Right Field Fog - A Cape Cod Baseball League Blog

New Digs

2009-10-07T21:02:00.002-04:00

Big news, people.

Right Field Fog has a new home.

Check it out. Change your bookmarks. Keep going back.

I think you'll like it.

http://www.rightfieldfog.com

Brave New World

2009-08-13T13:47:00.001-04:00

On January 30 at 4:17 p.m., I printed out an early version of Bourne's 2009 roster, stapled the two pages together and set out looking for stars, for names I recognized. There were quite a few, and several months later, when I started matching those names with college stats, it became clear pretty quickly: a lot of the talent that would cross the bridges in 2009 would be stopping in Bourne -- and, quite possibly, starting down the road to a championship.

But there was a detour.

Actually, a lot of them.

Blake Forsythe and Tyler Holt, two of the best hitters Bourne would have coming in, were invited to Team USA. So were Drew Pomeranz, Cody Wheeler and Alex Wimmers, perhaps the three best pitchers. Anthony Rendon, maybe the best freshman in the nation, would skip the summer with an injury.

The shuffling continued. Wimmers eventually made it but he was Bourne's only Team USA invitee who did. The rest stayed with the national team, and in addition to those guys, six other players changed their summer plans. Five more made only brief appearances with the Braves.

If you've lost count, that's 15 players on a roster of 30.

And that road to a championship? You had to wonder if the Braves would even find the on-ramp.

Two months later, it's safe to say they found it. The Braves clinched their first-ever Cape League championship yesterday in Cotuit, beating the Kettleers 5-1 to sweep the title series.

In doing so, they've turned all those gaps into a back-story, a footnote. They're a defining characteristic, yes, but only because they're gaps that were filled.

And filled perfectly.

Need an ace? There's an unsigned third-round pick named Bryan Morgado.

Need a slugger? Go get a draft-snubbed veteran. Name's Kyle Roller.

A sweet-swinger? Rob Segedin. Team USA alternate, looking for a home.

An infield mainstay? Try Raynor Campbell, 2008 Cape League All-Star.

We could continue to play this game. The list goes on. It's what the Braves had to do.

The amazing thing is how well they did it.

It's like they pulled rabbits out of hats. Bourne magic. Morgado was one of the league's best strikeout artists and an anchor at the top of the rotation. Roller turned into the league MVP, with numbers the likes of which haven't been seen on the Cape in 10 years. Segedin and Campbell were key pieces to the puzzle.

There were speed bumps along the way. It wasn't always a smooth ride. There were the fog-outs and the rainouts, the summer that had no rhythm. At one point in July, the Braves lost five straight games.

But through it all, the replacements like Roller and the mainstays like Pierre LePage jelled into a cohesive and consistent unit. By the end of the season, they were clicking. They won their last five regular-season games.

When their playoff journey began, the Braves hit an early road block. They trailed Orleans 2-0 in the first game of their semifinal series. Through eight innings, they had two hits. One inning -- and one never-to-be-forgotten rally -- later, the Braves had a 3-2 victory and 1-0 lead in the series.

They never looked back.

The Braves smashed Orleans 8-0 to sweep the semis then buried Cotuit 15-5 in a fog-shortened game one. Yesterday, they capped it off with a little of that Bourne magic, winning 5-1 despite getting out-hit 8-5. Pierre LePage drove in two runs, finishing the playoffs with six. He had 14 in the regular season. Kyle Roller had a hit for the fourth straight game. He finished the playoffs with a .500 average and a well-deserved second MVP award.

There were other stars, too. Ben Klafczynski had an up-and-down summer but hit .286 in four playoff games. Chris Wallace, who wasn't on that initial roster but became the starting catcher, also hit .286. Stefen Romero, whose mid-season slump had a lot to do with Bourne's mid-season slump, hit .400 in the playoffs.

And then there was the pitching. In four playoff games, the Braves allowed five earned runs. Four of them came in one game against Cotuit, the game where they scored 15 and didn't need much pitching help. In the other three games, Bourne pitchers allowed one earned run on 16 hits. They struck out 30. Morgado, Wimmers, Seth Maness and Eric Cantrell delivered outstanding starts. And the bullpen that shined all year continued on the same path. Aside from the three runs allowed by the pen in the blowout, Bourne's relievers -- with Logan Billbrough, Justin Poovey and Kevin Munson leading the way -- didn't allow an earned run in 10 innings of work.

All those pieces created a dominant playoff performance. Their motto was "Believe" and they certainly did. The Braves are the third team in a row to sweep through the playoffs and win the title. Y-D won in 2007 as a powerhouse delivering a finishing touch. Harwich in 2008 as an underdog catching fire.

And now Bourne in 2009. As a talented team getting hot? As a hard-working group living up to the promise? As a team, an organization and a town that really wanted this?

All of that, yes, and maybe this: A team that existed not as a blueprint or an expectation, not as a winter picture coming into focus, but only as it was, a team on a baseball field in a perfect rainy summer.

