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I was out of action the last few days thanks to a wedding and more travel for Summer Nine. When I last took a hard look at the Cape League standings after Friday, anything seemed possible. Cotuit had beaten Harwich. Y-D had topped Falmouth to take over the best record in the league.

Two days later, Harwich and Falmouth have calmed everything down.

The Mariners and Commodores have both won two in a row and have holds on first place in their respective divisions.

Harwich has come back with a bang since getting shut-out by Cotuit for 11 innings Friday night. After an 11-0 win over Orleans Saturday, the Mariners scored a key 12-4 win over red-hot Y-D, which had won four in a row and was threatening to take over first place outright.

Seventeen hits powered Sunday’s win. Joe Dunand (NC State) and Austin Filiere (MIT) each homered, with Dunand going 4-for-6 and driving in three runs. Filiere also had three RBI while five players recorded two hits apiece.

Harwich has now hit six home runs in the last two games with a season total of nine.

With the league’s best pitching, an offensive surge could cement the Mariners as the top team on the Cape. Shane McCarthy (Seton Hall) was the beneficiary Sunday with 4.1 solid innings. Four relievers kept Y-D off the board from the sixth inning on.

Meanwhile, in Cotuit, Falmouth shut-out the Kettleers 3-0 on the heels of Saturday’s win over Hyannis. Falmouth has a seven-point cushion in first place.

Brady Puckett (Lipscomb) was outstanding again for the Commodores, going six shutout innings for a second consecutive start and a third time this season. He has a 1.09 ERA and leads the league with four wins. Perhaps only his Lipscomb and Falmouth teammate Jeffrey Passantino has been better this summer.

Three relievers combined to hold Cotuit without a hit over the last three innings to finish Puckett’s shutout bid. Corbin Martin (Texas A&M) recorded his third save.

Willie Burger (Missouri State) led the offense with two RBI and J.J. Matijevic (Arizona) knocked in one run.

 

Wareham 2, Orleans 1

The Gatemen are just 2-6-2 in their last 10 but Sunday’s win moved them back to the .500 mark at 14-14-3. A sacrifice fly by Joey Bart (Georgia Tech) and a Nico Giarratano (San Francisco) RBI single in the seventh provided the Gatemen with all the offense they would need. Zach Pop (Kentucky) went five shutout innings and Gunner Leger (Louisiana Lafayette) allowed one run in three innings. After Orleans closed the gap in the seventh on a Riley Mahan (Kentucky) RBI, Jake Matthys (Angelo State) pitched a scoreless ninth.

Hyannis 11, Chatham 9

A six-run third inning gave Hyannis a leg up in a slugfest win over Chatham. Ford Proctor (Rice) hit his first home run of the summer to start the burst and Brett Netzer (Charlotte) delivered two runs with a double. Both would finish with three hits. Dylan Busby (Florida State) added two hits and two RBI, while Chris Hudgins (Cal State Fullerton) drove in two, as well. Chatham got three hits from Jake Palomaki (Boston College) and Patrick Mathis (Texas), plus three RBI from Tanner Gardner (Texas Tech) but the comeback attempt ran into Garrett Cave (Florida International), who pitched two scoreless innings for his eighth save.

Brewster 6, Bourne 6

Brewster trailed 6-0 but scored a run in the seventh and five in the eighth and eventually played the Braves to a tie. A solo home run by Julian Infante (Vanderbilt) started the scoring in the eighth and Zack Gahagan (North Carolina) had a two-run double. Gahagan scored the tying run on a double steal with Nick Dunn (Maryland). Gahagan finished with three hits and three RBI and A.J. Graffanino (Washington) had four hits. Justin Yurchak (Binghamton) led Bourne with three hits.

What to Watch

Peter Solomon (Notre Dame) hasn’t allowed a run since June 16 – a span of one start and four relief appearances. He’ll take that stretch to Wareham as Harwich visits the Gatemen.

And if you happen to be looking for something completely different, check out Summer Nine on Twitter. Today, we’re watching a home run derby on the literal shores of Lake Michigan.

Walk-off Welcome

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He hit .379, earned first-team all-conference honors and helped lead his team to Omaha, so Tanner Gardner (Texas Tech) was already a welcome addition for the Chatham Anglers.

Then came his debut.

