One More Time

Ricky Thomas delivers a pitch in game two of the Cape League championship series Monday. The lefty improved to 9-0 in pushing the series to three games.

Summer gets another day. Or maybe two, depending on the rain in the forecast.

Either way, the Cape League championship series is headed to game three.

Donnie Walton (Oklahoma State) sparked a resurgent offensive day with a three-run homer in the first inning and Ricky Thomas (Fresno State) stayed perfect in his Cape League career as the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox forced a decisive game of the league championship series with a 9-3 win yesterday at Red Wilson Field.

It’s the first time since 2012’s series between Wareham and Y-D that we’re headed to a game three. Cotuit in 2013 and Y-D last year both won in sweeps.

The way Sunday’s series opener went – and the way the entire playoffs have gone – another sweep seemed to be a strong possibility this year. Hyannis was a perfect 5-0 in the postseason after its 8-1 win Sunday.

But they say in baseball that momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher. And Thomas tends to win that battle.

The lefty allowed two earned runs in 7.2 innings, struck out 10 and walked one in improving to 9-0 this summer. His overall ERA is 1.07 and he finishes with 62 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched. Just a remarkable summer for him.

On Monday, though, it wasn’t all Thomas. He had plenty of help.

Facing Vance Tatum (Mississippi State), who had an ERA under two and clinched the Harbor Hawks’ first-round series, Y-D went to work immediately. A single and a walk with one out in the first set up the homer by Walton, and the Red Sox never looked back. They opened up a 6-0 lead before Hyannis cut the lead in half in the fourth. But Y-D would tack on three more insurance runs, and Thomas would settle right back in. He retired the last three batters in the fourth inning in order and would go on to retire 10 in a row.

Tommy Edman (Stanford) joined Walton in the home run column, while Dallas Carroll (Utah) had four hits, a run scored and an RBI. Mike Donadio (St. John’s), Joshua Vidales (Houston) and Chris Hudgins (Cal State Fullerton) had two hits each.

Despite their run to the finals, the Red Sox were hitting just .197 in the playoffs. With the 18 hits Monday, they’re now at .240.

And the season goes on.

Hyannis will have to bounce back if it wants to win its first Cape League title since 1991, and it hasn’t had to bounce back at all in these playoffs. Y-D has some momentum as it seeks its second consecutive championship, but again, momentum doesn’t mean everything.

It all comes down to one game.

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015

Vintage Performance

Ryne Birk's triple in the fifth inning helped break things open in Hyannis' win Sunday night. — Ryne Birk’s triple in the fifth inning helped break things open in Hyannis’ win Sunday night.

Hosting its first championship game since 1991, McKeon Park was bursting at the seams Sunday night. Mrs. Right Field Fog and I arrived around 5:40, which was far too late to get a great seat. An announced crowd of 5,154 was packed into every nook and cranny.

And the Harbor Hawks delivered a game worthy of that stage.

Riding a dominant performance by Dakota Hudson (Mississippi State) and an opportunistic offense, the Harbor Hawks stayed perfect in the postseason and moved within game of the league championship with an 8-1 win over Yarmouth-Dennis. Hyannis will try to clinch the franchise’s first Cape League title since 1991 today at Red Wilson Field.

Hudson opened the postseason for Hyannis with a strong showing in a win over Cotuit, and he was even better Sunday. The righty went eight innings – keeping the bullpen in prime position for the rest of the series – and struck out eight. He allowed just two hits and one run. Kevin Roy (Columbia) pitched a perfect ninth to finish off the win.

The one run Hudson surrendered sent the Harbor Hawks to a rare postseason deficit. With a runner on third and two outs in the second inning, Mike Donadio (St. John’s) beat out a ground ball for an infield hit and a 1-0 lead.

But Hyannis – which only trailed in one game of its first two playoff series – wasn’t down for long. A two-out RBI single in the bottom of the second by Tristan Hildebrandt (Cal State Fullerton) tied the game.

Y-D starter Mason Kukowski (Yale) followed with two more scoreless frames, but the persistent Hyannis offense and some shaky Y-D defense changed the game.

With two outs in the fifth, Bobby Melley (Connecticut) and Jake Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) singled. Blake Tiberi (Louisville) then hit a ground ball up the middle. Joshua Vidales (Houston) made a great diving stop but his throw to first from the ground was off-target, allowing Melley to score.

That chased Kukowski, but the trends continued. Alec Eisenberg (Hofstra) issued a walk to the first batter he faced, which loaded the bases. Jake Rogers (Tulane) hit a ground ball to third and another errant throw allowed two more runs to score. Ryne Birk (Texas A&M) then laced a sinking line drive into center. Cole Billingsley (South Alabama) made a diving attempt but couldn’t make the catch and the ball rolled past him. Birk raced into third with a bases-clearing triple.

It was 6-1.

Hyannis added insurance in the sixth and eighth innings but didn’t really need it. Hudson retired 15 of 16 batters from the end of the second inning into the seventh. The Red Sox didn’t have a hit after the second inning, getting their only base-runners on two walks and a Hyannis error.