Bourne Explodes in Game One

2009-08-12T08:08:00.001-04:00

When Cotuit grabbed its finals berth by scoring 18 runs against the best team in the league, you had to think the Kettleers would have some momentum for the championship.

But momentum doesn't always mean much in playoff baseball.

And even if it did Tuesday night, the Bourne Braves had plenty of it, too.

Bourne gave Cotuit a taste of its own medicine, winning game one of the championship series 15-5 for its eighth consecutive victory. The Braves won five in a row to end the regular season then swept their first-round series.

Last night, they took advantage of a depleted Cotuit pitching staff. The Kettleers didn't have the most stable rotation during the season -- only two players started every game they appeared in, and 14 different players made starts. With some early departures further clouding things and with the Kettleers playing two more playoff games than Bourne, there wasn't much left.

Cotuit turned to Andres Caceres (Connors State), whose six appearances didn't include a start. Bourne didn't let Caceres feel at home, sending 13 men to the plate in the first inning and putting up seven runs. Kyle Roller and Pierre LePage each had two-run singles to power the early surge.

It was more of the same in the second inning, as Stefen Romero led off with a double. The Braves went on to score six more runs, with Roller driving in two more.

Starting pitcher Alex Wimmers took the lead and ran with it, allowing one run and striking out nine in four innings of work. Cotuit put a rally together after Wimmers left the game, but fog started wreaking havoc. The game was called in the sixth.

I doubt the fog put too much of a damper on the good feelings in the Bourne dugout. They're rolling, and if they can stretch their win streak to nine in today's game two, they'll capture the franchise's first-ever Cape League championship.

Whoa, Cotuit

2009-08-11T08:30:00.001-04:00

On June 19, Cotuit beat Brewster 10-9. Amazingly, that was the only time all summer that the Kettleers reached double digits in runs.

The second time sure was worth the wait.

Playing in a decisive game three on Monday at Y-D, the Kettleers blasted the Red Sox 18-4 to win the series and grab themselves a spot in the Cape League championship. They'll visit the Braves tonight at 7 p.m. for game one of the all-West finals.

The fact that the Kettleers are there isn't an enormous shock. Y-D was the league's best team in the regular season, but they weren't so dominant that an upset seemed out of the question.

Monday's result -- that is a shock. The league high in runs this season was 15. From a historical perspective, before Monday, the largest margin of victory in a Cape League playoff game this decade was 12. Orleans beat Bourne 13-1 in the 2005 championship. The highest run total was 15 in 2000, when Brewster beat Chatham 15-4 in the semis.

That Cotuit set new high-water marks against this Y-D team is crazy. The Red Sox never allowed double-digit runs in the regular season. Their high was eight. And though they weren't quite as overpowering as their teams from a few years back, they were very, very good.

But on Monday, they had a very bad day, and Cotuit had a very good one. The Red Sox made five errors, walked nine batters and allowed 14 hits. The Kettleers marched to a 3-0 lead in the first and before long, had a serious cushion. They sent 10 men to the plate in the fourth and scored six runs for a 9-1 lead. Eight batted in the fifth as the Kettleers made it a 14-1 lead.

The individual numbers are gaudy. Cotuit's middle of the order -- Kevin Patterson, Cody Stanley, Cameron Rupp and Kevin Keyes -- combined to go 9-for-19 with 12 runs scored and 10 RBI. Rupp and Keyes both hit home runs, as did Tony Plagman. Amazingly, Cotuit scored its 18 runs while also leaving 11 men on base.

While Cotuit's pitching didn't need to be great yesterday, it was certainly good. After starter Jeff Walters went 2.1 innings, Craig Fritsch, who pitched for Y-D last year, went 5.1 innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run.

And so Cotuit moves on to the first all-West final since the inception of the East-West format. A day ago, I would have given the edge to the Braves. They're rested and riding high.

Now I'm not so sure. This Cotuit team is a skeleton crew, but by all accounts, they've come together in that special way that only a difficult baseball postseason can create. If they can score 18 runs against the best team in the league -- even if it was just an aberration -- then anything's possible.

Down to Three

2009-08-10T07:45:00.001-04:00

The Bourne Braves had four hits on Saturday in their playoff opener and trailed for eight innings.

On Sunday, they didn't trail at all. And they had a lot more than four hits.

Behind a 10-hit attack, the Braves grabbed a spot in the Cape League championship with a sweep-clinching 8-0 victory in Orleans yesterday afternoon. The Braves broke through early and piled on late, as three players delivered multi-hit games -- Stefen Romero (Oregon State), Kyle Roller (East Carolina) and Ben Klafczynski (Kent State). Roller hit a home run and drove in three while Pierre LePage (Connecticut) hit his first home run of the summer and scored three runs.

The offense backed a dominant performance by Seth Maness (East Carolina). Coming off a near-perfect game and then a bad start, Maness was a lot closer to the former yesterday. He allowed just two hits and didn't walk anybody in six shutout innings. He struck out five.

The Braves' bullpen, which has been dominant at times this season, polished off Maness' gem with three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, two from Justin Poovey (Florida) and one from Kevin Munson (James Madison).

