BARNSTABLE – In this week’s edition of the Cape League Weekend Wrap-Up we evaluate which teams improved their standing the most and who lost ground over the weekend in the first “Stock Up, Stock Down” of the season.
Stock Up
Orleans Firebirds (7-6, 3rd East Division) – Starting the weekend in last place in the East, Orleans won 3 out of 4 games to find themselves sitting in 3rd place going into their off day. They had a rough start to the weekend with a 11-3 loss on the road at Wareham, but they took home a road win at Harwich on Saturday and swept the Sunday doubleheader at home against Cotuit. Hitting has been touch and go for the Firebirds during the season, but their pitching has been outstanding. Daniel Lynch (UVA) leads the way for the starters with 2 wins in 2 starts, a 2.79 ERA, and a 11:0 strikeout to walk ratio in 9.2 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen, Josh Hiatt (UNC) has been nothing short of perfect with 3 saves in 4 appearances, a 0.00 ERA, and only two hits surrendered. Orleans has the day off today, but will face Y-D at home tomorrow night.
Brewster Whitecaps (6-4-1, 2nd East Division) – The Whitecaps have been putting up runs in bunches going into the weekend. While they didn’t post double digits in any of the games, they won 2 out of their 4 and are tied for 1st in run differential at +14. Both of the wins came in the doubleheader at home against the West Division leaders, Bourne Braves. The Whitecaps have enjoyed a very solid start to the season out of their catcher, Michael Gasper (Bryant), who is hitting .406 with 2 HRs and 11 RBIs. Starting pitchers, Connor Higgins (Arizona State) and J.R. McDermott (Colorado Mesa) have been throwing beebees to start the season both posting sub 1.00 ERAs and over 10 Ks in two starts. Currently sitting in 2nd place, Brewster looks to keep the pressure on division leader Yarmouth-Dennis. They face Bourne for a third time in a row, this time on the road, tonight.
Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (7-3-1, 1st East Division) – Y-D, despite going 2-2 over the weekend, is off to a blistering start to their 4-peat campaign with the best record in the Cape League. Common lore in the Cape League states that the first couple weeks are an adjustment period for the metal bat wielding college players, but don’t tell that to the Red Sox. Y-D as a team has mashed 10 HRs including two each from Nico Hoerner (Stanford) and Nicholas Quintana (Arizona). Hoerner, also leads the Red Sox in doubles and RBIs and is second in average (.361). Y-D also has 3 studs coming out of the bullpen in the form of Troy Terzi (Keystone), Brendan Nail (Western Carolina), and Riley McCauley (Michigan State). Terzi, Nail, and McCauley have combined to pitch nearly 19 shutout innings, saved 5 games (4 for McCauley), 29 Ks to only 4 BBs and nightmares for opposing batters. With the powerful starts from the bats and a stalwart bullpen, Y-D continues to be the team to beat.
Hyannis Harbor Hawks (5-6-1, 4th West Division) – The Hyannis Harbor Hawks limped into the weekend after giving up double digit runs in back to back nights. Friday and Saturday yielded two tight losses to the Bourne Braves. The games were decided by a total of 3 runs. Why is their stock on the up? Sunday. Because Sunday. The Harbor Hawks’ bats woke up in a big way on Sunday to sweep the doubleheader against the Chatham Anglers with a run total of 17-7. Right fielder, Robert Neustrom (Iowa) was red hot on the plate with 5 RBIs on the day including a no doubter 3 run blast in game 2. Through 11 games, Neustrom is hitting .375 with a team leading 9 RBIs. On the mound, the Harbor Hawks have received solid contributions from Central Michigan Chippewa, Michael Brettell who has a league leading 3 wins with a 0.73 ERA. Out of the bullpen, Christian Tripp (New Mexico) has been lights out; he picked up his 1st win of the season yesterday to go along with 4 saves and a 1.08 ERA. Hyannis hits the road to play Wareham tomorrow night.
Bourne Braves (6-4, 1st East Division) – Every game Bourne has been involved in except for 1 has been decided by 2 or less and they find themselves with the best record in the East Division. Timely hitting and clutch pitching has been on display early in the season for the Braves. Outfielder, Scott Schreiber’s (Nebraska) hot start leads the way. Early on, he has 1 HR, 8 RBIs, while hitting .409. Additionally, Grant Witherspoon (Tulane) is a constant threat on the basepaths with 7 stolen bases in 8 attempts and leads the team in runs (4). In regards to the aforementioned clutch pitching, the Braves have 7 relievers who have yet to give up a run out of the bullpen. This week will be a trial by fire as they have 3 games against Yarmouth-Dennis and start off the week at home vs. Brewster tonight.
