back and forth: saturday, august 4

Saturday, August 4, 2007

back and forth: saturday, august 4

LAST NIGHT

Interesting night, with four one-run games
With its 6-1 victory over Cotuit and Brewster's loss, Chatham clinched at least a tie for second place. The A's have an eight-point lead, and Brewster has four games remaining (you get two points for a win) . . . Tim Federowicz continues to bust out in dramatic fashion. After a 3-for-3 day yesterday, he went 4-for-4 Friday to pace a six-run attack. Federowicz was hitting .186 at the all-star break and is now hitting .260 . . . Tom Milone allowed six hits and one run in six innings, picking up his league-leading sixth win
Hyannis stayed alive in the West playoff race with a victory over Falmouth, the team the Mets are chasing . . . Shane Peterson scored the winning run in the eighth on a passed ball . . . Dan Brewer hit his sxith home run for Hyannis . . . Andrew Doyle didn't allow an earned run in 6.2 innings for Hyannis, while Kyle Gibson allowed one earned and struck out eight in six innings
A great -- and long -- pitchers' duel in Wareham as the Gatemen beat Bourne 1-0 in 12 innings . . . Bourne starter D.J. Mitchell didn't allow a run and equaled Brett Jacobson's single-game strikeout mark with 15 in eight innings, while Wareham's Andy Oliver struck out 11 in 6.2 shutout innings . . . The bullpens kept things scoreless until Jason Ogata scored Ben Booker on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th
Y-D's six-game winning streak didn't get to seven as Harwich posted a 3-2 victory . . . Dan Hudson worked six shutout innings for Harwich . . . Steve Strausbaugh and Cole Figueroa both went 2-for-3 for the Mariners . . . Y-D's Grant Green went 4-for-5
Matt Couch struck out eight and allowed one run in six innings, but the Brewster bullpen surrendered two runs in the seventh as Orleans notched a 5-4 victory . . . Rob Catapano, who still hasn't allowed a run this summer, went two innings in relief and got the victory

LAST NIGHT

A likely playoff preview tonight as Chatham visits Yarmouth-Dennis for a 4:30 p.m. game . . . Alex White goes against Trevor Holder in a solid pitching match-up
Bourne plays Wareham again, trying to snap a two-game losing streak
Matt Daly makes his first start since no-hitting Wareham July 25 as Hyannis hosts Cotuit

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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.

Saturday, August 4, 2007