Orleans had beaten the Braves four times during the regular season and hadn't allowed more than three runs in any of those games. But the Braves came through when it counted. Roller went 4-for-7 in the series to lead the Braves.

Bourne, with Alex Wimmers still waiting in the wings, will have a day off before the championship series begins. Like Harwich last year -- who swept Orleans in the semis -- the Braves will await the winner of a rubber game involving Cotuit.

The Kettleers, who made it to the championship last year after winning game three on the heels of a game-two loss, will have to do the same thing this year. Y-D, which lost two games in a row just twice after the first week of the season, certainly wasn't going to let it happen here. The Red Sox went to Lowell Park yesterday and beat Cotuit 10-5.

If pitching was the story in game one of the series, game two was all about offense, and the Red Sox had a lot of it. After falling behind 1-0, they scored a run in the third and dented the scoreboard at least once in each of the next four innings. They finished with 11 hits and helped the cause by drawing seven walks.

Blake Kelso (Houston), who went 3-for-3 on Saturday, went 3-for-5 yesterday with two runs scored and two RBI. Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State) also had three hits and two RBI, while Caleb Ramsey (Houston) had one hit and drove in two.

Austin Ross (LSU) turned in a solid start for the Red Sox, allowing four hits in six innings.

Game Today
Cotuit at Y-D, 3 p.m.

It'll be Jeff Walters (Georgia) for Cotuit against Y-D's Greg Peavey (Oregon State). Walters has started just one game for the Kettleers and it came last week against Y-D. He went three innings, allowing two runs on two hits. That game was kind of a staff day for Cotuit, and they may do the same kind of thing today.

For Y-D, Peavey finished the regular season with a 2.75 ERA. In his last start, he allowed one run in 5.1 innings and struck out seven.

How the West is Winning

2009-08-09T11:54:00.001-04:00

The first day of second-round playoff action was dominated by pitching.

At least for 16 innings.

The other two were reserved for offense. Very dramatic -- and series-changing -- offense.

Cotuit scored three in the ninth to break a scoreless tie and grab a 1-0 lead in its series with Y-D. Bourne's finish was even more wild, as the Braves scored three in the ninth to erase a 2-0 deficit and win 3-2 over Orleans.

Just like that, with three in the ninth, it's two in the books.

The Cotuit vs. Y-D game offered the best on-paper playoff pitching match-up we've seen in a while. Last year's successful playoff runs weren't built on power pitching. I'd go back to 2007, with a match-up like Aaron Crow vs. D.J. Mitchell, to make a comparison with yesterday's starters, Chris Sale and Chad Bell. Sale was honored as the league's top pitcher before the game. Bell had a no hitter to his name, the league's first since 2007.

I wish I had been able to get to this game, because Bell and Sale certainly didn't disappoint. Bell went eight shutout innings, scattered six hits and struck out five. His defense turned five double-plays, helping those hits stay scattered. Sale was perhaps better, striking out 10 and walking only one in his eight innings.

But Sale came out for the ninth, and that's when Cotuit finally got to him. Rico Noel (Coastal Carolina) led off with a single, Chris Bisson (Kentucky) bunted and reached on an error and Zach Cone (Georgia) delivered a clutch hit to drive in Noel. Another error and a sac fly from Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington) plated two insurance runs.

Y-D still had a shot, but on a day when Y-D closer Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) received the league's reliever of the year award, the likely runner-up for that honor, Cotuit's Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern), slammed the door. Tillman hasn't allowed a run all year and he worked a perfect ninth to preserve the victory.

Over in Bourne, the pitching was just as strong, particularly from Orleans starter Jorge Reyes (Oregon State). A 17th-round pick this year, Reyes has had an up-and-down career in Corvallis, but early on, he was as clutch a pitcher as any in the country when he led the Beavers to a College World Series title. He's been very good for the Firebirds this summer, and when it was time for another big game yesterday, he delivered. Reyes took a shutout into the ninth.

But like Sale, Reyes ran into a lineup that wasn't done swinging. Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina) hit a one-out single and Pierre LePage (Connecticut) walked. Things still weren't that promising, but the hit and walk did chase Reyes and the league MVP was coming up. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) greeted reliever Brett Weibley (Kent State) with an RBI single to left. LePage took third on the hit and Roller moved to second on the throw. LePage then scored on a wild pitch and Roller took third, representing the winning run. After Orleans intentionally walked Rob Segedin (Tulane), they pitched to Stefen Romero (Oregon State). Once an MVP candidate like his teammate Roller, Romero dropped off sharply in the second half of the season. For Bourne to have success in these playoffs, they were going to need Romero to get going.

He delivered this time. Romero hit a fly ball to right and it was deep enough to let Roller tag up and score the winning run.

The victory was Bourne's first playoff win since 2005, when they made it to the finals before losing to Orleans. It was also Bourne's first victory over Orleans this year. The Braves were 0-4 against the Firebirds in the regular season.

