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The Tar Heel Ace

gallenThe University of North Carolina churns out some of the best pitchers in college baseball, year after year. And many of them summer in Chatham, from Andrew Miller to Alex White to Matt Harvey.

It’s been a few years, but the Anglers may have found another one.

Tar Heel righty Zac Gallen made his third start of the summer Friday night and delivered his best performance yet. The rising junior struck out eight and allowed just two hits in six shutout innings. Both hits were in the first inning, and he cruised from there. He did all of this against East Division leader Orleans and its fearsome lineup. The Firebirds are second in the league in runs scored, and they lead in extra-base hits.

Gallen had no trouble. After giving up the two singles in the first, he struck out Tres Barrera (Texas) and got Willie Abreu (Miami) to ground out. Later, he walked two in the fourth inning but then struck out the side, part of a stretch in which he fanned five in a row. Even the third time through the order, the Firebirds went quietly, as Gallen worked a quiet sixth.

The Chatham offense made Gallen’s big performance count by touching up Orleans standout Kyle Serrano (Tennessee) for two runs in the first inning and tacking on two more in the sixth against the Firebirds bullpen. Trenton Brooks (Nevada), Cory Raley (Texas Tech), Aaron Barnett (Pepperdine) and Zack Short (Sacred Heart) each knocked in a run to lead the balanced attack.

Orleans scored two runs in the eighth, but Aaron McGarity (Virginia Tech) cooled off the rally, going the final 1.1 innings for the save.

Chatham moved one game over .500 at 11-10 and is in second place behind Orleans in the East. One of their standout starters, T.J. Zeuch (Pittsburgh) was just released from the roster after reaching his summer innings limit, but the Anglers have quickly found another ace. Gallen hasn’t allowed an earned run in three starts. The Anglers lost the last time he was on the mound, but he went five shutout innings against Hyannis, the other division leader. Gallen is now third in the league in strikeouts, with 23 in just 15 innings.

Gallen is coming off a spring season in which he had a 2.79 ERA with 74 strikeouts in the UNC weekend rotation.

Like the other Tar Heels that came before, he’s giving Chatham some of the best pitching in the league.
 

Hyannis 6, Y-D 2

In a rare feat this summer, the Harbor Hawks didn’t have a stolen base. They lead the league the league with 40 but found another way in beating Y-D. Blake Tiberi (Louisville) gave Hyannis the 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run double. He added a two-run single in the seventh, giving him four RBI on the night. Jacob Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) added a hit and an RBI, as did David Martinelli (Dallas Baptist). Errol Robinson (Ole Miss) scored two runs and is now tied for the league lead in runs scored with 15. Mike King (Boston College), who began the summer on a temp contract but has since been signed, was solid in four innings of work, giving up one run. Kevin Roy (Columbia) was credited with the win in relief. Dakota Hudson (Mississippi State), who had pitched as a starter in his last two outings, came out of the pen and surrendered just one run in 3.1 innings. Hyannis moved to 13-8 and has a two-game lead on Wareham for the top spot in the West. The Harbor hawks have won three straight.
 

Brewster 8, Harwich 1

The Whitecaps won their second straight and pushed their record over .500 at 10-9. After getting shut-out by Hyannis two games ago, the Whitecaps have delivered 28 hits in their last two games. Colin Lyman (Louisville) led the charge Friday, going 3-for-4 and scoring two runs. Toby Handley (Stony Brook) added two hits and two RBI. Jack Meggs (Washington) went 3-for-4, as did Chandler Avant (Alabama). Brewster now leads the league in team batting average. Four pitchers made the big lead stand up, limiting Harwich to five hits. Nick Highberger (Creighton) was credited with the win.
 

Wareham 7, Bourne 4

The Gatemen won their third straight and remained two games back of Hyannis for first place in the West. Andrew Calica (UC Santa Barbara), the hero of Wednesday’s one-hit win, had a huge night, going 4-for-5 with four RBI. He’s now hitting .524 in seven games since joining the team. Nick Cieri (Maryland) added three hits and two RBI. Starter Evan Hill (Michigan) gave up one run in 4.2 innings. Ryan Olson (Cal Poly Pomona) grabbed his second save. Max McDowell (UConn) homered for Bourne and Jacob Robson (Mississippi State) stretched his hitting streak to seven games.
 

Cotuit 8, Falmouth 1

The Kettleers broke a 1-1 tie with five runs in the sixth inning and grabbed a win over Falmouth, pulling even with the Commodores in the West standings, in the process. Jonathan King (Georgia Tech) struck out six and gave up one run in five innings of work before four relievers closed the door. Michael Paez (Coastal Carolina), Matt Albanese (Bryant) and Brody Weiss (UCLA) led the offense with two RBI apiece. Kort Peterson (UCLA) had two hits and scored two runs. Both teams are now 7-13.
 