On the other side, eight different Harbor Hawks had hits. Bird, who might be the Playoff MVP favorite right now, went 1-for-4 and now has a hit in every postseason game.

Hyannis is 5-0 in the playoffs and has out-scored opponents 41-14.

They’ll be looking to ride the wave to another sweep Tuesday, but the last hurdle will be tough. Y-D will send its ace, Ricky Thomas (Fresno State) to the hill for game two today. Thomas went 7-0 with a 1.01 ERA in the regular season and tossed six shutout innings for a win in his first playoff start. Y-D has not lost a game that he has started.

Hyannis counters with another Mississippi State Bulldog in Vance Tatum, who had a 1.92 ERA in the regular season and allowed two run in five innings in his first playoff start.

July 19, 2015July 19, 2015

The Other Ace

On a day when Orleans’ Mitchell Jordan was named the All-Star Game starting pitcher for the East squad – a shoo-in of a selection – the one other guy who could have made a serious case was just as good as his fellow ace.

Y-D’s Ricky Thomas (Fresno State) stayed perfect on the summer, making his sixth start and winning his sixth game. He allowed one run on three hits in seven innings and struck out nine as the Red Sox beat Harwich 4-1.

Thomas and Jordan are both 6-0, giving the league two big winners in a category that sometimes tops out at four wins when all is said and done. While Jordan took a no-decision in one of his starts, Thomas has been a winner every time. He owns more than a third of Y-D’s 17 victories.

Wins are not a favored statistic in this day-and-age – a great pitching performance does not guarantee a win – but for a guy who’s winning a lot, it’s still useful as a reflective statistic. And Thomas has been winning a lot, and earning each and every one.

The lefty has gone at least 5.2 innings in each start and has not surrendered more than one run in any start. He has a 0.96 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 37.1 innings pitched.

Saturday, he set a new season-high in strikeouts, fanning nine Mariners in the victory. A solo home run by Connor Justus (Georgia Tech) was the only blemish on his day.

Stephen Wrenn (Georgia) hit his fourth home run to back Thomas, while Tommy Edman (Stanford), Luke Bonfield (Arkansas) and Joshua Vidales (Houston) drove in one run each. The Y-D offense seems to enjoy nights when Thomas is on the mound – the four-run output Saturday was actually the lowest run support total he’s seen this year. The Red Sox are averaging six runs per game in his starts.

While that offense certainly helps, the Red Sox could be scoring two runs per game and still winning with Thomas on the mound. Coming off a solid spring with the Bulldogs in which he posted a 3.92 ERA, he’s been the best rising sophomore pitcher in the league this summer, statistically speaking.

At some point, Thomas and Jordan will probably take a loss. But it didn’t happen Saturday.

Orleans 2, Chatham 1

The aforementioned Jordan went four more innings without allowing an earned run – bringing his streak to 37 innings – before Chatham pushed one across in the fifth inning on a Garrett Hampson (Long Beach State) RBI single. Jordan got out of the inning without further trouble and ended his outing there after five innings. His ERA now stands at 0.24. The Orleans offense gave Jordan a lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run homer by Kyle Lewis (Mercer), and that was all the Firebirds needed. Three relievers combined on four scoreless innings, with Kit Scheetz (Virginia Tech) grabbing the save. Ty Damron (Texas Tech) was the hard-luck loser for Chatham. He allowed two runs in six innings. Flamethrowing reliever Zach Burdi (Louisville) made his second appearance since arriving from Team USA and went three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

Wareham 2, Hyannis 1

Wareham walked off on a suicide squeeze for a 2-1 victory in 10 innings over Hyannis. John Sternagel (Florida) tripled with one out in the 10th and on the second pitch of the next at-bat, Preston Grand Pre (California) got down the bunt to win it. Wareham had given up a 1-0 lead in the eighth before its extra-inning rally. The squeeze made a winner out of Evan Hill (Michigan), who pitched five innings of relief with just an unearned run. Starter Ian Hamilton (Washington State) also went five and didn’t allow a run. Hyannis got 6.1 strong innings from Dakota Hudson (Mississippi State).

Brewster 7, Bourne 4

The Whitecaps won their fifth straight and jumped into a second-place tie with Chatham in the East. The Nick Senzel MVP campaign rolled right along with the win streak, as Senzel (Tennessee) went 2-for-3 with three RBI. That’s his eighth multi-hit game in 14 July contests. He has driven in 17 runs in those games. And as usual, it wasn’t just a one-man show for the hot-hitting Whitecaps. Jack Meggs (Washington), Tyler Ramirez (North Carolina) and Nico Giarratano (San Francisco) had two hits each, part of an 11-hit attack. Nick Highberger (Creighton) got the win in relief.