Games Today
Y-D at Cotuit, 3 p.m.

The probables: Austin Ross for Y-D against Seth Blair for Cotuit. Both pitchers have been good this summer. Ross has a 1.93 ERA; Blair is at 2.75 but has two complete games to his credit. Blair is in his second summer on the Cape. He pitched in the playoffs for Cotuit last year and gave up 10 runs on 13 hits in a championship-series loss to Harwich. You think he remembers that? I bet he does.

It's going to be interesting to see if Cotuit can scratch and claw its way through this series. Early departures have left the Kettleers with nine position players, and three of them are catchers. One of the three, Cody Stanley, played center field yesterday.

Bourne at Orleans, 4 p.m.

Orleans is going with Jimmy Reyes, who has a 3.40 ERA but good strikeout numbers. The Braves have actually faced him twice this season, with Reyes picking up wins both times. The first line: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 7 K. The second: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K. One piece of good news for the Firebirds: Bourne's Kyle Roller was hitless against Reyes in those games.

Bourne did not list a probable starter, but I'm thinking either Alex Wimmers or Seth Maness. In his last three starts, Wimmers has allowed one run over 14 innings and has struck out 26. Maness struggled in his last start, but the start before, he narrowly missed a perfect game.

Enjoy the action today.

The Given Day

2009-08-07T14:53:00.001-04:00

More than any other sport, baseball is a game of the given day. In the Bigs this year, the Nationals have the league's worst record. The Dodgers have the best. But if the Nationals beat the Dodgers one day, no one will be surprised. Anything can happen on one day. That's why they play 162 games. That's why a playoff series goes five games or seven games. When you're deciding a champion, you can't go one-and-done.

The Cape League is doing it, though, and it's going to be very interesting to see how it plays out. The next round and the championship will still have a best-of-three format, but today, it's win or you're gone.

I'm still not completely sure how I feel about the new system. It seems slightly unfair, but at least this year, it worked out reasonably well. There wasn't a huge gap. I think Cotuit and Wareham both deserve to be in. To a slightly lesser extent, Chatham could make a case, too. The Anglers were only two points off Wareham's pace.

And now they'll get their shot. Today is their given day, and regardless of what we think about it, it's going to be really exciting.

I guess it's just a like a game three, without the first two.

I'd love to break it down more -- that was the plan -- but my internet connection is freaking out. So I will leave you with some predictions.

Wareham beats Cotuit behind a strong start from Cole Green.

Orleans takes care of business against Chatham, getting some big hits from its big guns.

Daily Fog: One More Time

2009-08-06T10:00:00.001-04:00

The last night of the regular season went the same way every other night did when Wareham and Bourne got together.

Earlier in the day, Cotuit tied its season finale 1-1 with Brewster. That put the Kettleers ahead of Wareham by two points for second place in the West. If Wareham could beat Bourne, the Gatemen would tie the Kettleers, would win the tiebreaker and would host a first-round game with Cotuit.

But the Gatemen were playing Bourne, and that hasn't been a good thing for them this season. In five prior meetings between the teams this season, Bourne came out victorious. Every time.

Last night, Wareham led 5-2 going into the eighth. A home game on Friday looked like a strong possibility.

Then things returned to form. Bourne scored three in the eighth and two in the ninth to win 7-5. Stefen Romero (Oregon State), who got off to such a strong start before hitting a serious slump, drove in five of the runs last night, a good sign for a Bourne team that's been getting a lot of them lately. The Braves will enter the playoffs on a five-game winning streak.

As for Wareham, the loss of a potential home game isn't a huge deal, but it could certainly have an impact. The Gatemen went 12-8-2 at home this season. On the road, they were 7-11-4, and only one of those wins -- a July 24 victory at Orleans -- came against a playoff team. At Cotuit's Lowell Park, where they'll play Friday, Wareham went 0-1-2.

More on the playoffs over the next two days.

Elsewhere

Falmouth's Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) did not hit .400. He took an 0-for-4 last night, which will put his season-ending average at .377. But as Cunningham said in the Cape Cod Times, "It's not the numbers that you're putting up – it's the way you're approaching the game, playing the game." He was a roaring success on both counts.

Hyannis came away with a 4-3 victory over Falmouth. Jackie Bradley Jr. (South Carolina), who struggled mightily early in the season, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, raising his final average to .275. Kevin Brandt (East Carolina) and Jimmy Messer (North Carolina) turned in solid pitching performances for the Mets.

Orleans and Chatham are going to be sick of each other pretty soon. Orleans beat Chatham 3-2 for the second straight night, and the teams will play again on Friday in the playoffs. Hampton Tignor (Florida) and Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) drove in runs last night to lead the Firebirds to the win.

Brewster and Cotuit played to a 1-1 tie. While the Kettleers used six pitchers in preparation for the playoffs, the Whitecaps turned in some solid farewell performances. Matt Lujan (San Francisco) allowed just an unearned run in seven innings and Stayton Thomas (Texas) worked three shutout innings. Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia), who hit a slump midway through his time on the Cape, finished strong last night, going 4-for-5. His final numbers are really good: .323, 5 HR, 18 RBI.