What to Watch

The Hyannis-Y-D match-up at Red Wilson Field looks like a good one. Devin Smeltzer (Florida Gulf Coast) makes his second start since his no-hitter against Y-D’s Ricky Thomas (Fresno State), who’s 3-0 with a 1.01 ERA.
 

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Lending a hand

Corey Julks and his Bourne teammates got a little help Tuesday night.
Corey Julks and his Bourne teammates got a little help Tuesday night.

 
The Bourne Braves would have broken the spell at some point, but I’m sure they didn’t mind welcoming a few reinforcements to help the cause Tuesday night. Two players making their season debut knocked in both runs and a pitcher making his first appearance slammed the door in relief as the Braves picked up their first win of the season 4-2 over Brewster.

Bourne had played the first week of the season with only about half of the position players on its initial roster, and with four pitchers in Omaha plus a handful of others who were late arriving from Super Regional play. Combine all that with some slow starts by the hitters who were in town – the Braves are last in the league in team batting average – and it adds up to an 0-6-1 start.

Tuesday, the Braves got a lift. Nick Solak (Louisville) and Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside) were just activated Monday and jumped right into the starting lineup.

Solak was the second-leading hitter for a Louisville team that nearly made Omaha while Fernandez hit .316 with seven homers for Riverside. Tuesday, they picked up where they left off. Solak went 2-for-3 and drove in a run with a single and another on a double. Fernandez went 2-for-5 and drove in the other two runs with an eighth inning base hit.

Corey Julks (Houston), who was a bright spot in the rough opening week, went 2-for-3 and scored a run.

Bourne trailed 2-1 after five but scored one in the seventh and two in the eighth.

And another newcomer made the comeback count. Nick Jensen-Clagg (Kent State), a solid starter for the Golden Flashes who was activated Sunday, made his debut out of the bullpen in the fifth inning. Brewster had just scored its two runs, but Jensen-Clagg got out of the inning with a groundout then proceeded to dominate. He didn’t allow a run or a hit over the final 4.1 innings and struck out eight of the 13 batters he faced, without issuing a walk.

With the Braves in front, he struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth then induced a fly-out to end it.

Bourne is in the win column.
 

Hyannis 7, Cotuit 3

The beat goes on for the red-hot Harbor Hawks, who won their fifth straight and pushed their league-best record to 7-1. They scored two in the first Tuesday at Lowell Park then pulled away late for their second win over the Kettleers this summer. Jacob Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) went 3-for-5 with three RBI, giving him eight RBI in just four games. JaVon Shelby (Kentucky), Colby Bortles (Ole Miss) and Ben DeLuzio (Florida State) knocked in one run apiece. On the mound, Mike King (Boston College) tossed five scoreless innings and struck out five for the win.
 

Orleans 5, Y-D 1

East-leading Orleans also stayed hot, topping the Red Sox for its third straight win and moving to 6-2. Bobby Dalbec – who told the league’s official site that he’ll return after his Team USA stint – continued his torrid start with his league-best fourth home run. He also leads the league in RBI with nine. Bryson Brigman (San Diego), who is also heading to Team USA, added a hit and an RBI. Joe Ravert (La Salle) started and gave up one run in four innings. Kit Scheetz (Virginia Tech) claimed the win in relief with two scoreless innings. For Y-D, Donovan Walton (Oklahoma State) went 3-for-5.
 

Falmouth 1, Wareham 0

Three pitchers combined on a shutout and Falmouth scored a run in the seventh to get to .500 with a 1-0 victory over the Gatemen. Alex Phillips (San Jacinto) gave up two hits in five innings, Seth Gustin (Holy Cross) worked two hitless frames and Wyatt Short (Ole Miss) pitched the eighth and ninth for the save. The lone run came in the seventh, when J.B. Woodman (Ole Miss) doubled and raced home on an RBI single by Heath Quinn (Samford). Those were the only two hits of the day for Falmouth. Zac Houston (Mississippi State) tossed five innings of no-hit ball for the Gatemen with nine strikeouts.
 

Harwich 4, Chatham 3

The Mariners trailed 3-0 but scored four in a row for a victory over the Anglers. Harwich moved to 4-3-1 while Chatham dropped to 4-3. Cavan Biggio (Notre Dame) went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Preston Palmeiro (NC State) and Sheldon Neuse (Oklahoma) also drove in one run apiece. Starter Scott Tully (Notre Dame) and four relievers combined to shut-out Chatham for the final five innings. Joe DiBenedetto (Seton Hall) was credited with the win and Luke Scherzer (Virginia Tech) the save. Scherzer came on with a runner on first in the ninth, walked two, but then escaped the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout.
 

What to Watch

Harwich takes on Chatham for a second straight night, this time at Veterans Field. Geoff Bramblett (Alabama) and Dan Castano (Baylor) will be on the hill after solid first starts last week.