Gardner made his first appearance on the Cape Wednesday and hit a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning as Chatham beat Wareham 6-5.

The Anglers had fallen behind 5-3 in the top of the 11th but put two men on and watched Gardner go to work. I don’t recall a Cape League debut with such an emphatic opening statement. The sophomore outfielder was down 1-2 in the count when he launched the game-winner over the fence in right field.

The dramatic win improved Chatham’s record to 11-12. With Orleans dropping its third straight, the Anglers are only one game out of third place in the East.

Gardner finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Gunnar Troutwine (Wichita State) – who singled ahead of Gardner’s walk-off – went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Hagen Owenby (East Tennessee State) added two hits and an RBI.

Connor Moore (Seattle), who stranded two runners on in the top of the 11th, earned the win. Long before the rally, college teammate Nick Meservey went three scoreless innings in his second start of the summer.

Wareham got four hits from Joey Bart (Georgia Tech), who bumped his average from .276 to .353.

The loss was costly for the Gatemen, who fell into second place as Falmouth jumped into first.

 

Falmouth 13, Brewster 8

Falmouth’s leap into first place came via a slugfest win over sliding Brewster. The Commodores had 14 hits and reached a season-high in runs in improving to 13-10 on the year. Matt McLaughlin (Kansas) hit a grand slam to power the big third inning and finished 2-for-3 with five RBI. Cadyn Grenier (Oregon State) went 3-for-3, scored four runs and drove in two. Michael Gigliotti (Lipscomb) added two hits and two RBI. Brett Gilchrist (Dallas Baptist) nabbed the win in relief of starter Jake Bird (UCLA), who was touched up for four runs in 3.1 innings after a dominant start last time out. Brewster lost for the sixth straight time and fell to 9-14 and last place in the East. The Whitecaps still lead the league in runs scored, but have also allowed the most. Brent Rooker (Mississippi State) had two hits and now leads the league with a .386 average. Zack Gahagan (North Carolina) added two hits and two RBI and Logan Warmoth (North Carolina) hit his fourth home run.

Y-D 7, Orleans 3

Y-D scored a key win to move ahead of Orleans for second place in the East. The Red Sox – not too far removed from an 0-5 start to the season – are 13-5 since and are tied with Falmouth for the second-best record in the league. Wednesday, Y-D was out-hit 12-7 but capitalized on miscues and scored five unearned runs. J.J. Schwarz (Florida) hit his first Cape League home run, a three-run shot in the fourth inning that broke the game open. Red-hot Will Toffey (Vanderbilt) saw his four-game hit streak end but picked up an RBI. Brendan Skidmore (Binghamton), Kevin Smith (Maryland) and Corey Dempster (USC) drove in one run each. On the mound, Bryan Sammons (Western Carolina) allowed nine hits in 3.2 innings but limited the damage. William Montgomerie (Connecticut) followed with 4.1 scoreless innings for the win. Orleans, which lost its third straight, got four hits from Riley Mahan (Kentucky).

Harwich 1, Bourne 0

It’s hard to win a pitcher’s duel with Harwich, as the Bourne Braves found out. The Mariners got 11 shutout innings from four pitchers – allowing just four hits along the way – and broke through for the lone run of the game in the top of the 11th. Ernie Clement (Virginia) scored on a groundout to shortstop off the bat of Joseph Dunand (NC State). Zach Schellenger (Seton Hall) followed with a scoreless bottom of the 11th to finish off the win, picking up where three of his fellow pitchers left off. Making his second start of the summer, power arm Peter Solomon (Notre Dame) allowed one hit in seven innings and struck out six. Notre Dame teammate Brad Bass and LSU’s Austin Bain kept the Braves off the board. Bourne starter Brady Miller (Western Oregon) went six scoreless innings.

Cotuit 5, Hyannis 1

The Kettleers won for the fifth time in seven games and notched their first victory over rival Hyannis. Quinn Brodey (Stanford), who came into the game hitting .196, went 3-for-3 with a home run and drove in all five of Cotuit’s runs. Clay Fisher (UC Santa Barbara) added two hits and two runs scored. Rio Gomez (Arizona), who pitched in limited action for CWS runner-up Arizona, made his second appearance for Cotuit and struck out seven of the 12 batters he faced in 3.2 innings. Eddie Muhl (George Washington) got the win in relief and Jared Padgett (Mississippi State) pitched three hitless innings for the save. Hyannis got a home run from Zach Rutherford (Old Dominion), his third of the summer.