Y-D added to its league-best win total with an 8-6 victory over Harwich. The Red Sox finish with one fewer victory than their 2006 team, which won the title. Brian Hernandez (UC Irvine) hit two home runs and drove in three runs and Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) knocked in two for Y-D. One thing that could be of concern: ace reliever Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) came on in a non-save situation and gave up three earned runs. He had given up one earned run all season before last night. For Harwich, Leon Landry (LSU) went 3-for-4.

No games tonight. Playoffs start Friday.

Daily Fog: More Clearing

2009-08-05T08:33:00.001-04:00

A day after all the playoff berths were secured, we're a little closer to knowing what spot everyone's getting.

Bourne's magic number for clinching the top seed in the West was one. The Cotuit loss would have been enough, but the Braves took care of their own business, too. They beat Hyannis 7-4.

Not too long ago, Bourne was floundering but the Braves have now won four in a row, and they couldn't have picked a better time to get hot. Rob Segedin (Tulane) had two hits and two RBI last night and Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina) hit a homer as the Braves held off the Mets. Alex Wimmers (Ohio State), presumably prepping for the playoffs, went just three innings. The bullpen had some trouble early but Scott Oberg (UConn), a recent addition who was making his third appearance, tossed 2.2 strong innings. Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) then worked a scoreless ninth for the save.

The way it looks to me, the only things still up for grabs now are the second seed in the West and the fifth overall seed. Cotuit sits one point ahead of Wareham in the West. With a win tonight, Cotuit will get to host its first-round game. With a Cotuit loss and a Wareham win, Wareham will host in the first round.

As for that fifth overall seed, the Chatham people seem to think the Anglers are No. 6 regardless, but I don't think so. If they beat Orleans tonight and Wareham loses, both Chatham and Wareham will have 44 points. The Anglers hold a 3-1 edge in the season series so they would win the tiebreaker and would be the fifth seed. That would set them up with No. 4 Cotuit. Wareham would then play No. 3 Orleans.

I think that sums it up. Today is officially the last day of the regular season, since Thursday's make-up between Hyannis and Falmouth was canceled, likely because there are no playoff implications.

Elsewhere

It's that time of year again, when awards get handed out, but you miss them if you blink. To my knowledge, last night marked the first presentation as Falmouth's Todd Cunningham was given the batting title and the top pro prospect award. Cunningham went 0-for-3 in Falmouth's 5-4 win over Wareham, which dropped his average to .388. With one game left, Cunningham would have to go 4-for-4, 4-for-5 or something along those lines to get back to .400. A couple of hits, though, and he'll finish with the highest batting average the league has seen this decade.

Orleans beat Chatham 5-1, and with another win tonight over the Anglers, the Firebirds would set up a first-round playoff match-up with Chatham. Kevin Muno (San Diego) hit a grand slam last night as Orleans scored all its runs in the seventh inning.

Y-D got four RBI from Steve Chatwood (San Diego) and beat Cotuit 9-8. The Red Sox now have three more wins than anyone else in the league. They'll finish up tonight at Harwich.

In a game that lost its playoff implications the night before, Brewster beat Harwich 7-2. Steven Maxwell (TCU) picked up the win with seven strong innings. John Barr (Virginia) had two hits and two RBI for the Whitecaps.

What to Watch For Tonight

Wareham hosts Bourne at 7 p.m. Cotuit hosts Brewster at 4:30. Chatham hosts Orleans at 7. The outcome of those three games will determine the final standings.

Daily Fog: That's That

2009-08-04T08:27:00.001-04:00

If you did any playoff math yesterday, you could have figured out some interesting scenarios.

It only took one night for all of them to fly out the window.

Chatham beat Harwich 5-4 and Bourne swept a doubleheader from Brewster 8-1 and 4-2 to bring the playoff picture into focus. Chatham, with 42 points, and Bourne, with 48, have clinched spots. Harwich and Brewster, the only teams that were in position to qualify, have 37 and 36 points with just two games left. They're out.

I think most of us would agree that this was the most likely result. Harwich and Brewster were there, but with a lot of work to do.

Still, it wasn't hard to picture an upset story, especially for Harwich. The Mariners beat Chatham on Sunday, a win that brought them within three points of the Anglers. On Monday, the teams got together on the same Whitehouse Field diamond, where a Harwich win would have left the teams one point apart. With two games left for each, it would have been a very interesting finish.

Chatham didn't let it happen. Jake Thompson (San Diego), who has struggled this summer, delivered exactly the kind of start the Anglers needed. He went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out five. It wasn't easy from there as the Chatham bullpen allowed two runs to make it a 5-4 game, but Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) came on in the eighth and recorded a five-out save while allowing just one hit. He struck out Harwich slugger Conner Powers (Mississippi State) to end the game.

The Anglers offense was led by Matt Duffy (Vermont), who had a home run, and Dean Green (Oklahoma State), who drove in two.

