Chatham released Texas Tech standout Tanner Gardner Monday after a brief stay on the Cape. His time included a dramatic walk-off home run that gave the Anglers a win in his debut.
Tuesday, the Anglers found another Red Raider with a flair for the dramatic.
Orlando Garcia (Texas Tech) hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as Chatham beat Brewster 4-3. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and an eight-game winless streak that included one tie. Chatham’s last win was July 6 – when Gardner hit his walk-off.
The Anglers trailed 3-0 in the early going before pushing two runs across in the fifth. They still trailed in the ninth when three straight singles allowed them to tie the game. Stuart Fairchild’s (Wake Forest) base hit brought the tying run home.
Garcia came up next and fell behind in the count 1-2. He fouled two pitches off then smacked a single to right field to score Simon Matthews (Georgetown) with the winning run.
Garcia came in hitting .109 since his arrival July 2, after he had hit .265 for the Red Raiders. The walk-off gave him his first RBI of the summer.
John Aiello (Wake Forest) added an RBI for the Anglers and Hagen Owenby (East Tennessee State) went 3-for-4. Starter Lincoln Henzman (Louisville) allowed three runs in five innings. Three relievers allowed just one hit over the final four innings.
Brewster got two hits from Brent Rooker (Mississippi State). Zac Lowther (Xavier) struck out eight in five innings and remained in the league lead with 45 on the year.
The win was a big one for Chatham, which would have fallen five points behind Brewster for the final playoff spot with a loss.
Y-D 1, Orleans 0
The Red Sox continue to be at their best against Orleans, finishing the regular season series 5-1 and continuing to get some breathing room in the standings as a result. The lone run of the game scored in the bottom of the 10th inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Dillon Persinger (Cal State Fullerton). Kevin Smith (Maryland) had started the frame with a single then moved to second on a stolen base and third on a wild pitch. Two walks then loaded the bases. The rally made a winner out of Calvin Faucher (UC Irvine), who had pitched a scoreless top of the 10th. That followed two innings from Nathan Kuchta (San Diego) and a strong start by Bryan Sammons (Western Carolina), who delivered a second straight scoreless outing. For Orleans, Jason Morgan (North Carolina) went six scoreless frames. Y-D improved to 20-12 and has matched Falmouth for the best record in the league. The Red Sox remain tied for first place in the East with Harwich, who is 19-11-2. Orleans fell to 15-16-1.
What to Watch
Back to a full slate of games today and should be an interesting match-up in Harwich when Falmouth comes to town. League ERA leader Jeffrey Passantino (Lipscomb) goes for the Commodores against Ryan McAuliffe (St. John’s), who has a 2.16 ERA.
Matt Davis hit his league-best seventh home run Saturday.
Six current Cape Leaguers hit 14 home runs or more for their college teams this spring. Harwich’s Nick Feight (UNC Wilmington) finished tied for second in the nation with 21. Two more had 18, two had 17 and one had 14. Three players took a break from their time on the Cape to head to Omaha for the TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby, and Chatham’s Hagen Owenby (East Tennessee State) came back with the crown.
That’s all to say that there is no shortage of sluggers in Cape League uniforms this summer.
But the guy leading the pack isn’t among that group.
Brewster’s Matt Davis (VCU) hit his league-best seventh home run in Saturday’s win over Cotuit. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound infielder — coming off a spring in which he hit six home runs — now has two more blasts than any of his Cape League mates.
A rising senior at VCU who’s been the anchor of the Rams’ offense the last two seasons, Davis is also hitting .314 this summer, leads the league in slugging percentage and ranks second in RBI with 18. He’s been the top performer for the top-performing offensive team on the Cape and has done it all while playing out of position. An infielder at VCU, he’s been slotting in mostly in left field for the Whitecaps.
His homer Saturday was a solo shot in a 5-0 burst for the Whitecaps over the first four innings. Davis finished 2-for-3. Nick Dunn (Maryland), Kel Johnson (Georgia Tech) and Kekai Rios (Hawaii) added hits.
The offense was more than enough for starter Konnor Pilkington (Mississippi State), who struck out five in seven shutout innings. Hanson Butler (North Carolina) and Tyler Zuber (Arkansas State) finished off the win.
Falmouth 4, Chatham 2
Falmouth is the hottest team in the league, topping Chatham for its fifth straight win. Brady Singer (Florida) made his second start and delivered another scoreless outing, allowing three hits in five innings after six shutout innings in his debut. Three relievers kept Falmouth in front before Seth Elledge (Dallas Baptist) worked a scoreless ninth for his second save. Singer’s Florida teammate Deacon Liput went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his second Cape game. Ryan Chandler (Rice) also knocked in a run. With the win, Falmouth improved to 15-10 and has a three-point lead on Wareham for first place in the West. Chatham fell to 11-14, which leaves them in a fourth-place tie with Brewster.
