daily fog: coming alive

Monday, June 23, 2008

daily fog: coming alive

We're still at a point in the season where one good day can raise a batting average dramatically. Chatham's Devin Lohman (Long Beach State), for instance, was hitting .190 through Saturday. After going 3-for-3 with three RBI on Sunday, Lohman is hitting .292 and is tied for the league lead in RBI.

A couple of teams made similar leaps last night. Chatham, Yarmouth-Dennis and Brewster, all of whom were treading water with two losses near the bottom of the Eastern Division, picked up wins last night. Brewster and Y-D are now just a point behind first-place Harwich while Chatham is two points back.

Brewster came up with the most lopsided victory, topping Wareham 8-0. Ryan Wheeler (Loyola Marymount) went 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Tim Clubb (Missouri State) turned in the team's best starting pitching performance of the year, going seven shutout innings while striking out three.

In Yarmouth, Y-D withstood a late rally from Harwich to hold on for a 6-4 victory. The Red Sox got three hits from Nick Liles, who upped his league-leading average to .484. DeAngelo Mack (South Carolina) had four hits.

Finally, Chatham squeaked out its second one-run victory in as many nights. The aforementioned Lohman led the way offensively while reliever Jeff Lorick (Virginia) tossed two shutout innings and picked up the win. A bases-loaded walk to Evan Ocheltree (Wake Forest) in the bottom of the ninth plated the winning run.

Elsewhere

After scoring its lowest run total of the season on Saturday, Cotuit got right back on track, blowing past Orleans 11-5. Mike Bianucci (Auburn) hit a grand slam, and Robbie Shields (Florida Southern) also had a home run for the Kettleers.

Hyannis gave itself the best record in the league with a 4-3 victory over Bourne. Chris Dominguez (Louisville) went 2-for-4 as the Mets scored all their runs in the first two innings. Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) picked up his fifth save, which puts him on a ridiculous pace. If he keeps up anything close to this, he will challenge Ryan Speier's league record of 16. The bullpen also shined for Bourne, who got 5.1 shutout innings from Kevin Landry (William & Mary). He struck out seven and only allowed one hit.

What to Watch For Tonight

Harwich takes on Hyannis in a battle of first-place teams. I'd expect it to be a pitchers' duel since both teams are near the top in ERA.

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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.

Monday, June 23, 2008