Daily Fog: Either Way

Chatham and Harwich both picked up narrow victories last night, with Chatham winning 2-0 and Harwich winning 1-0.

One team got a little help.

The other didn't need much.

Chatham's game went just five innings, but it was official and Chatham was leading, so when the fog rolled in, the Anglers had themselves a 1-0 victory. North Carolina's Patrick Johnson also had himself a five-inning no-hitter.

Over in Brewster, Harwich played the full nine and Aaron Meade (Missouri State) took care of most of them. He struck out 12, walked one and allowed only four hits in seven shutout innings.

The victories were part of a 4-1 night for East teams, who won all their crossover match-ups with the West.

For Chatham, last night's game marked their second shortened game in a row. But in contrast to Monday, when the Anglers lost a slugfest that was called due to darkness, this one had a much better ending. Johnson, who had 77 strikeouts in 56.2 innings this spring, ended up striking out only two and walking four. But Falmouth couldn't muster a hit.

Chatham couldn't get much either against Falmouth's Taylor Wall (Rice), but managed to find a little offense in the third. Addison Johnson (Clemson) scored on an error, and Steven Brooks (Wake Forest) knocked in Whit Merrifield (South Carolina) with a base hit.

The Anglers moved to 10-5 with the win, still tops in the league.

As for Harwich, the Mariners got back to .500 at 7-7 thanks to Meade's big performance. A draft-eligible sophomore who went in the 28th round this year, Meade had a very strong season for Missouri State, going 9-2 with a 3.39 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 90.1 innings.

In his first two starts on the Cape, he was good but not great, allowing four earned runs in nine innings and striking out seven. But last night he took things to a new level, holding down a Brewster team that had only been shut out once this year. Meade faced only three batters over the minimum in his seven innings and the 12 strikeouts put him in a tie with Eric Cantrell for the second-most in a single outing this season.

In the end, Harwich actually had fewer hits then Brewster but managed to push a run across against Matt Lujan (San Francisco), who tossed a gem of his own. He only allowed three hits in seven innings, but a fifth-inning single by Anthony Sosnoskie (Virginia Tech) was a big one. It knocked in David Herbek (James Madison) with what proved to be the winning run. Glen Troyanowski (Florida Atlantic) picked up the save for Harwich.

Elsewhere

The pitching was pretty good in Orleans, too, where Firebirds starter Cole Cook (Pepperdine) allowed just one run in eight innings as Orleans topped Wareham 4-2. Cook only struck out one, but he also only allowed three hits. He had enough support for the win as Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton), Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) and Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) all drove in runs.

Bourne broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning and held on to a slim one-run lead the rest of the way in a 3-2 victory over Hyannis. The go-ahead run came home on an RBI single by Taylor Hightower (Ole Miss) that plated Raynor Campbell (Baylor), who had doubled. Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) picked up the win for Bourne with 2.1 shutout innings of relief.

In the only game on the slate that saw a team score more than four runs, Y-D beat Cotuit 7-3. The Red Sox pounded out a season-high 13 hits, with six players getting at least two. Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) hit a home run, doubled and drove in two, while Austin Wates (Virginia Tech) also had two hits and two RBI. Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State) had three hits. The offense was more than enough for Mario Hollands (UC Santa Barbara), who allowed two runs in 6.2 innings while making his first Y-D start. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) picked up his league-leading fifth save.

What to Watch For Tonight

Brandon Cumpton (Georgia Tech), who has a 0.75 ERA in two starts will try to halt Cotuit's two-game skid as he leads the Kettleers into a match-up with Y-D. Michael Goodnight (Houston) and his 0.79 ERA will start for the Red Sox.