Wareham 3, Harwich 3
Wareham played to a tie for the second night in a row after 12 innings failed to yield a winner against Harwich at Whitehouse Field. The Gatemen were likely happier with the tie than the Mariners. Harwich led 3-0 into the eighth inning before Wareham rallied. The Gatemen got an RBI single by Austen Wade (TCU) in the eighth and tied it in the ninth on a Joey Bart (Georgia Tech) RBI triple and a Robert Metz (George Washington) bunt single. Both runs were unearned due to a one-out error. The runs came off Harwich closer Zach Schellenger (Seton Hall), who had yet to blow a save chance. Wareham kept Harwich off the board the rest of the way thanks to four scoreless innings from Jake Matthys (Angelo State). Brad Bass (Notre Dame) and Teddy Rodliff (Notre Dame) were also lights out for Harwich. Both teams left two runners on base in the 11th. Bart and Metz led the Wareham offense with three hits each. Ernie Clement (Virginia) had four hits for Harwich and leads the league with a .394 batting average. Before the Harwich bullpen lost the lead, Packy Naughton (Virginia Tech) went seven shutout innings, striking out four and allowing just two hits.
Y-D 3, Bourne 1
The Red Sox won their fourth straight and handed Bourne its sixth loss in a row. Oliver Jaskie (Michigan) allowed just an unearned run in six innings for the Red Sox, Nathan Kuchta (San Diego) tossed two scoreless frames and Bryan Pall (Michigan) picked up his sixth save, which is tied for the league lead. Pall has saved three games in Y-D’s four-game streak. J.J. Muno (UC Santa Barbara) paced the offense with two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Deon Stafford (St. Joseph’s) had a hit and a run scored and Will Toffey (Vanderbilt) had two hits. Y-D moved to 15-10 while Bourne fell to 11-13-1.
Orleans 7, Hyannis 1
Orleans stopped a four-game losing streak with a home win over Hyannis. Joe Ryan (Cal State Northridge) struck out seven and gave up just two hits in five scoreless innings, his second straight scoreless start. Kevin Smith (Maryland) gave up one run in three innings of relief and Calvin LeBrun (Gonzaga) worked the ninth to finish off the win. Leadoff man Brian Miller (North Carolina) had three hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Will Golsan (Ole Miss) and Zach Kirtley (St. Mary’s) had two hits each. Seven different Firebirds drove in a run. Hyannis got two hits from Cody Henry (Alabama).
What to Watch
The top two teams in the West, Falmouth and Wareham, square off a Spillane Field at 7 p.m. Brendan King (Holy Cross), who has pitched as a starter and reliever with a 3.70 ERA, goes for the Commodores against Zachary Pop (Kentucky), who allowed one run in five innings his last time out.
Tyler Houston and Y-D vaulted into a third-place tie in the East with Friday’s win.
J.J. Schwarz (Florida) singled in his long-awaited Cape League debut and that was just the start of a good night for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in Harwich. Three pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout as the Red Sox topped first-place Harwich 3-0 and vaulted into a tie for third place in the East.
Schwarz has been a big name in college baseball and prospecting circles since he burst onto the scene as a freshman at Florida last year by hitting .332 with 18 home runs. He didn’t have quite as much success this year but remains near the top of every early 2017 draft preview you’ll see.
Last summer Schwarz was on Y-D’s roster but ended up with Team USA. This year, after Florida’s loss in Omaha, he’s in town and immediately becomes a must-see attraction for scouts. Friday, he singled to lead off the second inning in his first Cape League at-bat and finished 1-for-3.
The bigger story for the Red Sox in terms of impact on Friday’s game was the pitching. Erich Uelmen (Cal Poly) allowed one hit in six shutout innings and struck out four. Coming off a spring in which he had a 3.68 ERA, Uelmen has delivered two scoreless outings in his two Cape starts, having gone five shutout innings his last time out.
Nathan Kuchta (San Diego) followed Uelmen to the hill and pitched a quick seventh inning. Calvin Faucher (UC Irvine) then notched his first save in emphatic fashion, striking out five of the six batters he faced in two perfect innings.
Harwich, as usual, had good pitching of its own, but a Y-D run in the fifth and two in the sixth provided the difference against starter Hunter Williams (North Carolina). Deon Stafford (St. Joseph’s) reached on an error and came around on a passed ball in the fifth. Dillon Persinger (Cal State Fullerton) doubled and Kevin Smith (Maryland) had an RBI to key the sixth inning rally.
