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Halfway There

The Orleans Firebirds have been on fire lately, and will have a chance to keep it going in the championship series.

Orleans is headed back to the Cape Cod Baseball League championship for the first time since 2005 with a dramatic victory over Chatham. In the West, Bourne broke open a scoreless game in the fourth inning and never looked back en route to a victory over Cotuit, which forces a game three.

Orleans 6, Chatham 5

The Firebirds were the hottest team in the league at the end of the regular season, and they’re not cooling off in the postseason.

After watching a hard-charging Chatham team rally from a three-run deficit to take the lead, Orleans immediately scored two runs to tie it then scored what proved to be the winning run in the eighth. The Firebirds are in the finals for the first time since 2005, when they also beat Chatham in the Eastern Division championship series.

This Orleans team won 11 of its last 13 in the regular season, and has now won four of five in the playoffs. That’s 15 of 18 overall, and the only non-wins were a two-run loss, a one-run loss and a tie.

The Anglers still figured to be a very tough out. They had a “team of destiny” kind of feel around them all season, and even after a 7-3 loss in game one, I don’t think anyone would have been surprised to see a game three.

J.D. Davis (Cal State Fullerton) gave Chatham a 1-0 lead with his second home run of the post-season, a controversial one that was apparently caught by Geoff DeGroot (UMass Lowell) as he flipped over the center field fence. Orleans answered and went up 3-1 before Chatham scored four in the sixth. Connor Joe’s two-run homer gave the Anglers the lead.

With the game in the hands of the strong Chatham bullpen, the Anglers seemed to be in good shape, but Orleans quickly answered. In the bottom of the sixth, DeGroot, the ninth-place hitter, doubled and then stole third. He scored on a wild pitch. Austin Davidson (Pepperdine) then brought home the tying run on a groundout.

After a scoreless seventh for both teams, Orleans took the lead in the eighth. Ross Kivett (Kansas State) singled, took second on a balk and third on a passed ball, and scored on a sac fly by Davidson. It was the sixth RBI of the series for Davidson.

In the ninth, Orleans gave the ball to closer Matt Troupe (Arizona) as he tried to shut down a Chatham team that won five games in the ninth inning or later this season.

There was no magic this time. Troupe gave up a one-out single but struck out the other three batters to give Orleans a spot in the championship.

For Chatham, it was a tough ending to a terrific season, the franchise’s best in a long time. I think they’ll be remembered much like the 2005 Chatham team that lost to Orleans – a talented and special group, regardless of where they finished.

Chatham’s loss also means it’s now been six years since the team with the best record in the regular season went on to win the championship. The 2007 Y-D Red Sox were the last ones.

 

Bourne 8, Cotuit 1

Cotuit starter Tommy Kister (The Masters College) no-hit the Braves for three-plus innings, but once they broke the seal, the floodgates soon followed.

The Braves got their first hit with two outs in the fourth when Jeff Gardner (Louisville) hit a line drive to center that Bradley Zimmer (San Francisco) couldn’t come up with on a sliding try. Vinny Siena (Connecticut) followed with a solid base hit to score a run before Trent Gilbert (Arizona) doubled to score two.

Just like that, it was a 3-0 game, and the Braves never really looked back. They added two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth while keeping Cotuit’s bats quiet the rest of the way.

Gilbert’s two RBI led the offense, while Mason Robbins (Southern Miss) also drove in two. Clint Freeman (East Tennessee State) had an RBI triple, his second in as many games.

Bourne got a strong start from Christian Colletti (Connecticut), who was making just his second appearance. He struck out eight and allowed just three hits in four shutout innings. Michael Costello (Radford) got the win with three strong innings of relief. With the big lead, Will Cox (Mississippi State) and Jack English (Florida Gulf Coast) slammed the door.

Game three is set for 4 p.m. today in Cotuit. Ben Smith (Coastal Carolina), who’s been a steady performer all summer, is slated to start for Cotuit. Bourne’s starter is TBA.

 

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The Chase is On

Jake Fincher and Cotuit will open up the playoffs against Falmouth.

 
Of the three best teams in the league, one was shut-out six times in the regular season and finished the year on a five-game losing streak (Chatham), one had just the seventh-best ERA in the league (Falmouth), and one allowed more runs than it scored (Hyannis).

Good luck figuring out the Cape League playoffs. The postseason begins today, and the only safe bet is that it’ll be wild.

Match-ups

Eastern Division

No. 1 Chatham vs. No. 4 Y-D
No. 2 Orleans vs. No. 3 Harwich

Western Division

No. 1 Hyannis vs. No. 4 Bourne
No. 2 Falmouth vs. No. 3 Cotuit

 

Notes

  • There’s a lot to be said for a hot streak carrying over into the playoffs. Wareham was in the meat of the curve for most of last summer but won four straight to end the regular season and then surged to the league championship. No one is heading into this year’s playoffs with more than two wins in a row, but Orleans finished the year winning 11 of its last 12 games while Falmouth won sixth straight before a loss in its finale.

  • Of course, being hot isn’t everything. When Cotuit won the championship in 2010, it had lost six straight to end the regular season. Chatham, losers of five straight this year, likes to hear that.

  • Speaking of the Anglers, when they clinched the division in dramatic fashion, it was looking harder and harder to pick against them – until they didn’t win again. I still think they’ve got a shot and maybe they were just playing out the string once they clinched, but starting pitching is a concern. Lukas Schiraldi and Tommy Lawrence have been terrific, but their rotation-mates have ERA’s over 3.50.

  • Playoff success in the Cape League is always impacted by roster turnover and who sticks around. A number of teams have taken some hits lately, with Bourne losing starting pitchers Jaron Long and Austin Gomber and Hyannis saying farewell to Jeff Hoffman, Patrick Andrews and Austin Pettibone. Hyannis also suffered a tough break when its top hitter, Skyler Ewing, left with an injury.

  • If you’re looking for a darkhorse, consider the Bourne Braves. If you like team batting average and team ERA as indicators of success, nobody did both better than Bourne, who finished second in each category. The Braves struggled with production all year and their pitching rotation isn’t what it once was, but they could get hot.

  • Good pitching match-ups abound on day one of the playoffs, especially in Hyannis and Chatham. Bourne standout Ryan Kellogg will go against Cape League strikeout king Kyle Freeland in Hyannis. Y-D sends ace Daniel Savas to the mound against ERA leader Lukas Schiraldi for Chatham.

  • Y-D will have a one-two punch of Savas and James Kaprielian in the series with Chatham. Pitching has been a season-long struggle for the Red Sox, but those two are as good as anybody in the league. Looking at the probables, it’s arguably the toughest one-two playoff punch in the league. Tough match-up for Chatham.

  • Falmouth clearly has the best offense in the league. Can the pitching staff do enough? John Means and Trey Teakell have been the team’s best starters. Brandon Magallones, Daniel Koger and Craig Schlitter have been a little more up-and-down, but if they can pitch as well as they did in their best outings, they’ll give Falmouth a good shot.

  • The Falmouth-Cotuit series may be the best of the first-round match-ups. The teams were separated by a point in the final standings and they split their season series. They also played each other on the last two days of the regular season, so there aren’t many secrets.

  • Feel free to share your picks in the comments. I’m not really going out on a limb here, but I’m taking Chatham in the East and Falmouth in the West.