back and forth: monday, august 6

Monday, August 6, 2007

back and forth: monday, august 6

LAST NIGHT

Chatham put up a resounding 10-3 victory over Brewster to clinch second place in the East . . . Charles Brewer struck out six and allowed just two hits in 6.1 shutout innings . . . Allan Dykstra went 3-for-4 with five RBI and two home runs . . . Tim Federowicz, Addison Johnson, Kyle Seager and Trey Watten each had two hits
Hyannis got a crucial extra-innings victory over Cotuit. Kiko Vazquez hit a solo home run to put the Mets on top in the top of the 10th, and Garrett Sherrill closed out the victory . . . James Darnell had a home run and four RBI . . . With the victory, Hyannis stayed three points back of Falmouth
The Commodores beat Bourne 12-0 behind six shutout innings from Shooter Hunt and multi-hit games from six players . . . Conor Gillaspie went 3-for-3 to retake the league batting average lead
Harwich became the first team to score off Orleans reliever Rob Catapano, getting a run in the eighth inning on the way to a 2-1 victory . . . Anthony DiCesare knocked Cole Figueroa in for what proved to be the winning run
Terry Doyle continued a stretch of solid starts for Y-D as the Red Sox beat Wareham 7-1 . . . Doyle allowed four hits in six shutout innings

LAST NIGHT

Wareham visits Chatham and Bourne hosts Falmouth . . . The Commodores need to keep winning to keep Hyannis at bay. If Falmouth loses tonight, and the Mets win against Wareham tomorrow night, the teams will be one point apart for Wednesday's season finale

No comments:

Post a Comment

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.

Monday, August 6, 2007