Y-D has won two in a row and is 9-9 on the year, hitting the .500 mark for the first time. The Red Sox started the season with five straight losses.
Falmouth 5, Bourne 1
Falmouth topped Bourne for its second straight win and moved within one point of the Braves for first place in the West. Willie Burger (Penn State) homered and had two RBI to lead the Commodore offense. Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) and Bryce Johnson (Sam Houston State) added two hits each. Brady Puckett (Lipscomb) surrendered one run in five innings for his third win of the season and his third consecutive start allowing one run or less. Three relievers combined for four scoreless frames. Bourne got two hits from Mississippi State teammates Jake Mangum and Elih Marrero. Falmouth was without leadoff man and top hitter Kevin Merrell (South Florida), who is apparently injured and has been released, according to the league’s transactions page.
Hyannis 10, Chatham 0
The Harbor Hawks jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and cruised past Chatham at Veterans Field. Zach Rutherford (Old Dominion), Carl Stajduhar (New Mexico) and Brett Netzer (Charlotte) led the early burst. Rutherford would finish 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI, while Netzer drove in three. Chris Hudgins (Cal State Fullerton) and Kameron Esthay (Baylor) also homered. Eight different Harbor Hawks had hits and six of those hits went for extra bases. Much of the offense came against Chatham’s Jacob Stevens (Boston College), who had tossed five shutout innings in his previous start. Alex Eubanks (Clemson) was the beneficiary of the offense and tossed six shutout innings for a second consecutive start. Tyler Stevens (New Mexico) and Garrett Cave (Florida International) finished off the win.
Orleans 7, Brewster 2
The Firebirds broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the sixth and tacked on two more in each of the seventh and eighth innings to pull away. The win allowed Orleans to take over second place in the East at 10-8, as Brewster fell to 9-9. Ethan Paul (Vanderbilt) and Drew Lugbauer (Michigan) had two hits and two RBI apiece. Riley Mahan (Kentucky) added two hits and Justin Jones (Georgia State) scored three runs. John O’Reilly (Rutgers) picked up the win in relief and three of his bullpen mates combined for three scoreless innings to finish it off. For Brewster, Matt Davis (VCU), Brent Rooker (Mississippi State) and Ryan Gridley (Mississippi State) all had two hits. Davis hit his league-best sixth home run. Rooker is now hitting .400.
Cotuit 7, Wareham 6
Cotuit got on its first win streak of the season, beating Wareham for a second consecutive victory. Jackson Klein (Stanford) went 4-for-5 with three RBI and homered for the second straight game. Recent arrival Jason Delay (Vanderbilt) – a former Orleans Firebird who was picked in the 11th round of last month’s draft by the Giants – went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Cal Stevenson (Arizona) and Patrick Dorrian (Herkimer) added two hits each, with Dorrian hitting his first home run of the summer. Taylor Lehman (Penn State) was credited the win in relief after surrendering one run in 3.1 innings. Wareham rallied within a run in the ninth on a three-run homer by Colton Shaver (BYU) – his fifth of the year – but Alec Byrd (Florida State) struck out Gavin Sheets (Wake Forest) to end the game.
What to Watch
Falmouth and Y-D will both try to make it three wins in a row when they square off in Falmouth at 6 p.m. Oliver Jaskie (Michigan) makes his first start for Y-D. For Falmouth, Florida’s Brady Singer – the highest unsigned high school pick in the 2015 draft (second round by the Blue Jays) – will make his Cape League debut.
There have been Cape League pitching rotations that feature three or four future Big Leaguers. There have been staffs that heat up and dominate the playoffs. But I don’t remember many teams getting on early-season pitching run like the 2016 Harwich Mariners.
At at a time when a lot of arms are still getting stretched out and rotations are being solidified, the Mariners have had a remarkable first two weeks. In 12 games – and a 10-2 start – Harwich pitchers have allowed 16 earned runs. That’s a team ERA of 1.29.
For some perspective, the best mark at the end of the season last year belonged to Hyannis at 2.53. The best of the last ten years was Orleans’ 2.21 mark in 2010.
Thursday, the Mariners were up to their usual tricks, shutting out Chatham 6-0. It was their fifth shutout, which is only one less shutout than the other nine teams in the league have combined for.
Ryan McAuliffe (St. John’s) did the honors this time. On the heels of six innings of one-run ball in his first start, McAuliffe allowed three hits in six scoreless innings this time, striking out six.
