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One Away

Jake Fincher slides into second in Saturday's game.

 
After nothing but close games in the first-round of the playoffs, the division championship series got underway with two games that were a little more lopsided. Cotuit rolled past Bourne and Orleans pulled away late to hand Chatham its first playoff loss.

 

Cotuit 9, Bourne 2

The last time the Cotuit Kettleers were in the West finals and the last time they were the No. 3 seed, they won the 2010 Cape Cod Baseball League championship. They took a step in the same direction yesterday when they jumped to an early lead and cruised over Bourne 9-2 in game one of the Western Division championship series.

The Kettleers scored five runs in the second inning and never really looked back, adding to the lead as they went. Dalton Potts (Tennessee Martin), making just his second start of the summer, stranded two men in three of his five innings and held the Braves to just a run. John Hochstatter (Stanford), Joel Seddon (South Carolina) and Eric Karch (Pepperdine) finished the job.

The Cotuit offense once again got huge contributions from its late-season reinforcements. Caleb Bryson (Samford) hit his fifth home run in his sixth game to start the scoring, and Austin Byler (Nevada) blasted a two-run shot a batter later to give Cotuit the lead. Danny Diekroeger (Stanford) added two RBI, while Bradley Zimmer (San Francisco), who’s back from an injury that kept him out of part of the first-round series, went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

The Kettleers finished with 13 hits. Jake Fincher (NC State), Logan Ratledge (NC State) and Garrett Stubbs (USC) chipped in two each.

The Braves, who are playing without MVP Max Pentecost (Kennesaw State), had 10 hits of their own but scored just the two runs. That’s been an issue all year – the Braves ranked second in the league in batting average but just seventh in runs scored.

Game two is set for today at 6 p.m. at Doran Park.

 

Orleans 7, Chatham 3

The Firebirds broke open a 4-3 game with three in the eighth and three pitchers allowed just three hits en route to a victory over Chatham. Orleans, who won two straight against Chatham to end the regular season, has now won three straight.

Corey Miller (Pepperdine), who won one of those two regular-season meetings, went five strong innings for the Firebirds, allowing three unearned runs on three hits. He struck out six.

Then the bullpen took over. Luis Paula (North Carolina) and Jeremy Rhoades (Illinois State) pitched the last four innings without allowing a hit. In the playoffs, Orleans relievers have now allowed four runs in 14 innings.

The offense spotted Miller a four-run lead with two in the first and two in the second. Austin Davidson (Pepperdine) finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and Jordan Betts (Duke) knocked in two. Vince Conde (Vanderbilt) added two hits and an RBI.

Game two is slated for 7 p.m. in Orleans. Shawn O’Neill (La Salle) goes for the Firebirds. He has pitched mostly as a reliever this summer. Aaron Garza (Houston), who’s winless despite some solid starts, gets the ball for Chatham.

 

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Casey at the Bat

Casey Gillaspie hit his league-leading seventh home run yesterday.

 
Casey Gillaspie was going to have a hard time matching his big brother’s success. That’s what happens your brother is a former Cape Cod Baseball League MVP.

But Gillaspie is doing his best.

The Falmouth slugger went 4-for-6 in a doubleheader yesterday and belted his league-leading seventh home run. Falmouth split the twin bill with Bourne, winning the first game 3-1 and dropping the second 4-3.

Gillaspie has now officially matched his brother in the home run category. Casey hit a league-best .345 with seven homers in his 2007 MVP campaign with Falmouth.

Casey got off to a bit of a slow start this summer. While teammate Rhys Hoskins was hot from the beginning, Kevin Cron was delivering huge games and Dylan Davis was bursting onto the scene with four home runs in his first four games, Gillaspie was a little more in the shadows. But he was clearly part of the sluggers crew, and he has steadily improved his all-around numbers in the last few weeks.

Gillaspie was hitting .235 on July 15. Since then, he’s had a hit in nine of 10 games and is batting .447 in that stretch with five extra-base hits. He leads the league in home runs by two and he ranks second in extra-base hits. His batting average is up to .292, his on-base percentage is .364 and his slugging percentage is .496.

Falmouth didn’t really need the help, but Gillaspie’s uptick makes them that much more dangerous. Davis had two RBI and Leon Byrd, Jr. (Rice) hit a home run in the game-one win yesterday. Trey Teakell (TCU) tossed seven strong innings on the mound.

In game two, Bourne got six strong innings from Austin Gomber (Florida Atlantic), who was making his final start. Tim Caputo (Rhode Island) and Mason Robbins (Southern Miss) drove in two runs each. That was enough to hold off Falmouth.

Gillaspie did his part with a double and a homer. If he stays hot, it’s going to get harder and harder to hold Falmouth off.

 

Hyannis 0, Brewster 0; Hyannis 5, Brewster 4

Hyannis and Brewster also staged a doubleheader and the Harbor Hawks came away from it with three points and a three-point lead in the West standings. Brewster got a dominant performance from Aaron Brown (Pepperdine) in game one. Brown went eight scoreless innings and struck out five. Rocky McCord (Auburn) and Jordan Foley (Central Michigan) matched him though, combining for eight strikeouts and five hits allowed in nine innings. The game ended in a 0-0 tie. In game two, the Harbor Hawks won a one-run game for the ninth time. Brian Anderson (Arkansas) brought in the go-ahead run in the sixth and Eric Eck (Wofford) notched his league-best ninth save to finish it off.

 

Cotuit 8, Y-D 3

Cotuit got two RBI each from newcomer Austin Byler (Nevada) and Team USA returnee Bradley Zimmer (San Francisco) on their way to a victory over the Red Sox. The Kettleers are three points back of Hyannis for first place in the West. Rhett Wiseman (Vanderbilt) added a double to take the league lead in extra-base hits. Wiseman is hitting .483 over his last nine games. On the mound, Ben Smith (Coastal Carolina) went four shutout innings with five strikeouts. John Hochstatter (Stanford) worked two scoreless innings for the win and Joel Seddon (South Carolina) got a save with three scoreless frames.

 

Wareham 11, Chatham 6

The Gatemen made the long trek to Chatham and came back with one of their best wins of the season. Ethan Gross (Memphis) went 3-for-4 with four RBI to lead the charge. Kyle Schwarber (Indiana), who went 4-for-4 in his first game back after Team USA, continued to mash, going 4-for-6 with a double in his second game. Brett Pirtle (Mississippi State) added a home run and Adam Toth (Baylor) knocked in two runs. Kurt McCune (LSU) picked up the win with five solid innings. He struck out five and allowed two runs. Jonathan Holder (Mississippi State) struck out three over the final 1.2 innings to finish it off. For Chatham, Jimmy Pickens (Michigan State) hit his fourth home run.

 

Harwich at Orleans, PPD

 

What to Watch

Chatham ace Lukas Schiraldi (Navarro College), who shut out Falmouth for six innings in his last start, draws the Commodores again as the Anglers hit the road. Kevin McKanna (Rice) is scheduled to start for Falmouth.