Over in Bourne, the Braves were on much more solid footing than the Anglers to start the night -- they would have had to lose out and Brewster would have had to win out for the Whitecaps to take that spot. But a doubleheader sweep by Brewster certainly would have made the Braves sweat.

Instead, they made themselves comfortable. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and six RBI to power the Braves' 11-hit attack in game one. Robert Morey (Virginia) allowed one run in five innings for the win, and Justin Poovey pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Ben Klafczynski (Kent State), who had four hits on the night, capped things off with two hits and two RBI in the second game. Michael Dimock (Wake Forest), who had made eight appearances but no starts, got the start this time and struck out eight in five strong innings. Trevor Knight (James Madison) got the save.

So now all that's left is figuring out the seedings, and that'll be no small task.

But who knows? Maybe that'll happen quickly, too.

Elsewhere

The playoff race wasn't the only one that hit a finish line last night in Bourne. If there was any doubt left that Kyle Roller should win the MVP award, it has to be fading away. Roller finished the crucial doubleheader 4-for-7 with a home run and six RBI. The home run is his tenth, good for the league lead. His 32 RBI are also tops. His .345 average is second. In any other year -- when someone else isn't flirting with .400 -- Roller is on Triple Crown pace. As it is, he has still had one of the most productive seasons this league has seen in a while. Assuming he gets the nod, Roller will be not only a deserving MVP, but he'll go down as one of the more impressive MVPs.

While a lot of shuffling could still happen in the seeding department, one spot was secured last night. With its 3-0 victory over Falmouth, Y-D clinched the top seed in the East and the all-important first-game bye that comes with it. Y-D used four pitchers last night, with Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) getting the start and going three innings. Drew Hayes (Vanderbilt) went four and Chase Dempsay (Houston) went one. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) worked a scoreless ninth for his league-best 12th save. The Red Sox now have 53.

On the .400 watch, Falmouth's Todd Cunningham went 1-for-2 last night against Y-D, raising his average a point to .396. Falmouth still has three games left. The Cape Cod Times noted yesterday that if Cunningham hits .400, he would be the first since 1990, when Mark Smith of USC batted .408.

Orleans guaranteed itself a second-place finish in the East with a 6-5 extra-innings win over Hyannis. Without that win, Chatham, which plays Orleans in the last two games of the season, could have overtaken the Firebirds with two victories. Now, Orleans is assured of hosting that do-or-die first game. The victory last night came after Orleans fell behind 5-1. Thanks to solid relief work from Matt Hiserman (San Francisco), who kept Hyannis at bay, the stage was set and the Firebird offense scored one in the fourth and three in the eighth to tie the game. Danny Muno (Fresno State) knocked in the winning run in the 11th on a fielder's choice.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne sends Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) to the hill at Hyannis with a chance to clinch first place in the West. Cotuit could still catch up if the Braves lose their last two.

Daily Fog: Do or Die

2009-08-03T08:05:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, it looked like Brewster and Falmouth stood the best chance of chasing down Chatham for the sixth and final playoff spot. Now, both those teams are getting backed against the wall, with a playoff spot looking further and further away.

But Chatham isn't home free yet.

Harwich has won three and tied one in its last five games, but the big one came last night. In a head-to-head battle, Harwich beat Chatham 1-0. A win by the Anglers there would have given them a seven-point cushion. Harwich, with three games left, wouldn't have been able to catch them. Brewster actually would have been in a better spot.

As it stands now, though, Harwich is right there and with another Harwich-Chatham game scheduled for tonight, the Mariners have a shot to get closer.

Last night, the Mariners won on the strength of their first shutout since July 3, which also came against Chatham. This time, it was Aaron Meade (Missouri State) delivering the gem with five strikeouts and four hits allowed in 7.2 innings. Meade, with his 1.91 ERA, has been Harwich's best starter this summer, and he certainly delivered when it counted. Brian Dupra (Notre Dame) relieved Meade and worked 1.1 scoreless innings.

The win is all the more impressive because it matched an ace against an ace, with Chatham's Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State) -- the reigning league pitcher of the week -- striking out seven in 7.1 innings of work. But Harwich touched him up for a single run in the seventh. Conner Powers (Mississippi State) singled, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a base hit by Stuart Tapley (Florida State). Joe Loftus (Vanderbilt) then delivered a single to plate Powers for the only offense Harwich needed.

Just like that, the Mariners are alive and well.

And making things very interesting.

Elsewhere

I still wouldn't count Brewster out. The Whitecaps are four points back of Chatham, but yesterday's 15-5 loss to Y-D certainly doesn't help the cause. Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) hit two home runs and had six RBI for the Red Sox, who picked up their league-best 25th win of the season. The Red Sox are one victory or one Orleans loss away from clinching the regular-season East title.

Cotuit, Bourne and Wareham all won last night, keeping their nip-and-tuck West race exactly where it was. Cotuit came away with a 7-4 victory over Orleans. Zach Cone (Georgia) had three RBI, Cameron Rupp (Texas) hit a homer and drove in two and Kevin Patterson (Auburn) went 3-for-3 to lead the Kettleers. Patterson is six for his last eight. On the mound, Ben Rowen (Virginia Tech) picked up the win in relief and Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern) worked one scoreless inning.