He gave way to the bullpen and watched three relievers give up just one total hit. Newcomer Austin Bain (LSU) fit right in with his bullpen-mates, tossing a perfect seventh. Nick Brown (William & Mary) pitched a perfect eighth and Ethan Landon (Michigan State) worked around a two-out single for a scoreless ninth.
At the plate, the Mariners got four hits from Ernie Clement (Virginia), who’s now hitting a league-best .426. Virginia teammate Pavin Smith added three hits and Joseph Dunand (NC State) had two hits and two RBI.
The Mariners also made only one error, which has been par for the course. They’ve made the fewest errors in the league with eight, which has made the pitching even better. The Mariners somehow have not allowed an unearned run.
Thursday’s win was the fourth in a row for Harwich, who owns the best record in the league.
Brewster 12, Hyannis 3
The Whitecaps hit double digits for the second time in three games with a lopsided win over Hyannis. Ryan Noda (Cincinnati) hit his third homer, which ranks second to teammate Matt Davis for the league lead. A.J. Graffanino (Washington) added two hits and three RBI, Bryce Jordan (LSU) knocked in two and Brent Rooker (Mississippi State) drove in a pair. Hunter Martin (Tennessee) kept the Whitecaps in front when the game was closer in the early goings, allowing two runs and striking out eight in six innings. Zac Lowther (Xavier) made his second appearance after striking out nine in 3.2 innings his first time out, and fanned one in a scoreless inning of relief.
Falmouth 11, Cotuit 2
Falmouth also brought the bats, rolling a past a Cotuit team that continues to struggle. Brady Puckett (Lipscomb) tossed six scoreless innings and Falmouth built a 3-0 lead then exploded for eight runs in the seventh inning. Bryce Johnson (Sam Houston State), Matt Duce (Dallas Baptist) and Tristan Gray (Rice) drove in two runs each for the Commodores and Willie Burger (Penn State) had three hits. Falmouth improved to 6-6 while Cotuit fell to 1-11.
Bourne 7, Wareham 7
A battle for first place in the West ended with the teams in exactly the same spot as Bourne and Wareham played to a 7-7 tie that was called after 12 innings. The Gatemen led 7-4 going into the eighth inning, but the Braves pushed a run across in the eighth and tied the game in the ninth. Neither team scored in the extra frames. Jake Mangum (Mississippi State) plated the tying run with an infield single in the ninth to score Willy Yahn (Connecticut), part of a 4-for-7 day that included two runs scored. Evan Mendoza (NC State) added three hits and two RBI for the Braves. K.J. Harrison (Oregon State) led the Wareham offense, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Recent arrival Alex Destino (South Carolina) added three hits.
Y-D 5, Orleans 1
Y-D snapped a two-game skid with a victory over Orleans. Will Gaddis (Furman) struck out seven and allowed one run in 6.1 innings for the win. Nathan Kuchta (San Diego) and Calvin Faucher (UC Irvine) combined for 2.2 scoreless innings of relief. Leadoff man Tyler Houston (Butler) homered and drove in three runs to pace the offense for the Red Sox, with Will Toffey (Vanderbilt) and Paul Rufo (Binghmaton) each going 2-for-4.
What to Watch
Good pitching meets good hitting at Stony Brook Field tonight as Harwich visits Brewster. The Mariners, as mentioned, own the league’s best ERA. Brewster has scored the most runs in the league.
If you want to follow more of the Summer Nine journey, I’m in Santa Barbara, California, today to check out the perennial California Collegiate League contender Santa Barbara Foresters. Catch up on Twitter @Summer9Book
Max Burt scored what proved to be the winning run for Harwich in the 11th inning.
They are near opposites. Harwich is 6-1, Hyannis 0-7. The Mariners have scored 40 runs and allowed 13. The Harbor Hawks have scored 13 and allowed 40.
But there was little separating the two in an 11-inning classic Friday night at McKeon Park.
They played scoreless inning after scoreless inning, and though Harwich had more chances, the teams got all the way to the 11th without a run going on the board. The Mariners eventually broke through in the top of the 11th.
For Harwich, it was an impressive win that showcased the pitching that has defined the team’s hot start. Do a little math on those 13 runs allowed in seven games and you see how good Mariner hurlers have been.
For Hyannis, it had to have been a frustrating night in a frustrating start. The Harbor Hawks didn’t blink against a team that’s had a lot more early success than them but ended up with the same result that they’ve found every time out.
Both starting pitchers went five strong innings. Hunter Williams (North Carolina) allowed two hits and struck out five. Mac Sceroler (SE Louisiana) – a 36th-round pick of the Phillies in last week’s draft – struck out six and scattered six hits in his five scoreless frames.
