Daily Fog: Still There

Brewster and Falmouth, the two teams with the best shot at chasing down a playoff spot that they aren't currently in line for, didn't get any closer to that spot last night.

But they didn't get farther away, either.

With Chatham winning, the Anglers held on to a two-point lead over Brewster and a five-point lead over Falmouth for what's shaping up to be the final playoff spot. Cotuit has moved into a second-place Wareham in the West, and with 41 points, both these teams have a bit of a cushion over Chatham and its chase pack. Harwich, at 32 points, isn't out of the mix, yet either, but the Mariners lost a heartbreaker to Orleans last night. As for Brewster and Falmouth, they didn't get closer, but they did what they needed to do to stay on pace.

They also did it in impressive fashion. Both wins came against first-place teams.

Four pitchers combined for a shutout as Brewster beat Y-D 1-0. Caleb Cotham (Vanderbilt) started and allowed four hits in four innings. Stayton Thomas (Texas) went two, Kendal Volz (Baylor) went one, and Tyler Thornburg (Charleston Southern) went two for the save. Brewster made a winner out of Thomas with a single run in the sixth inning. Jarrett Parker (Virginia) singled and came all the way around to score on a single and an error in center field.

In Falmouth, the Commodores blew past Bourne 9-2 in a game that was called in the seventh due to rain. Taylor Wall (Rice) struck out five in five shutout innings and picked up the win. Falmouth touched up Bourne star Bryan Morgado (Tennessee) for six runs in 4.2 innings. Hunter Morris (Auburn) and Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) both hit home runs. Morris' blast was a grand slam that powered a five-run fifth inning. Cunningham went 2-for-4 and, remarkably, raised his average again, up to .407.

Elsewhere

Cotuit rode a seven-inning complete game by Seth Blair (Arizona State) and hit four home runs to notch a crucial 8-2 victory over Wareham. The win move the Kettleers and Gatemen into a second-place tie in the West. Zach Cone (Georgia), Kevin Keyes (Texas), Cameron Rupp (Texas) and Kevin Patterson (Auburn) accounted for the home runs. They backed a strong effort by Blair, who allowed one earned run on four hits in seven innings.

Chatham stayed one step ahead of Brewster with a dramatic 8-7 victory over Hyannis. Chatham trailed 7-4 going into the eighth before scoring two that inning and two more in the ninth to grab the lead. Jesse Hahn (Virginia Tech) pitched 2.2 scoreless innings for the win and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) nailed down the save. Tyler Rahmatulla (UCLA) and Joey Terdoslavich (Long Beach State) each drove in two runs to pace the Anglers.

Orleans scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to erase a deficit and beat Harwich 3-2. Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount), who drove in the tying run on Wednesday, came up in the ninth with two in scoring position and two outs. He hit a single to left field that brought both runners home and gave Orleans the victory. Matt Hiserman (San Francisco) got the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.

What to Watch For Tonight

Brewster and Falmouth both have an important day ahead of them. The Whitecaps will visit Chatham at 7 p.m. with a chance to move back into a tie with the Anglers. They'll have the right guy on the mound, as ace Kyle Blair (San Diego) is set to go against Chatham's Patrick Johnson (North Carolina). Falmouth won't have as direct a chance to make up ground, but the Commodores will play a doubleheader in Harwich. Nick Tepesch (Missouri) and Kyle Winkler (TCU) are scheduled to go for Falmouth.