Bourne edged Hyannis 7-6 thanks in large part to a five-run sixth inning. Rob Segedin (Tulane), Stefen Romero (Oregon State) and recent addition B.J. LaRosa (Bucknell) all drove in two runs for the Braves. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) hit his league-best ninth home run. The Braves have one more win but are one point back of Cotuit for first place. The Braves have four games left, while Cotuit and Wareham both have three.

Wareham remained tied with Bourne thanks to a 6-5 victory over Falmouth. The Gatemen trailed late but scored two in the seventh on a double by Rob Kral (College of Charleston), a late addition who's playing in just his third game. Alex Dickerson also drove in two for the Gatemen, who got an outstanding relief performance by Matt Barnes (Indiana). Barnes struck out eight and allowed one run on one hit in four innings. Barnes was credited with the win and Dean Kiekhefer (Louisville) got the save. For Falmouth, Todd Cunningham went 2-for-5 and is hitting .395.

What to Watch For Tonight

Chatham at Harwich, 7 p.m. Jake Thompson (San Diego), who has struggled this summer, goes for the Anglers against John Gast (Florida State). Gast has a 4.15 ERA.

Daily Fog: The Wildcard

2009-08-02T11:43:00.001-04:00

In a league where parity continues to reign, it becomes difficult to get an accurate picture of what a given team can do.

The Cotuit Kettleers make it more difficult than most.

Maybe we should have known right away. The Kettleers started their season with a loss, a win and a tie in their first three games. Since then, they've had stretches where they've been anything but streaky -- in one 13-game string, they went 6-6-1. At other times, they've been as streaky as could be -- they lost six in a row at one point before winning six out of seven.

And now, in the same week where they lost a 13-1 game, they've won their other four, including two straight against their chief rivals in the West race. With last night's 6-2 win over Bourne, the Kettleers moved into first place with 43 points, one point ahead of Bourne and Wareham.

The win over Bourne came on the heels of Friday's 8-2 win over Wareham, and it followed a similar script. After Seth Blair's seven-inning complete game, Justin Grimm (Georgia) tossed a gem Saturday against the Braves. He allowed just one earned run in 7.1 innings and picked up the win.

If any one player exemplifies Cotuit's season, it's Grimm. At times, he's been lights out; other times, he has struggled mightily. Last night was one of the good ones. Grimm scattered six hits, struck out 10 and didn't walk anybody.

To stick with the exemplifying, Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern), who relieved Grimm last night, perhaps represents all the good Cotuit is capable of. He struck out all five batters he faced in his 1.2 perfect innings. Tillman still hasn't allowed a run this year.

Grimm and Tillman were backed by a 14-hit attack. It only produced six runs, but that was enough. Cotuit did all its damage against Seth Maness (East Carolina), who narrowly missed a perfect game his last time out. He struck out nine on this night, but amazingly, also allowed 12 hits. Zach Cone (Georgia) and Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington) each drove in two, while Kevin Patterson (Auburn) and Rico Noel (Coastal Carolina) had three hits apiece. Noel stole two bases.

All in all, an impressive night for the Kettleers. In the end, it may just be another blip -- you never know with this team and Cotuit has played two more games than Bourne -- but it could also be a sign of something big. Whatever words you use to describe Cotuit, one of them should probably be "dangerous."

Elsewhere

Chatham may have given away much of its cushion with that losing streak, but when it counts, they've been able to keep Brewster at arm's length. The Anglers beat the Whitecaps 3-0 last night, their second win over Brewster in four days. This one gives them a four-point cushion over the Whitecaps. Coming into the game, I would have given the edge to Brewster, who had Kyle Blair (San Diego) on the mound. Blair minimized the damage that seven walks could have caused, but Chatham scored three runs on a triple by Whit Merrifield (South Carolina) that apparently got lost in the lights. An ensuing error allowed Merrifield to score, and that one play stood as the difference. Patrick Johnson (North Carolina) tossed a gem for the Anglers, striking out seven and allowing three hits in six shutout innings. Taylor Hill (Vanderbilt) allowed just one hit in two innings and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) worked around some trouble for a scoreless ninth and his ninth save.

Wareham finally had some doubleheader trouble. The Gatemen had been undefeated in doubleheader games but last night, they tied Orleans 2-2 in game one and lost the second game 6-5. In game one, neither team scored after the second inning, with Cole Green (Texas) and Matt Packer (Virginia) each turning in strong starts. In the second game, Orleans scored two in the top of the seventh to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Jeremy Gould (Duke) knocked in both runs with a double, and Brett Weibley (Kent State) kept the Gatemen off the board in the bottom of the seventh. With the win and tie, and Y-D's loss, Orleans moved to within three games of the Red Sox for first place in the East.