Spencer Stockton (Jacksonville), Teddy Rodliff (Stony Brook) and Zach Schellenger (Seton Hall) combined for six innings of three-hit baseball. Al Pesto (Duke) went two scoreless innings for Hyannis and Tyler Stevens (New Mexico) was into his fourth inning when Harwich struck.
Having stranded 12 runners to that point, the Mariners got a single from Max Burt (Northeastern). A sac bunt and a groundout sent him to third. Ernie Clement (Virginia) then smacked an 0-1 pitch for a base hit to score the game’s first – and only – run.
Schellenger came on for the bottom of the 11th, having tossed two perfect innings so far this summer. He gave up his first hit this time – a one-out double by Zach Rutherford (Old Dominion) – but struck out cleanup man Carl Stajduhar (New Mexico) and No. 5 hitter Jordan Rodgers (Tennessee) to end the game.
Schellenger has now struck out seven in three innings of work and leads the league with three saves. Tyler Kirkpatrick (Marist) and Nick Dalesandro (Purdue) had three hits each for the Mariners. UNC-Wilmington star Nick Feight made his debut and went 0-for-5.
Hyannis got two hits from Rutherford.
Brewster 4, Chatham 2
There was also an extra frame in Chatham, where Brewster topped the host Anglers thanks to a pair of runs in the 10th. Ryan Noda (Cincinnati) drew a bases-loaded walk for the go-ahead run and Ryan Gridley (Mississippi State) delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. And Chatham likely didn’t feel too confident at that point. Brewster reliever Zac Lowther (Xavier) – the Friday starter for a regional squad – came on with one out in the seventh inning and struck out the first two batters he faced. Then he struck out two more in the eighth. When the dust settled and Lowther pitched a scoreless 10th to finish off the win, he had struck out nine of the 12 batters he faced in 3.2 one-hit, shutout innings. Quite a Cape League debut for Lowther, who ranks eighth in the league in strikeouts – after 3.2 innings. For Chatham, J.B. Bukauskas (North Carolina) struck out nine in five innings.
Wareham 6, Falmouth 5
The Gatemen held off a late push and stopped Falmouth’s four-game win streak with a 6-5 win at Spillane Field. K.J. Harrison (Oregon State) had two hits and an RBI to lead the Wareham offense. Joey Bartosic (George Washington) and Preston Grand Pre (California) each drove in a run and scored a run. Starter Jake Walters (Alabama) allowed one run in four innings. Cole Stapler (Nicholls State) got the win in relief, striking out six in three innings. Nick Sprengel (San Diego) gave up two runs in the top of the ninth but got out of a bases-loaded jam with the lead intact. Willie Burger (Penn State) led Falmouth with two hits and an RBI. Both teams are now 5-2.
Bourne 9, Orleans 5
The Braves raced to an 8-0 lead in the first two innings and stayed in front throughout as they improved to 6-1. They’ve also scored the most runs in the league with 49 in seven games. Connor McVey (Cincinnati) and Evan Mendoza (NC State) had two-run doubles to lead the charge in the first inning. McVey, Justin Yurchak (Binghamton) and David MacKinnon (Hartford) all had RBI in the four-run second inning. On the night, McVey and Yurchak finished with three hits each. Willy Yahn (Connecticut) and Connor Wong (Houston) had two apiece. Keith Weisenberg (Stanford) earned the win in relief for the Braves. James Ziemba (Duke) and Conner O’Neil (Cal State Northridge) combined for 3.2 scoreless innings after Weisenberg departed. Zach Kirtley (St. Mary’s) was a bright spot for Orleans with a grand slam in the third inning.
Y-D 3, Cotuit 2
Fresh off its first victory, Y-D made it two in a row in dramatic fashion. With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Matthew Whatley (Oral Roberts) drew a one-out walk, took second on a wild pitch and scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Brendan Skidmore (Binghamton). Y-D, 0-5 just two days ago, is now 2-5 and only one game out of fourth place in the East. Cotuit fell to 1-6. The late heroics were part of a big day for Skidmore, who went 3-for-5 with a home run and drove in all three Y-D runs. Nolan Brown (TCU) – whose college team is in Omaha in a redshirt year for him – also had three hits for the Red Sox. Nathan Kuchta (San Diego) got the relief win for the Red Sox after Will Gaddis (Furman) allowed just an unearned run in seven innings. For Cotuit, Hagen Owenby (East Tennessee State) and Jordan Pearce (Nevada) knocked in runs.
What to Watch
Update: Apologies – was looking at the Sunday schedule somehow, so no Cotuit-Hyannis tonight.