What to Watch

It’s a league-wide off day Thursday as teams head to Fenway Park for a workout. Friday, there’s plenty of good pitching to choose from, with Brady Puckett (Lipscomb) and his 1.71 ERA going for Falmouth, Erich Uelmen (Cal Poly) looking for his third consecutive scoreless start for Y-D and Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year Tyler Wilson (Rhode Island) making his third start for Harwich.
 

Anglers have depth, experience

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After a solid summer, Chatham is poised for a repeat as it welcomes in a team that’s older than most in the Cape League.
 

FIVE TO WATCH

1. J.B. Bukauskas
2. James Karinchak
3. Tanner Gardner
4. Chase Pinder
5. Nick Meservey

 

NOTABLE

  • The Anglers’ web roster includes everybody right now – temps and full contracts – so be prepared for a lot of names, some of which might not be around all summer.
  • I wrote last summer about the North Carolina aces that Chatham has had over the years. They have another one lined up in J.B. Bukauskas, though it remains to be seen if he’ll pitch on the Cape at all after accepting a Team USA invite.
  • Several teams on the Cape this summer will play with two or three rising seniors on the roster. Chatham has 20 of them listed on the roster right now. Some of them are on temporary contracts, but even in terms of full contract guys, the Anglers are very old by Cape League standards. They’ll risk losing some to the draft, but could be a veteran team if all pans out.
  • Chatham lost a couple of big names from its initial roster. Seattle’s Tarik Skubal was dominating the WAC before a season-ending injury. UC Irvine’s Keston Hiura, a Perfect Game Summer All-American last year in the West Coast League, hit .358 with seven homers but is no longer on the Anglers roster.
  • Tanner Gardner hit over .400 for much of the year at Texas Tech. He’s now at .376 as the Red Raiders head to the Super Regionals, having earned all-Big 12 honors.
  • Bryant and Boston College are part of a banner year for New England college baseball, with the Bulldogs earning Top 25 love and a No. 2 seed in a regional and the Eagles still alive in Super Regionals. The Anglers will give several of those teams standouts a chance to build on the success, with four Eagles and a Bulldog ticketed for Chatham. The best of the bunch are Bryant ace James Karinchak and BC standout freshman Jacob Stevens.
  • The Anglers have two returning catchers in BC’s Nick Sciortino and Richmond’s Kyle Adams. Neither had a lot of success with the bat last year but can provide a pretty good foundation behind the plate.
  • Chatham was set to have to players from Seattle. With Skubal’s injury, they’re down to one – but he’s a good one. Nick Meservey earned WAC Pitcher of the Year honors and could be a potential ace for the Anglers.
  • The ACC batting champ wasn’t freshman star Seth Beer or former Angler Will Craig or likely top-five pick Corey Ray. It was Pittsburgh’s Charles LeBlanc, who hit .405 and is bound for Chatham.
  • Chatham has made a concerted effort to find some small-school guys hungry to success on the Cape in recent years. Several fit the mold this year, including Joe Tietjen of UNC Asheville, Matt Vernon of Appalachian State and D.J. Artis of Liberty. All had big springs and will be eager to prove themselves this summer.
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    PITCHERS

