Daily Fog: Going Long

Both Harwich and Y-D played 14 innings of baseball on Sunday in the first doubleheaders of the summer.

They almost did it again Monday night.

After Harwich split its twin bill with Bourne on Sunday and Y-D swept past Falmouth, the teams played the longest game of the season on Monday in Harwich. They went 13 innings, and no one scored for 12-and-a-half of them. Finally, in the bottom of the 13th, the Mariners pushed the game-winning run across on an RBI single by Phil Gosselin (Virginia). In addition to being the longest game, it was also, amazingly, the first 1-0 game of the season.

Getting that one proved to be extremely difficult. Seven pitchers took their turn on the mound, and none of them surrendered much. Even the only run was unearned. Y-D starter Greg Peavey (Oregon State) struck out six and allowed five hits in eight shutout innings, and his might not have even been the best performance. His Harwich counterpart, Mike Gipson (Florida Atlantic), allowed just two hits in seven scoreless frames.

When the game went to the bullpens, it was more of the same. Seth Simmons (East Carolina) and Kevin Rhoderick (Oregon State) each went two scoreless innings for Y-D, with Rhoderick striking out five. For Harwich, Geoff Parker (Florida State) and Matthew Price (Virginia Tech) went three innings each. Parker, making his first appearance, didn't allow a hit and struck out five.

Harwich finally broke through in the 13th. Chris Wade (Kentucky) reached on an error to start the frame, and he went first to third on a single by Dan Grovatt (Virginia). That set things up for Gosselin, who knocked the walk-off single to right field. Gosselin and Grovatt, both late arrivals after Virginia's run to Omaha, are already in the top five in hits on the team.

The win moved Harwich to 6-7, just 2.5 games back in the suddenly tight East standings. Y-D is sitting in second place at 8-7 with the second-best record in the league.

Elsewhere

Bryan Morgado (Tennessee) might be making himself a little money. A third-round pick this year, Morgado arrived in Bourne last week and turned in a solid, but short, first start. His second start wasn't exactly long, but it didn't have to be. Morgado went five innings last night against Cotuit and struck out 13. That's a league-high for the summer. At one point, Morgado struck out 10 of the first 11 batters he faced. Clearly one of the most dominant performances we're likely to see all summer.

Bourne ended up winning the game 2-1 thanks to an eighth-inning rally. Cotuit starter Jake Buchanan (NC State) struck out five in six shutout innings, but the Braves got things going against the Kettleer bullpen. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) tripled to start the inning and Chris Wallace (Houston) knocked him in with a single to tie the game. Bourne eventually loaded the bases and Wallace trotted home with the go-ahead run on a walk to Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina). Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) stranded a runner on third in the ninth to pick up the save.

Wareham moved into first place in the West -- at least in the loss column -- thanks to a 6-1 win over Hyannis and Bourne's victory over Cotuit. Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) allowed one run in 5.1 innings and the bullpen combined for 3.2 shutout innings to secure the win. Brett Eibner (Arkansas) and Zach Wilson (Arizona State), both of whom recently arrived from the College World Series, each hit home runs to power the six-run attack. Eibner ended up 2-for-2 with three RBI. Shea Vucinich (Washington State) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Brewster hung on for a 9-8 victory and handed Chatham its fourth straight loss. The Whitecaps led 7-2 in the sixth before Chatham came all the way back to tie the game 8-8. Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) went 3-for-4 with a home run four RBI, and he started an eighth-inning rally with a single. Pinch-running for him, Tyler Thornburg (Charleston Southern) scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Stephen Yarrow (San Francisco). It proved to be the winning run when the game was called after the eighth due to darkness. John Barr (Virginia) and Colin Walsh (Stanford) each had three hits for Brewster. Dean Green (Oklahoma State) went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Matt Perry (Vermont) went 2-for-4 with two RBI for Chatham.

Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored to help Falmouth past Orleans 4-2. Brian Fletcher (Auburn) and Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt) also drove in runs, as did the elusive Hunter Morris (Auburn). Morris was a third-round pick out of high school two years ago and has been on the Falmouth roster for two years running. He went with Team USA last year and was an invitee again this year, but apparently didn't take part in the trials. Last night's game marked his first appearance in a Falmouth uniform. Tommy Collier (San Jacinto) picked up the win for the Commodores with five shutout innings.

What to Watch For Tonight

Another high draft pick, Cotuit's Chris Dwyer (Clemson) will get the start against Y-D. Dwyer struck out nine in five shutout innings last time out. He'll actually be going up against Mario Hollands, a former Kettleer. The lefty from UC Santa Barbara played for Cotuit last year and was a 24th-round pick earlier this month. This will be his first appearance of the summer.