Cotuit 8, Falmouth 2

The unpredictable West Division looked the part in Falmouth, as Cotuit beat the Commodores 8-2 a night after losing to them 5-2. Austin Sexton (Mississippi State) allowed one run in 5.1 innings for the win. Branden Berry (Cal State Northridge) went 3-for-4 with four RBI and his fourth home run of the year. Brett Stephens (UCLA) added four hits and two RBI. The Kettleers scored four of their runs off Falmouth starter Austin Tribby (Missouri), who had allowed only one run in each of his last three starts.

What to Watch

Brewster will shoot for its sixth consecutive win as it visits Harwich. J.D. Busfield (Loyola Marymount), who had a strong start last time out, gets the ball.

July 16, 2015July 16, 2015

Four-for-Four

Nick Solak and Bourne improved to 4-0 against Hyannis this summer with a win Wednesday.

For most of the summer, the West Division standings have had Hyannis at the top and nobody else particularly close. The Harbor Hawks are 17-13 right now and no other team is even above .500.

But in that landscape, a funny thing has happened: Bourne has consistently gotten the better of the first-place Harbor Hawks.

With a 3-2 victory Wednesday night at Doran Park, the Braves moved to 4-0 against Hyannis this summer. That’s nearly a third of their 13 total wins on the season. Hyannis still owns a six-point lead on the second-place Braves but it would be a whole lot bigger if not for their head-to-head series.

Wednesday, the Harbor Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and made it 2-0 in the sixth. Starter Vance Tatum (Mississippi State) was cruising with the lead and took a no-hitter into the fifth.

Even from that beginning, Bourne still found a way.

The Braves scored three runs in the sixth inning, with a double by Jacob Robson (Mississippi State) and a single by Camden Duzenack (Dallas Baptist) setting up RBI for Pete Alonso (Florida), Corey Julks (Houston) and Reid Humphreys (Mississippi State).

Bourne’s Indiana State bullpen tandem then took over. Ryan Keaffaber, who had served up a home run in the top of the sixth, worked a scoreless seventh and college teammate Austin Conway followed with two perfect innings en route to his seventh save.

The Harbor Hawks got two hits from Blake Tiberi (Louisville), who now qualifies for the batting average leaderboard – and vaulted to the top spot with his .380 average. They also got the first home run of the summer from recent arrival Matt Thaiss, who won a national championship with Virginia.

But against Bourne, nothing the Harbor Hawks do has mattered much.

The Braves have their number.

Orleans 12, Harwich 3

Orleans is on its third streak of at least four wins this summer thanks to a 12-3 drubbing of Harwich last night. The Firebirds scored five runs in each of the first two innings as they put the game away quickly. Nick Zammarelli (Elon), who’s quietly been one of the team’s steadiest performers, had a loud night, hitting a three-run homer in the first and knocking in two with a single in the second. He finished 2-for-4 with five RBI. Willie Abreu (Miami) and Alex Call (Ball State) drove in two runs each. Leadoff man Bryan Reynolds (Vanderbilt) scored three runs. Starting pitcher Kyle Serrano (Tennessee) allowed two runs in four innings. Carmen Benedetti (Michigan) got the win in relief.

Y-D 4, Falmouth 3

The Firebirds aren’t the only hot team in the East, as Y-D pushed its win streak to five in dramatic fashion with a 4-3 walk-off victory over Falmouth. With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth, the Red Sox strung together four straight singles, with the fourth one winning the game. Tommy Edman (Stanford) delivered it, plating Joshua Vidales (Houston) with the winning run. Earlier in the at-bat, Edman had failed to get down a squeeze bunt, which caused the runner from third to get tagged out in a rundown. Edman then came through and now has a hit in 10 straight games and ranks fourth in the league in hitting at .341. Vidales and Cole Billingsley (South Alabama) each had three hits. Chad Hockin (Cal State Fullerton) made his first appearance of the summer and got the win with three innings of relief. Y-D improved to 16-14, tied with Brewster for third place in the East.

Brewster 2, Cotuit 1

The Whitecaps stayed hot with a little late drama as well, edging Cotuit for their third straight win. Trailing 1-0 in the ninth, the Whitecaps tied it on a J.C. Escarra (Florida International) RBI single and won it later in the inning when Escarra raced in from third on a wild pitch. Brewster had been shut-out by Jon Woodcock (Virginia Tech) but had managed to stay within a run thanks to a strong pitching performance of its own. Alex Schick (California) gave up one run in 6.1 innings Four relievers teamed up for the final 2.2 innings and allowed just one hit.

Chatham 2, Wareham 1

The Anglers rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to slip past Wareham at Veterans Field. Daulton Jefferies (California) made his return from Team USA for the Gatemen and allowed one run in four innings, but Chatham pushed through against the Gatemen bullpen, plating the go-ahead run in the seventh on an RBI single by Todd Czinege (Villanova). Brandon Miller (Millersville) earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief. Cameron Stone (Stony Brook) and Aaron McGarity (Virginia Tech) finished off the victory. Aaron Barnett (Peppedine) added two hits and an RBI for the Anglers.

What to Watch

Nothing on the schedule today. When games get going again Friday, Orleans will host Brewster in a battle of streaking East teams.