HYANNIS – Thursday, June 15 was another beautiful night for baseball on the Cape. After only two sets of games in the books, the league is down to just three undefeated teams.
Falmouth Commodores 0 (0-2) Cotuit Kettleers 10
W: Chase Cohen L: James McArthur
The Cotuit faithful were out in force for the home opener last night and the energy rubbed off on the Kettleers. Falmouth starting pitching stumbled out of the gate giving up 5 runs in the first two innings, while Cotuit’s, on the other hand shined. While he didn’t factor into the decision, Dylan King (Belmont U) was throwing darts, striking out 7 in 4 innings of work. Georgia Southern’s, Chase Cohen took the reigns and completed the shutout. At the plate, Griffin Conine (Duke), son of 17 year major leaguer, Jeff, stayed hot at the plate going 2 for 5 with 2 runs batted in. Cotuit wreaked havoc on the base paths tallying 6 total stolen bases including a pair each by Ako Thomas (Michigan) and John Cresto (Santa Clara). Additionally, Cresto reached base 3 times in the game and drove in 2 runs. Conine and Cresto look to form a staunch 3 – 4 combo in the middle of the Kettleer lineup. The Kettleers poured in 3 runs in the 7th and dropped the Commodores to 0-2 to start the Cape League season.
Brewster Whitecaps 6 Hyannis Harbor Hawks 1
W: J.R. McDermott L: Kevin Coulter
For Brewster, consistency is a wonderful thing as on back to back nights the Whitecaps won on the road, 6-1. Whitecap starting pitcher, J.R. McDermott (Colorado Mesa) pitched 5 innings of shutout ball tallying 4 strikeouts without walking a Harbor Hawk. The bullpen kept the scorecard clean until the bottom of the 9th, but by that time the Whitecap offense led by Kent State’s Pete Schuler and Bama’s Chandler Taylor, had already supplied enough insurance to move to 2-0. On a high note for Hyannis, leadoff batter, Reece Hampton (Charlotte), brought the boom stick finishing with a double and a triple.
Chatham Anglers 3 Bourne Braves 4
W: Brian Eichhorn L: Taylor Luciani S: Tyler Barss
Bourne avenged their loss to the Cotuit Kettleers last night by hanging on to defeat the Chatham Anglers at home, 4-3. The Anglers held a two run advantage when the Braves came to the plate in the bottom of the 5th. After the first two batters got on base, Boston College’s Jake Alu smacked a single to drive in a run and a batter later, Lyle Lin (Arizona State) singled home two runs to give the Braves the lead. Lin would provide some insurance in the bottom of the 7th with another RBI single, giving him 3 on the night. Bourne’s Tyler Barss gave the home crowd a bit of heartburn in the bottom of the 9th allowing one run, but sent DJ Artis (Liberty) down swinging for his first save of the summer.
Wareham Gatemen 9 Harwich Mariners 0
W: Joey Matulovich L: Noah Song
First year manager, Don Sneddon, must have had some words of inspiration for the Gatemen as they were hitting on all cylinders to log a shutout of their own on the road at Harwich. Wareham’s 5 – 8 batters went a combined 9 for 19 with 6 runs scored, 2 extra base hits, and 5 RBIs. The pitchers for Wareham on Thursday night were locked in, allowing only two base hits and striking out 12. Relief pitchers, Samuel Nepiarsky (UCONN) and Franklin German didn’t let Harwich sniff the base paths, pitching an inning of runnerless ball each to close out the game. For the Mariners, the home cooking didn’t agree with them, dropping their first two games and now have to rebound on the road against the Commodores at Falmouth tonight.
Orleans Firebirds 2 Yarmouth-Dennis 4
W: Josh McMinn L: Joey Murray S: Riley McCauley
Yarmouth-Dennis received another strong outing out of their pitching staff to win their home opener. Oral Roberts Golden Eagle, Josh McMinn, pitched 6 innings, striking out 5 and giving up two earned runs. The Y-D bullpen was stingy again, surrendering only one hit through 3 innings of work and Michigan State Spartan Riley McCauley logged his second save of the season. Kyle Isabel (UNLV) has now hit and batted in a run in back to back games hitting atop the Red Sox lineup. Orleans has managed just 3 runs in two games and need the bats to wake up when they play host to these same Red Sox tonight.
Friday’s matchups and probables below:
Brewster Whitecaps (2-0) @ Bourne Braves (1-1) | Doran Park | 6:00 PM
Brewster: Joe Molettiere (Monmouth)
Bourne: Eli Kraus (Kent State)
Harwich Mariners (0-2) @ Falmouth Commodores (0-2) | Arnie Allen Diamond | 6:00 PM
Harwich: Cal Krueger (Indiana)
Falmouth: Dalton Feeney (NC A State)
**POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER** Hyannis Harbor Hawks (1-1) @ Wareham Gatemen (1-1) | Spillane Field | 6:30 PM
Hyannis: Ryley Gilliam (Clemson)
Wareham: Justin Glover (Georgia)
Cotuit Kettleers (2-0) @ Chatham Anglers (1-1) | Veterans Field | 7:00 PM
Cotuit: Austin Kitchen (Coastal Carolina)
Chatham: Jack Perkins (Stetson)
Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (2-0) @ Orleans Firebirds (0-2) | Eldredge Park | 7:00 PM
Yarmouth-Dennis: Hogan Harris (Louisiana Lafayette)
Orleans: Logan Gilbert (Stetson)
By MATT ST. JEAN, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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