafted in 12th round by Brewers
Conner Hale, Falmouth – JUCO star has committed to LSU for next year
Trey Teakell, Falmouth – TCU reliever had an ERA under 1.00
Jake Hernandez, Hyannis – Solid player for Orleans last summer has resurfaced in Hyannis and is off to a fast start
Fred Shepard, Wareham – Amherst standout was steady contributor for Wareham last year

 

  • Team USA has sort of unofficially gone back to its old trials format, where players headed to camp without roster spots. In recent years, the team was picked without any sort of trials. This year, it’s kind of a hybrid, with some players guaranteed to be on the roster and others fighting for spots. Quite a few players who have already been on the Cape this year are part of the second group, including Harwich’s C.J. Hinojosa and A.J. Reed, Falmouth’s Preston Morrison, Orleans’ Colin Welmon and Cotuit’s Bradley Zimmer.

  • Wareham’s lineup can use all the help it can get, and the Gatemen signed an old friend today who should help the cause in Louisville’s Cole Sturgeon. The sophomore hit .297 with five home runs in Wareham’s championship season last year. He also pitches and had a 1.97 ERA in seven games.

  • Three pitchers have made two starts without allowing an earned run – Harwich’s Aaron Bummer and Chandler Shepherd and Cotuit’s Alex Haines. Haines leads that group in strikeouts with 14 in nine innings. Interestingly, Bummer has only struck out five in 13 innings.

  • Orleans closer Matt Troupe hasn’t picked up a save since getting two early on, but he continues to strike a lot of people out. Troupe has 10 strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched, good for a 19.3 K/9.

  • The Y-D pitching staff struggled mightily for three games before getting on track Monday. The Red Sox were hurting so much that they put returning all-star infielder Robert Pehl on the mound for an inning. He promptly struck out two in a perfect inning.

    • Posted on

    Worth the Wait

    Steve Wilkerson, pictured last year, drove in two runs as Hyannis won its long-awaited season opener in walk-off fashion Saturday night.
    One team had played three games. Most had played two. Everybody else had played at least one.

    The Hyannis Harbor Hawks waited.

    Their first three games were postponed due to rain and soggy field conditions at McKeon Park. When the Harbor Hawks got the all clear Saturday night, they got their money’s worth.

    Hyannis rallied from a 4-2 deficit against unbeaten Falmouth and won 5-4 in 12 innings. Ryan Padilla’s pinch-hit, walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th clinched it.

    It was a welcome start for the Harbor Hawks, who missed the playoffs last year. With Falmouth coming to town, getting off on the right foot figured to be tough. The Commodores have scored the most runs in the league thus far and while most lineups are being shuffled around from one day to the next, Falmouth’s has been pretty steady.

    Hyannis countered with a strong outing from starter Cy Sneed (Dallas Baptist), who allowed just a run on two hits in five innings, but Falmouth broke through against the bullpen with four runs in the sixth inning. A two-run double by Kevin Cron (TCU) was the big blow.

    But the Harbor Hawks responded an inning later, tying the score at 4-4 on a two-run double by Steve Wilkerson (Clemson). Wilkerson was a Harbor Hawk in 2012 and the rising senior is back on a temporary contract. He went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI in his 2013 debut.

    The next four innings were scoreless, with the bullpens doing solid work, but Hyannis broke through in the 12th. Will Maddox (Tennessee) was hit by a pitch to start it and stole second. Wilkerson singled and took second on defensive indifference. An intentional walk loaded the bases with one out. After Falmouth got the second out, Padilla (New Mexico) came off the bench and singled in the winning run.

    The Harbor Hawks could celebrate – finally.

     

    Chatham 5, Brewster 4

    Chatham (3-0) is your only undefeated team, and the Anglers owe their latest win to more late-inning heroics. After a walk-off victory over Cotuit on Friday, the Anglers delivered another walk-off on Saturday against Brewster (0-2). With the game tied 4-4 in the ninth, Dante Flores (USC) plated Brandon Sedell (Nova Southeastern) with a base hit to give the Anglers their third victory in as many games. It was the first hit of the season for Flores, who had been 0-for-6. The rally made a winner out of Jacob Dorris (Texas A&M Corpus Christi), who allowed an unearned run in two innings of relief. Connor Joe (San Diego), who’s had a hit in every game, went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jake Stinnett (Maryland) gave Brewster a quality start with six strikeouts in five scoreless innings.

     

    Cotuit 3, Wareham 2

    The Kettleers (2-1) didn’t win on a walk-off, but had some late-inning magic of their own. Wareham’s Fred Shepard (Amherst) mystified the Kettleers for six innings, allowing just two hits in that span, but they got to him for three in the seventh, and that was the difference. Trailing 1-0, Cotuit scored the tying run and chased Shepard. Cotuit greeted reliever Ryan Riga (Ohio State) with a two-rin single by Will Remillard (Coastal Carolina). Mike Ford (Princeton), who had come on in the fifth, sealed the victory for the Kettleers by working out of james in the eighth and ninth innings. Remillard had two hits to lead the offense, as did Hunter Cole (Georgia). Trevor Podratz (Hawaii) homered for Wareham (0-2).

     

    Orleans 3, Y-D 0

    Orleans trotted out a whopping six pitchers, and they combined on a shutout as the Firebirds (1-1) picked up their first win of the season over Y-D (2-2). Lucas Long (San Diego) was credited with the victory, while Matt Troupe (Arizona) struck out the side in a perfect ninth to pick up the save. Troupe was the third straight pitcher to strike out the side for Orleans. Brian Clark (Kent State) did it in the seventh and Jeremy Rhoades (Illinois State) did it in the eighth. Orleans got all the offense it needed in the third thanks to a bases-loaded double by Austin Davidson (Pepperdine).

     

    Harwich 4, Bourne 1

    The Mariners (2-1) took a lead in the top of the first and never trailed en route to the victory over Bourne, who remained winless at 0-3. Ian Happ (Cincinnati), Ben Moore (Alabama) and Aaron Barbosa (Northeastern) drove in runs for the Mariners, while A.J. Reed (Kentucky) delivered a strong start in his 2013 pitching debut. Reed, one of the top two-way players in the country, struck out five and allowed one run on four hits in six innings. Chris Oliver (Arkansas) got the save.

     

    What to Watch

    A pair of 2-1 teams meet in a West showdown as Falmouth hosts Cotuit. Craig Schlitter (Bryant) a stand-out last year, is back on a temporary contract and is slated to start for Falmouth. Alex Haines, who is from Seton Hill (not Seton Hall) starts for Cotuit. Haines struck out 91 in 76.2 innings this season for the D-II Griffins. He was Baseball America’s top prospect in the NECBL last summer and was a 33rd round pick of the Rockies a few weeks ago.