Daily Fog: What a Relief

One of the biggest differences between a college season and a Cape League season is the amount of pitching depth on the Cape. Players always talk about how much tougher it is when you're facing a Friday starter on a lot more nights than Friday.

The depth extends to the bullpen, where every year, dozens of players put up crazy numbers.

This year is no exception, and last night was a shining example.

The five teams that won all got outstanding relief performances, with four of their bullpens not giving up a single run after starters left the game. The only exception was Brewster, whose pen allowed one run. No starter went beyond the seventh inning, but on this night, they didn't really need to.

Here's the combined line for the five bullpens: 12 pitchers, 15 innings, 11 hits, 1 run and 20 strikeouts.

In terms of individuals, the star of the night was Hyannis' Dallas Gallant (Sam Houston State), who turned in perhaps the best extended relief performance of the summer. After Austin Hudson (Central Florida) left after six shutout innings with Hyannis leading 3-0, Gallant came in and emphatically shut the door. In three shutout innings, he struck out eight and allowed two hits. So yeah, that means all but one of the outs he recorded came via the strikeout. Gallant now has 26 strikeouts, which ranks him fourth in the league. Everyone else on the leader board is a starter. Gallant has pitched 16 innings. The next-lowest total on the top-five list? Eric Cantrell's 20.

As for a standout team effort from last night, I'd highlight both Wareham and Bourne. For the Gatemen, starter Eric Pfisterer (Duke) allowed three hits to Chatham in the first inning and not another in the rest of his 6.2 innings. Keith Bilodeau (Maine) and David Fischer (Connecticut) kept up their end of the bargain, combining for 2.1 hitless innings. Fischer struck out the side in the ninth as Wareham won 5-1.

In Bourne, four relievers each turned in a scoreless inning -- Alex Wimmers (Ohio State), Justin Poovey (Florida), Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) and Kevin Munson (James Madison). Munson picked up the save, his first of the season. Harrold has five saves to lead the Braves.

Elsewhere

We'll start with a little more detail on the aforementioned games. The Hyannis offense backed Hudson and Gallant with three early runs in the 3-0 victory over Orleans. Cody Hawn (Tennessee), Trent Whitehead (East Carolina) and Jackie Bradley, Jr. (South Carolina) all drove in runs. Dan Burkhart (Ohio State), the Big 10 Player of the Year who hasn't yet heated up this summer, went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Bradley, a freshman All-American, has also been struggling, but had a double in this one. That's his first extra-base hit of the summer. For Orleans, Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton) continued his strong start with a 2-for-4 day, and Danny Muno (Fresno State) also had two hits.

Bourne also got things going early, posting three runs in the first two innings on the way to a 3-1 victory over Falmouth. Kyle Roller (East Carolina), Rob Segedin (Tulane) and Nick Schwaner (New Orleans) each had two hits, with Schwaner driving in two. Bourne starter Seth Maness (East Carolina) allowed just an unearned run in five innings. Falmouth's Tommy Collier (San Jacinto), one of the top starters in the league so far, surrendered three runs in five innings.

Chatham got a run off Pfisterer in that first inning but nothing else. With the stage more than set, Wareham rallied for the victory on the strength of a four-run second inning. Three of the four runs that scored in that inning were unearned. Zach Wilson (Arizona State) went 2-for-4 to up his average to .361. Ryan LaMarre (Michigan) went 1-for-2 with an RBI. The win was Wareham's third straight. The Gatemen sit three points back of first-place Bourne, and they should get a boost soon. Texas pitchers Cole Green and Brandon Workman are in town.

Brewster topped Y-D 5-1 for its fourth straight win. The Whitecaps are now back to .500 at 8-8-3, and they're just five points out of first place. Sean Hoelscher (TCU) picked up the win for Brewster with 6.1 shutout innings. David Goforth (Ole Miss) picked up his third save after coming in with two runners on base in the eighth, getting out of that jam and working a scoreless ninth. Brewster's offense was led by recent arrival Tant Shepherd (Texas), who went 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Harwich starter Aaron Meade (Missouri State) allowed two runs and walked five, but he also struck out eight in five innings and ended up with the win as the Mariners topped Cotuit 5-2. For the Kettleers, Jake Buchanan (Nebraska) allowed his first earned run of the season, but it was three unearned runs that did the Kettleers in. Connor Powers (Mississippi State) went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Dan Grovatt (Virginia) also added two hits. Grovatt now has the requisite number of plate appearances to qualify for the average lead, and his .390 mark puts him in the top spot. Zack Cox (Arkansas), who drew high praise on Greg Schimmel's blog, went 3-for-4 with two RBI and is now hitting .389 for the Kettleers, who have dropped three in a row.

What to Watch For Tonight

Actually, watch for it today, as Wareham and Falmouth meet on Martha's Vineyard at 1 p.m. Matt Barnes (Connecticut) is scheduled to go for Wareham against Taylor Wall (Rice). It looks like both teams will be broadcasting the game.