SOUTH YARMOUTH — The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox brought their big guns Monday afternoon.
Y-D Red Sox southpaw ace Ricky Thomas struck out 10 in 7.2 innings of work as the hosts downed Hyannis, 9-3, Tuesday night in game two of the CCBL Championship Series.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
Fresno State southpaw and Cape League all-star Ricky Thomas turned in a superlative, 10-strikeout performance for Y-D and lasted 7.2 innings on the hill as the hosts eclipsed the Hyannis Harbor Hawks, 9-3, in game two of the Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series Monday night at Merrill “Red” Wilson Field.
Thomas was afforded plenty of breathing room by his hard-hitting teammates as Oklahoma State’s Donnie Walton crushed a one-out, three-run homer on the first pitch he saw from Mississippi State lefty Vance Tatum. Walton’s blast made it 3-0 in the first and the Sox added one more for a 4-0 lead after one frame. All totaled, the Sox hammered out 18 hits while Thomas afforded the ‘Hawks just five safeties. Thomas walked one and allowed all three Hyannis runs. Cincinnati southpaw Dalton Lehnen closed it out behind Thomas with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Thomas received a standing ovation from fans and players alike when he came out of the game in the 8th inning.
Stanford’s Tommy Edman added fuel to the fire with a two-run bomb in the bottom of the second inning that made it 6-0, in favor of the hosts.
Hyannis staged a solid rally in the top of the fourth inning to cut Y-D’s lead in half at 6-3, but that was all Thomas would afford the visitors.
Jacksonville’s Austin Hays is tagged out at home in the first inning by Y-D catcher Chris Hudgins (Cal State Fullerton).
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
Austin Hays (Jacksonville) reached on an error to lead off the fourth, followed by a Matt Thaiss (Virginia) walk and then Jake Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) singled to load the bases. Hyannis third baseman Colby Bortles (Ole Miss) then raked a 2-2 pitch to plate two runs and Jake Rogers (Tulane) followed with a sacrifice fly to left to cut the deficit down to 6-3, but there would be no more Harbor Hawks’ rallies in this series-tying affair.
The Red Sox added one run each in the bottom of the fourth, fifth and eighth innings to solidify the victory and send the Cape League championship series back to McKeon Park in Hyannis on Tuesday night in an all-deciding showdown for the Arnold Mycock Championship Trophy.
Edman went 3-5 for the Sox with two RBI and a two-run bomb, as noted above, while Walton went 2-5 with four RBI on the afternoon.
Thomas reached his pitch-count total with two outs in the top of the 8th inning and gave way to Lehnen who finished the game in a non-save situation.
Mississippi State’s Tatum allowed eight runs on 14 hits and walked two. He struck out three.
Bortles went 1-4 with two RBI for the ‘Hawks and Noll went 2-4.
Hyannis Harbor Hawks manager Chad Gassman is not too pleased with being thrown out of the game Monday afternoon.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
It looks like the Hyannis Harbor Hawks may have lost one of their key players in the aftermath of the game, however. Thaiss, who was playing first base, tried to get out of the way of a blazing, high and tight, inside fastball on a 1-2 count and turned his body into the pitch. The pitch struck him directly on the back of the hand immediately causing Thaiss visible pain. Home plate umpire Bill Fisher awarded Thaiss first base but in a controversial call one of the field umpires stated that Thaiss had actually swung at the pitch, thus causing Fisher to rule him out.
The end result was Hyannis field manager Chad Gassman being ejected for questioning the call as he checked on Thaiss’s physical well-being and then headed back to his spot in the third base coach’s box.
“You can’t argue balls and strikes,” Fisher told Gassman as the coach left the playing field.
Michael Donadio (St. John’s) Josh Vidales (Houston) and Chris Hudgins (Cal-State Fullerton) each had two hits for Y-D while Utah third baseman Dallas Carroll turned in his best plate performance in his brief, 10-game stay on the Cape with a 4-4 outing and one RBI.
Y-D will face Hyannis for the Cape League title Tuesday night at McKeon Park at 6:00 pm.
— Story, video and photos by Sean Walsh, sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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