games tonight: friday, june 29

Friday, June 29, 2007

games tonight: friday, june 29

Hyannis at Bourne, 5 p.m.
Chatham at Brewster, 5 p.m.
Y-D at Cotuit, 5 p.m.
Wareham at Falmouth, 7 p.m.
Orleans at Harwich, 7 p.m.

*Y-D vs. Cotuit should be an interesting game -- two very big pitchers and two powerful offenses.

Hyannis (5-6-1) at Bourne (8-3-1), 5 p.m.
Austin Hudson (1-0) vs. Rick Zagone (0-0)
Pitching matchup: Hudson (Central Florida) has a victory but he's allowed seven earned runs in 11.1 innings. Zagone (Missouri) has allowed two earned runs in three appearances (two starts)
What to watch: Bourne has rolled to five straight wins while Hyannis has dropped three in a row. The teams are still tightly packed in the West, though, so a Hyannis victory would make a big difference.
Who to watch: Bourne's Kevin Hoef (Iowa) is second in the league in batting average.

Chatham (7-4-1) at Brewster (6-6), 5 p.m.
Cliff Springston (1-0) vs. Matt Couch (0-0)
Pitching matchup: Springston (Baylor) has a 2.84 ERA but has walked four in 6.1 innings. Couch (San Diego) has posted a .75 ERA in two starts and has seven strikeouts in 12 innings.
What to watch: Chatham is coming off a rough loss when it blew a six-run lead Thursday at Y-D. It'll be interesting to see how the A's bounce back.
Who to watch: Chatham's Allan Dykstra is hitting .263 in his second year on the Cape, and though he hasn't hit a home run yet, he should be one of the top power hitters in the league.

Yarmouth-Dennis (8-3-1) at Cotuit (7-5), 5 p.m.
Scott Green (0-0) vs. Chris Fetter (0-0)
Pitching matchup: Green (Kentucky) and Fetter (Michigan) might make it look like a basketball game. Both are 6-foot-8. Green, who was a reliever for Kentucky, has been great as a starter so far. He's allowed just one earned run in 10 innings. Fetter is making his first start. He's given up four runs in 4.1 innings in two relief appearances.
What to watch: These are two of the top three hitting teams in the league so Green and Fetter will be tested.
Who to watch: Y-D's Gordon Beckham (Georgia) is a shortstop and he's 6-feet, 182 pounds. Those don't scream "power hitter" but Beckham has been one so far. He leads the league with four home runs, is second in RBI and is hitting. 375.

Wareham (2-10) at Falmouth (4-8), 7 p.m.
Dallas Keuchel (0-1) vs. Kyle Gibson (0-0)
Pitching matchup: Keuchel (Arkansas) has put up good numbers in two starts, but like a lot of Wareham pitcher, doesn't have much to show for it. The freshman lefty has a 2.08 ERA with 11 strikeouts to just one walk in 13 innings. Gibson (Missouri), a tall lefthander, hasn't allowed a run in two starts.
What to watch: If the Gatemen can keep the good feelings from its streak-busting win Thursday, they'll be right back in the thick of the West division race. As of now, they're just four points back of Falmouth.
Who to watch: I'd keep an eye on both these pitchers. They're both freshmen making a big splash so far.

Orleans (8-4) at Harwich (3-9), 7 p.m.
Brad Boxberger (0-0) vs. Dan Hudson (1-1)
Pitching matchup: Boxberger (USC), a freshman, hasn't allowed a run in two starts. Hudson (Old Dominion) has a 1.80 ERA with 14 strikeouts in two starts.
What to watch: Orleans has gotten tremendous pitching in its three-game win streak. Harwich hasn't been bad either, but errors have cost the Mariners. They've lost six in a row.
Who to watch: If Orleans gets a lead late, look for closer Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt). He has three saves so far. He hasn't allowed a run and has surrendered just three hits in seven innings.

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as the fog settles in

The left-field sunset has faded. It is chilly now. You slip a sweatshirt on. The stat sheet you hold in your hands almost feels wet, the air is so damp. But the ink doesn't run. You can read it. That kid from LSU is still leading the league in home runs. That pitcher who they say throws 95 -- he's way up on the list in strikeouts.
The game is close, 3-2 through seven innings. You're staying till the end.
You look out at the field. Some fog has slipped in. It settles like smoke, just off the grass in front of the right fielder, like a cloud. When he runs through it to catch a fly ball, it looks almost magical, maybe even spiritual, like he's playing baseball in heaven.
Maybe he is.
The baseball is pure here. The players eager. The fans, maybe some of them don't know what they're seeing, maybe they just heard it was a fun night out, good for the family and everything -- but they know. They know somehow that this thing, this Cape League, is special.
Really, there's nothing like it.
I'm going to try and keep up.

Stop waxing poetic

The Cape Cod Baseball League is the top college summer league in the nation. Plenty of other leagues have cropped up of late, and some are having success, but the Cape League is still the model -- and the pinnacle. In 2006, 198 Major Leaguers had spent time in the Cape League.
The rosters are like a who's who of the best college baseball players. All the top prospects want to spend their summers on the Cape. The only better opportunity is Team USA. There are 10 teams in the league, divided into two divisions. Over the course of two months, they play 44 games. Scouts will watch many of them. They come because of the combination of talent and wood. Unlike college baseball, the Cape uses only wooden bats, providing an accurate picture of what players might do at the next level.
What else? Players live with host families. Some have part-time jobs (Jeff Bagwell worked at Friendly's). There's no admission charge at games. The level of baseball has been compared to Single A.
That should sum it up. If you have never experienced Cape League Baseball, you have missed out.

Friday, June 29, 2007