daily fog: perfect with offense

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

daily fog: perfect with offense

Cotuit and Harwich both moved to 3-0 last night, and that's no surprise, considering the way those two teams are hitting. The Mariners and Kettleers have scored 19 runs apiece to tie for the league lead. At a point in the season where pitchers are generally ahead of hitters, when you can average more than six runs a game, you're probably going to win a lot.

Both teams scored a lot of their runs with one big performance -- Cotuit scored 10 on Monday, Harwich scored nine on Saturday -- but they also haven't scored fewer than four runs in a game.

On Tuesday, Cotuit put up five runs on eight hits in a 5-3 victory over Wareham. Leadoff hitter Brett Jackson (Cal) went 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Jeff Schaus (Clemson) was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Jackson moved into a tie for the league lead in RBI with five, while Schaus bumped his average to .500, good for a second-place tie with teammate Kevin Patterson (Auburn) and several others.

In Harwich, the Mariners beat Y-D 7-6 in 11 innings on a game-winning sacrifice fly by Andrew Giobbi (Vanderbilt). Fitting, because Giobbi exemplifies Harwich's early-season success. He's hitting only .143 so far, but he's second in the league with four RBI. That's the way it's gone for the Mariners. Their team average is more than 40 points below league-leader Cotuit, but as noted they've scored the same amount of runs. It's all about clutch hitting and the Mariners have had it. D.J. Belfonte, who had a tough year with Nebraska, has been Harwich's best hitter. His 3-for-5 performance on Tuesday moved his average to .462.

Elsewhere

Before yesterday, there had been three home runs hit this season. Brewster matched that number with one game. Nate Lape (Marshall) belted two home runs and Ryan Wheeler (Loyola-Marymount) added another to send Brewster to a 6-4 victory over Hyannis. That duo combined for five of Brewster's six hits.

While Cotuit leads the league in batting average, Y-D isn't far behind, sitting in second place with a very good .308 mark. And yet, the Red Sox don't have a win. They're 0-2-1, with last night's loss to Harwich coming by a run and the other loss coming by three runs.

Two winless teams met in Chatham, and Bourne came away with the victory. Jamie Johnson (Oklahoma), Justin Bour (George Mason) and Ross Wilson (Alabama) each had two hits to lead the Braves. Starting pitcher Ricky Bowen (Mississippi State) allowed two runs, struck out nine and didn't walk anybody in six strong innings.

Orleans got two hits from Tim Wheeler (Sacramento State) and two from Angelo Songco (Loyola Marymount) to beat Falmouth 2-1. Kyle Smith (Kent State) allowed a run in four innings of work, while Kyle Kamppi (Georgia Southern) picked up his second save. The Cardinals' pitching staff also continued a recent trend. Four pitchers combined for just two strikeouts. On the year, Orleans pitchers have 11 strikeouts, by far the lowest number in the league. In their season-opening win, they actually didn't strike out anybody.

What to Watch For Tonight

Four of the five leading hitters will be on the same field as Cotuit visits Y-D.

San Diego freshman Sammy Solis will get the start against Hyannis and try to get Chatham its first win. He'll go against Matt Ridings, who had a tremendous season at Western Kentucky.

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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.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008