Stock Up
Orleans Firebirds (12-6 1st East Division)
The Firebirds remain the hottest team on the Cape, heck, maybe the country and are on a 8 game winning streak including 3 resounding victories over the 4th of July weekend. Their weekend started off strong with a 9-1 beat down of the Harwich Mariners at home. Joey Murray (Kent State) picked up his 2nd win of the season and has now completed back to back starts without surrendering a run. On Saturday, the Firebirds stormed the gates at McKeon Park dismantling the Harbor Hawks, 17-3. Stephen Scott (Vanderbilt) ate his Wheaties en route to a 2 home run and 6 RBI performance at the dish. To cap off the weekend (pun intended) the Firebirds shutdown the Whitecaps, 5-1. In his 2nd start of the season, Ryan Rolison (Ole Miss) pitched a gem, going 5 innings, surrendering 1 run and striking out 9. If you do your math correctly, Orleans outscored their opponents 31-5 in 3 days of baseball increasing their season run differential to a ridiculous +40.
Falmouth Commodores (11-7 1st West Division)
The Commodores of Falmouth have reeled off 6 wins in a row to climb into 1st place in the West. Lead by two hitters having monster seasons, Alec Bohm (Wichita State) and Marty Bechina (Michigan State), Falmouth has the most runs scored in the league. Bohm leads the league in average batting a blistering .458, which is 47 points higher than 2nd and is 3rd in the league in RBIs. Bechina holds the league lead in both HRs (6) and RBIs (20). Early in the season, their pitching was giving up runs in bunches, but the Commodore staff has settled in and provided Falmouth with 3 solid outings over the weekend. Friday, Falmouth defeated Chatham 8-3 thanks to Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) and Hunter Steinmetz (Missouri State) combining to hit 5-8 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs. Saturday, Cotuit made a run at breaking Falmouth’s road streak, but a 3 run bottom of the 7th and scoreless 8th and 9th innings orchestrated by Clemson’s Mitchell Miller led to a Commodore 6-3 win. Sunday, Bourne ran into a buzzsaw as Falmouth tallied 22 hits in a 13-3 final.
Wareham Gatemen (8-10 4th West Division)
The Gatemen needed a little bit of pitching help to try to right the ship and they got it. On Friday, Miller Hogan (St. Louis) and Tanner Dodson (Cal) combined to only allow 3 hits in a 11-0 shutout of the Cotuit Kettleers. Dodson was doing it on the mound and at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a pair of RBIs in the game. Saturday, Wareham let one slip against divisional rival, Bourne. The Gatemen jumped on top early, but gave up 4 runs in the top of the 4th and were unable to recover. For Sunday’s tilt, the Gatemen welcomed the formidable Y-D Red Sox. However, the Red Sox would find the manners of the hosts a bit poor as Wareham posted a shutout victory. Justin Montgomery (Cal-Baptist) improved to 3-0 on the season after pitching 5 scoreless. Montgomery has yet to allow a run in 17 innings so far this season. The Gatemen have a ways to go to compete in the West, but logging 2 shutout victories over the weekend sees their stock on the way up.
Stock Down
Cotuit Kettleers (9-9 3rd West Division)
The hot hitting start for the Kettleers has cooled off ever so slightly and they remain on a roller coaster of emotion through the first 18 games of the season. They salvaged their weekend on Sunday with an 11-8 win on the road at Hyannis. Griffin Conine (Duke) knocked in 3 RBIs on the day and Cotuit hitting sent 3 HRs out of McKeon Park. The Kettleers will try to carry that momentum into this week and forget about the 6-3 loss against Falmouth and especially the 11-0 defeat verse Wareham.
Brewster Whitecaps (8-9-1 3rd East Division)
Brewster went into the weekend over .500 and exited it under .500 with a 3 game losing streak in tow. Their team ERA, which last week was tied for the league lead at 3.07 has risen to 3.64. That combined with their team batting average falling to .261, explains the dip in wins. Brewster does have one of the hotter hitters in the league right now in the form of Bryant Bulldog, Michael Gasper. Gasper is hitting .339 with 3 HRs and 18 RBIs. Despite the 3 game losing streak after losses to Hyannis (8-3), Yarmouth-Dennis (7-4), and Orleans (5-1), the Whitecaps get another shot to stop the Firebirds winning streak at 8, tonight.
Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (10-7-1 2nd East Division)
When you start off as hot as the Red Sox combined with their quest for the 4-peat, trip up a bit and the only place for your stock to go is down. Despite winning 2 out 3 of their games this weekend, they are 4-6 over their last 10 games and have fallen out of 1st place in the East. There is still a lot to love if you’re a Y-D Sox fan especially the performance out of their closer, Riley McCauley (Michigan State). With two saves over the weekend, McCauley raises his total to 6 in 6 opportunities. Additionally, Y-D has the 2nd best run differential in the league (18) and are hitting the ball well at the plate with a team average of .278 and 8 players hitting above .300.
Bourne Braves (10-8 2nd West Division)
Bourne started the season looking to be the class of the West Division, but they have stumbled back down to Earth and with a 13-3 defeat at the hands of the Commodores, the Braves find themselves out of 1st place. The bats in Bourne have been quiet with no hitters above 10 RBIs and only 4 total home runs so far on the season. The pitching has been good but not great with a 4.35 team ERA and 83 (73 earned) total runs given up on the season, which, combined with the hitting, has resulted in a -11 run differential. The bats need to wake up for the Braves or they could see their standing start slipping further.
Harwich Mariners (6-11-1 5th East Division)
Speaking of quiet bats…Harwich just can’t seem to get runners across the plate or on base for that matter. They have scored a league low 61 runs, which is 12 less than the next lowest team. Their team batting average is hovering above the Mendoza line at .215. Before putting on their Sunday finest and besting the Chatham Anglers at home, 7-3, they lost 9-1 against Orleans and a 3-2 bottom of the 9th heartbreaker on the road at Chatham. Not a whole lot going for the Mariners at this juncture, but there is still plenty of time left in the summer to reel in some wins.
Chatham Anglers (7-11 4th East Division)
The Anglers continue their slide losing 2 out of 3 this past weekend and 7 of their last 10. Chatham hits the ball well, but the story of their season has been unearned runs. The Anglers have gifted opposing teams 32 runs this season leading to a -24 run differential. When a team is giving away that many runs, it is very hard to win games on a consistent basis. If Chatham can turn it around in the field and keep it up at the plate, they could flip the script and get back to the baseball they were playing to begin the season.
Hyannis Harbor Hawks (7-10-1 5th West Division)
Hyannis was in the stock up section coming out of last week after two big wins in the Sunday doubleheader, but have since cooled off, losing 6 of their last 10 including 2 out of 3 over the weekend. The Harbor Hawks have given up the most runs this season (110) and have the worst run differential (-28). Unlike the Anglers, who give away runs, teams have been seeing the ball very well against Hyannis pitching. The Harbor Hawks have a team ERA of almost 6 and allowed 242 runners to reach base through 18 games. On a positive note, Hyannis holds the best team batting average (.282) in the league. However, they are still having trouble converting those baserunners into runs scored as they have the 3rd lowest run total in the league.
Full slate of games tonight on Independence Day Eve:
5:00 PM
Orleans Firebirds
vs.
Brewster Whitecaps
Stony Brook Field
Orl: Daniel Lynch (2-0)
Brew: Connor Higgins (1-1)
6:00 PM
Bourne Braves
vs.
Falmouth Commodores
Guv Fuller Field
Bou: Christopher Holba (0-2)
Fal: Matt Mercer (2-0)
Harwich Mariners
vs.
Hyannis Harbor Hawks
McKeon Park
Har: Jake Agnos (0-0)
Hya: Kevin Coulter (0-3)
6:30 PM
Cotuit Kettleers
vs.
Wareham Gatemen
Spillane Field
Cot: Zane Collins (2-1)
War: Justin Glover (2-0)
7:00 PM
Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox
vs.
Chatham Anglers
Veterans Field
YD: Kris Bubic (2-1)
Cha: Austin Bergner (0-1)
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