Stock Stagnant
Falmouth Commodores (6-7, 3rd West Division) – The Commodores have been a tough to figure out to start the year. Similar to the Orleans Firebirds, they had a putrid start to the 2017 summer, going 2-5. While they did rebound to win 4 of their last 7 climbing to 3rd in the West, they have a league worst -20 run differential. That is ten more than the next lowest RD. It’s a story of hot and cold, for example, yesterday in the doubleheader against Yarmouth-Dennis, they got blown out in game 1, 14-3, but then came out in game 2 and won 2-1. The pitching for the Commodores has been sporadic to start 2017 and are prone to spotting opposing teams big leads in the early innings. On the brightside, Falmouth does have the hottest hitter on the Cape in Michigan State Spartan Marty Bechina. Bechina leads the league in both home runs (4) and RBIs (14) while hitting .304 for the Commodores. They are off tonight, but are back in action against the Whitecaps tomorrow night.
Cotuit Kettleers (6-6, 2nd West Division) – The Kettleers have been the definition of streaky so far this summer. They won their 1st 4 games to open the season and then dropped their next 4. They won games on Friday and Saturday only to be swept by Orleans in the doubleheader yesterday. No doubt that there is talent on this team as their wins on Friday and Saturday were both resounding victories, 12-6 vs. Brewster and 9-2 vs. Yarmouth-Dennis. Griff Conine has had a monster start to the season leading the team in average (.426), HRs (2), RBIs (10), and runs (8). Zach Kone (Duke) and John Cresto (Santa Clara) also add some serious pop to the lineup hitting .375 and .357 respectively. The Kettleers just haven’t had the consistency out of their pitching staff. No starter has an ERA below 3, which means they are giving up runs in the beginning of the game and constantly playing from behind. As mentioned, Cotuit has the talent to be a force in the league and look to right the ship Tuesday on the road against Harwich.
Harwich Mariners (5-7-1, 4th East Division) – Speaking of the Mariners, they split the weekend going 2-2. Harwich has a few standout players including pitcher Tyler Baum, who in two starts has a 2-0 record, including a complete game yesterday against Wareham, with a 0.69 ERA and a 13:1 strikeout to walk ratio. At the plate, Alabama’s Cobie Vance is hitting a blistering .381 with a team leading 8 RBIs and is a menace on the basepaths with 5 stolen bases. Outside of Vance, only two Mariners are hitting above .250 with most every day starters hitting below or at the Mendoza line (.200). However, despite their hitting struggles, Harwich has still won 5 games, if they can figure things out at the plate, this is a team primed for a run.
Stock Down
Chatham Anglers (5-7, 5th East Division) – What a difference a week makes, coming out of last Sunday’s games, the Anglers were 3-1 sitting atop the East Division then they lost 6 of their next 8 including a Sunday sweep at the hands of the Harbor Hawks. The middle of the Angler lineup has been mashing with 3 players knocking in 9 or more runners so far this season. Baylor catcher, Shea Langeliers has only played in 6 games, but has made his presence known. This past weekend, he hit 3 HRs and drove in 8 runs, including a grand slam in game 1 against Hyannis. Shortstop Jacob Olson (South Carolina), is hitting .349 in 11 games with 2 HRs and 9 RBIs. Where the Anglers have fallen short has been on the mound and in the field. Despite having some big time arms, they have struggled with their control leading to walks and wild pitches. Additionally, the supporting cast in the field has coughed up 16 errors, which has contributed to their recent woes. Chatham looks to pull a 180 this week starting with a home game at Bourne tomorrow night.
Wareham Gatemen (5-8, 5th East Division) – First year manager, Don Sneddon and his Wareham Gatemen have experienced some growing pains to begin the 2017 season. Similar to Cotuit, it has been a season of extreme ebbs and flows. One night they’ll look helpless at the plate only to put up a big number on the next. For example, Thursday they lost to the Whitecaps 9-2, but came back Friday and stomped Orleans 11-3. In the doubleheader against Harwich yesterday, they lost game 1, 4-1 then won game 2, 5-1. Ebbs and flows. Unfortunately for the Gatemen, they have been ebbing a bit more than they have been flowing. A few players on Wareham have been feeling the flow to start the year including Justin Montgomery, who has yet to allow a run to cross home plate in 12 innings. He holds a 2-0 record and is 2nd in the league in strikeouts with 14. At the plate, Willie MacIver (Washington) leads the team in HRs (1), RBIs (6), and average (.356). The season is still young, but the Gatemen need to steer the ship in the right direction to get back in contention. They face off against Hyannis tomorrow.
Only one game tonight:
Brewster Whitecaps (6-4-1)
vs.
Bourne Braves (6-4)
Doran Park
Brew: Davis Daniel (1-0)
Bou: Ronnie Rossomando (0-1)
For more information on the Cape League, teams, and players please visit www.CapeCodBaseball.org
By MATT ST. JEAN, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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