    Reagan Bazar – SO – Louisiana Lafayette – Towering righty (6-7, 250) had 1.93 ERA in nine relief appearances for Ragin’ Cajuns
    Kale Breaux – JR – Mississippi State – Highly-touted freshman has 5.40 ERA in 16 appearances out of bullpen, with 19 Ks
    J.B. Bukauskas – SO – North Carolina – Turned in breakout sophomore season with 3.10 ERA, team-best 111 Ks in 78.1 innings
    Moises Ceja – JR – UCLA – Led Bruins in ERA with 2.60 mark in 25 relief appearances and fanned 23 in 27.2 innings
    Tanner Chock – JR – Presbyterian – Struck out 72 in 86 IP, 4.60 ERA for Blue Hose, who had program’s best-ever showing in Big South
    Tom Cosgrove – SO – Manhattan – Turned in breakout sophomore season for Jaspers with 3.70 ERA, 80 Ks in 90 IP
    Tony Dibrell – SO – Kennesaw State – After solid NECBL showing last year, tallied 4.64 ERA while striking out 66 in 54.1 IP this spring
    Christopher Farish – RS SO – Wake Forest – After redshirt and injury-limited year, made 35 appearances and struck out 35 in 28 innings
    Michael Fitzgerald – RS JR – Northeastern – Saved 11 games and struck out 32 in 38.2 innings, while leading team in appearances
    Jason Foley – JR – Sacred Heart – Went 4-4 with 5.68 ERA and fanned 47 in 58.2 innings
    Trevor Gay – SO – North Carolina – Led Charlotte in appearances last season before transferring to North Carolina, where he sat out this year
    Caleb Gilbert – FR – LSU – Has 5.04 ERA in 25 appearances, mostly out of the pen, to go with 43 strikeouts in 44.2 innings
    Lincoln Henzman – JR – Louisville – Standout reliever for Super Regional-bound Cards has 4.50 ERA, 27 Ks in 24 innings
    Reed Howell – SO – Appalachian State – Led team in appearances by wide margin and posted 3.83 ERA with 37 Ks in 49.1 innings
    James Karinchak – JR – Bryant – NEC Pitcher of the Year for breakout Bryant team went 12-3 with 2.00 ERA, 112 Ks in 94.2 innings pitched
    Andrew Karp – SO – Florida State – Has 7.43 ERA in eight relief appearances for Seminoles
    Erikson Lanning – FR – Texas Tech – In midst of Up-and-down freshman season with 2-3 record, 5.91 ERA, 27 Ks
    Simon Matthews – JR – Georgetown – Moved into weekend rotation and went 5-4 with 2.45 ERA and 59 Ks in 95.1 IP
    Isaac Mattson – SO – Pittsburgh – Followed strong debut in Panthers bullpen with more of the same this year – 3.71 ERA, 31 Ks
    Nick Meservey – JR – Seattle – WAC Pitcher of the Year posted 2.32 ERA, 79 Ks in 81.1 innings
    Matt Pidich – RS SO – Pittsburgh – New Jersey native had good numbers in limited action last year, did not pitch this season
    Parker Rigler – JR – Kansas State – JUCO transfer served as weekend starter, went 4-9, with 4.89 ERA and 73 Ks in 77.1 IP
    Jacob Stevens – FR – Boston College – Has burst onto the scene for upstart Eagles, going 4-3, 2.14 ERA, team-best 68 Ks

     

    CATCHERS

    Kyle Adams – SO – Richmond – Back for second year in Chatham off breakout sophomore season – .321, three homers, 33 RBI
    Joseph Freiday – SO – Virginia Tech – Former Massachusetts Gatorade POY hit .226 with three homers while splitting time behind plate this year
    Alex LeFevre – RS JR – Connecticut – Transfer from junior college ranks hit .283 in part-time role for Huskies
    Jordan Romero – JR – LSU – JUCO transfer is tied for the team lead in home runs with nine and hitting an even .300
    Nick Sciortino – JR – Boston College – Returning Angler hit .169 last summer but has been solid this spring with .277 AVG
    Gunnar Troutwine – SO – Wichita State – Hit .278 and led Shockers with seven home runs in sophomore campaign
     

    INFIELDERS

    John Aiello – SO – Wake Forest – Hit only .226, but nearly half of 44 hits went for extra bases
    Sean Bouchard – JR – UCLA – Finished second on team with .295 AVG and chipped in two homers and 36 RBI
    Orlando Garcia – SO – Texas Tech – Batting .261 with seven home runs for Super Regional-bound Red Raiders
    Cam Hanley – JR – Northeastern – Hit .247 while starting 24 games for Huskies
    Charles LeBlanc – SO – Pittsburgh – Native of Canada won ACC batting title at .405, drove in 46 and stole seven bases
    Hunter Lee – SO – High Point – Started every game and hit .295 with 30 RBI
    David MacKinnon – JR – Hartford – Earned spot with Wareham last summer and hit .292 then batted .392 with 4 HR for Hawks
    Jake Palomaki – JR – Boston College – Infield and leadoff stalwart hitting .265 with team-high 19 stolen bases
    Jeremy Vasquez – SO – Florida – Following good summer in Northwoods by hitting .289 for Gators
    Matt Vernon – JR – Appalachian State – Hit .317 with 8 HR, 42 RBI, all team-bests for Mountaineers en route to all-conference nod
     

