HYANNIS – The 132nd season of the Cape Cod Baseball League begins Wednesday night with all ten teams set to do battle across the Cape.
Players have travelled from far and wide, crossed either the Bourne or Sagamore bridge, settled into their homes, and are ready to lace up the cleats to compete in the most storied collegiate summer league in America. Let’s take a look at the matchups for this evening’s slate of games:
Cotuit Kettleers at Bourne Braves | Doran Park | 6:00 PM
Cotuit looks to rebound after a disappointing 2016 campaign where they missed the playoffs with a record of 15-28-1. The Kettleers bring back 4 players and are hoping that they can provide the experience and leadership required to make the push into the playoffs. Their hosts, the Bourne Braves, posted a 21-21-2 record and suffered a heartbreaking loss to rival Falmouth in the West Division Championship. Bourne swept the season series last year and look to start the season off strong at home.
Chatham Anglers at Falmouth Commodores | Guy Fuller Field | 6:00 PM
The Falmouth Commodores were scorching hot in the summer of 2016 en route to a league best record of 29-15. However, they came up just short of their 7th Cape League title, losing 3-0 in the deciding game to Yarmouth-Dennis. Falmouth’s pitching unit was light’s out last year, posting an anemic 2.67 team ERA and they return 3 key arms from that staff. Chatham’s head coach, John Schiffner enters into his 25th year of coaching in the league and looks to improve upon the 17-26 record from last year. In addition to Schiffner, the Anglers return 6 players. The Commodores and Anglers split the season last year, 2-2.
Wareham Gatemen at Hyannis Harbor Hawks | McKeon Field | 6:00 PM
The Gatemen welcome in their new skipper, Don Sneddon, as they travel to McKeon Field in Hyannis to take on the Harbor Hawks. Both teams saw their seasons slip away in the first round of the playoffs last year, Hyannis falling to Falmouth and Wareham losing in walk-off fashion to the Bourne Braves. Despite having a worse record, the Harbor Hawks had Wareham’s number, winning 4 out of their 6 meetings. There will be a lot of new faces on the field for the teams as Wareham returns 2 players (both all-stars) and Hyannis just 1.
Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox at Harwich Mariners | Whitehouse Field | 6:30 PM
The looming question on everybody’s mind this season is, “Can anybody take the crown from Yarmouth-Dennis?” Y-D looks to join the exclusive company of two teams who have completed the four-peat (Falmouth ‘68-’71/Cotuit ‘72-’75). They will have to do it with a brand new roster as they only return one player from last year’s squad, Indiana Hoosier, Luke Miller. Harwich looks to build upon last year’s successful campaign where they boasted a 27-15-2 record en route to a West Division Championship. However, after falling victim to a first round upset at the hands of the Chatham Anglers, Steve Englert and his 7 returning players will be hungry to lift the championship trophy in August.
Brewster Whitecaps at Orleans Firebirds | Eldredge Park | 7:00 PM
The late game of the night finds the Firebirds of Orleans facing off against the Whitecaps of Brewster. Brewster’s 3rd year coach, Jamie Shevchik, will try to improve on the Whitecaps’ 16-26-2 record from this past summer. In addition to returning 4 of their top hitters from 2016, they added two of the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American relievers in Andy Pagnozzi (Ole Miss) and Zach Wolf (Seattle). Orleans has work to do of their own to improve this year, ending last summer with a 20-23-1 record and first round playoff exit at the hands of defending champ, Yarmouth-Dennis. With three SEC arms returning to the pitching staff, Orleans hopes to lean on their experience to make a return trip to the playoffs and beyond.
All games are FREE to attend. Come out to your local ballparks and witness some of the most talented collegiate players in the United States.
For more information about the league or individual teams, please visit CapeCodBaseball.org.
By MATT ST.JEAN, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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