    OUTFIELDERS

    D.J. Artis – FR – Liberty – Red Sox 40th-round pick last year had big debut, finishing at .369 with two home runs and 23 stolen bases
    Donovan Casey – SO – Boston College – Hitting .266 with big contributions in postseason and has also pitched some for Eagles
    Matt Cook – SO – Wheaton – Harwich native hit .268 for D-III powerhouse Wheaton
    Stuart Fairchild – SO – Wake Forest – Started every game and hit .293 while ranking second on team in RBI with 47
    Tanner Gardner – SO – Texas Tech – One of nation’s top batting average guys all year, now at .376 with 3 HR, 18 2B, 43 RBI
    Brock Lundquist – SO – Long Beach State – Followed up all-conference freshman year by hitting .315 with three home runs
    Patrick Mathis – SO – Texas – Hit .297 with six home runs for Longhorns
    Chase Pinder – JR – Clemson – Brother of former Angler Chad, hitting .294 with 11 home runs for Super Regional club
    Joe Tietjen – JR – UNC Asheville – Earned second-team all-Big South honors by hitting .344 with 10 homers, 55 RBI
     

    Sneak Peek

    Ricky Thomas starred for Y-D last summer and is slated to return this year.
    Ricky Thomas starred for Y-D last summer and is slated to return this year.

     
    It’s very early in the college baseball season, a time for small sample sizes and differing opponent quality, but it’s never too early to take a peek at which future Cape Leaguers are off to fast starts. Not every roster has been posted yet, so this is far from a complete list, but it’s a start.

  • Jeren Kendall hit .253 in 20 games for Cotuit last summer and is ticketed for a return trip this year. He’s off to a roaring start for Vanderbilt, batting .474 with three home runs and 16 RBI through 10 games. He’s also stolen 10 bases. Teammate Alonzo Jones, a highly-touted freshman who is slated to join Kendall in Cotuit, is third on the team with a .333 average. The Commodores are at Stanford this weekend.
  • Future Orleans catcher Riley Adams is hitting .481 for San Diego, against competition that includes powerhouse Vanderbilt.
  • Chatham will welcome in a pair of Seattle University pitchers, and they’ve both been lights out so far. Tarik Skubal is one of the nation’s leaders in strikeouts with 23 in 13 innings. He has walked just one batter and has a 0.00 ERA. Rotation-mate Nick Meservey, who’s also bound for the Anglers, boasts a 0.00 ERA, as well.
  • Florida’s Alex Faedo had one of the most noteworthy pitching performances of the young season when he struck out 12 in 6.1 scoreless innings as the top-ranked Gators scored a marquee win over Miami. The sophomore is slated to play for Y-D this summer.
  • Also penciled in for the Y-D rotation will be returning standout Ricky Thomas, one of the breakout stars of the 2015 Cape League season. Thomas has picked up where he left off for Fresno State, going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 12 innings.
  • Defending national champ Virginia has gotten a torrid start from sophomore infielder Ernie Clement, who is on the Harwich roster for 2016. Clement is batting .515 through eight games and is among the early national leaders.
  • Missouri state preseason all-conference pick Jake Burger is hitting an even .500 and five of his 16 hits have been home runs. Burger is set to play for Falmouth in the summer.
  • From Alabama to Texas to California, Chatham’s roster includes three hitters who have been red-hot. UC Irvine’s Keston Hiura is batting .500 with four home runs, on the heels of earning Perfect Game Summer All-American honors in the West Coast League. Texas Tech’s Tanner Gardner is hitting at a .429 clip, and Samford’s Austin Edens is at .364 with three home runs.
  • Rhode Island’s Tyler Wilson, who is slated to play for Harwich, has already picked up one Atlantic 10 award and will likely pick up a few more. The reigning A-10 Pitcher and Rookie of the Year was named A-10 Pitcher of the Week after striking out 11 in seven shutout innings against a good Maryland team last weekend.
  • Future Falmouth Commodore Kyle Nelson has already appeared in five games out of the UC Santa Barbara bullpen and has struck out 17 in 10.1 innings, while allowing no earned runs and only three hits.
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