That Y-D loss came at the hands of Hyannis, who broke out of a two-run hole on the strength of a Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) grand slam in the seventh inning. Cuneo's blast was his fifth of the year, and he again has grabbed the league lead in RBI. His home run made a winner out of Tyler Wilson (Virginia), who allowed four runs in eight innings. Chris Haney (Dallas Baptist) got the save.

Harwich beat Falmouth 4-2 in game one of a doubleheader and the teams finished the second game in a 2-2 tie. Matthew Price (Virginia Tech) picked up the win and Les Williams (Northeastern) got the save with two strong innings of relief. Levi Michael (North Carolina), Stuart Tapley (Florida State) and Anthony Sosnoskie (Virginia Tech) knocked in one run each. In game two, Harwich got a run in its last at-bat to tie the game. An RBI single by Jeff Vigurs (Bryant) brought home the tying run and sent the game to extras. Rob Gariano (Fairfield) pitched three scoreless innings of relief for Harwich to keep the score where it was. The victory and the tie give Harwich one more point that Falmouth as both teams try to stay alive in the playoff race. For Falmouth, Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 1-for-7 in the two games, dropping his average to .394.

What to Watch For Tonight

Cotuit will try for three in a row with a home game against Orleans. Chad Bell (Walters State) is scheduled to start for the Kettleers against Jimmy Reyes (Elon), who has been one of Orlean's most consistent starters.

Daily Fog: Still There

2009-08-01T10:10:00.001-04:00

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.

Daily Fog: Streak Stopping

2009-07-30T12:04:00.002-04:00

As the ninth-inning fog thickened, Addison Johnson looked at right-fielder Whit Merrifield and threw up his hands, in a what-can-we-do kind of gesture.

I don't know what he was worried about.

My dad and I got to Chatham late last night after I made the trip over from Rhode Island, so we missed Johnson's spectacular catch. If he had needed to make another one, even in the thick fog, he probably would have been able to.

It was that kind of night for the Anglers, and they needed it.

The Anglers beat Brewster 10-1 to snap a seven-game losing streak. As crucial as it was to stop the skid, it was just as big to beat the Whitecaps, who came into the game tied with Chatham for third in the East -- and for the final playoff spot, as it's shaking out now.

Chatham's defense shined all night, even in the few innings I saw, and the offense did the rest. Joey Terdoslavich (Long Beach State) went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Matt Duffy (Vermont) drove in two. They backed Shawn Tolleson (Baylor), who allowed one run on four hits in six strong innings.

Elsewhere

Another streak came to an end last night as Harwich beat Y-D 8-4, snapping the Red Sox' nine-game winning streak. Justin Wright (Virginia Tech), who has been mostly a reliever this summer, got the start for Harwich and allowed two runs in five innings. Harwich scored three earned runs but four unearned against Y-D starter John Leonard (Boston College). Trent Mummey (Auburn) and Connor Powers (Mississippi State) hit home runs for the Mariners. Leon Landry (LSU) had three hits and three RBI.

Bourne and Wareham both posted blowout victories to keep the top of the West standings looking the same, with Bourne ahead by a point. The Braves beat Cotuit 13-1 thanks to an 11-hit attack, powered in large part by Raynor Campbell (Baylor). Campbell, who had five RBI this summer coming into last night, drove in six runs in last night's game alone. He also went 4-for-5 with a home run. Bourne starter Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) was dominant in five innings of work, striking out 10 and allowing a run on four hits.

Wareham kept pace with a 10-3 victory over Hyannis. George Springer (Connecticut) broke the game open with a two-run homer in the fifth, and he finished with two hits and three RBI. Alex Dickerson (Indiana) had three hits for the Gatemen, with Shea Vucinich (Washington State) and Jordan Swagerty (Arizona State) getting two each. Blake Monar (Indiana) allowed two earned runs in seven innings to pick up the win.

Orleans beat Falmouth 6-5 in 12 innings. The winning run scored on a controversial play when Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) grounded into a fielder's choice, before an errant throw to get him at first base allowed the game-winning run to score. Danny Muno (Fresno State) had four hits for the Firebirds and Devin Lohman (Long Beach State) had two RBI.

A special note on Falmouth's Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State). With a 3-for-5 night against Orleans, Cunningham raised his league-leading average to .405. Cunningham is seven for his last 14. With eight games left, he's got a shot to hit .400. No one with enough at-bats to qualify has hit .400 this decade, which is as about as far back as you can look on the league's web site. The highest league-leading average this decade was J.C. Holt's .388 in 2003. Jimmy Cesario hit .387 last year, but that happened without him playing after the all-star game.

Daily Fog, Quickly

2009-07-29T07:50:00.001-04:00

A little short on time this morning . . .

Y-D continues to stay hotter than any team's been this summer. The Red Sox beat Wareham 8-3 last night for their ninth consecutive win. They've now opened up a 10-point lead in the East. Ace Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) got the start and struck out six in five innings. He gave way to Drew Hayes (Vanderbilt), who picked up the win with three strong innings. The game was tied before Wareham scored five runs over the last two innings. Austin Wates (Virginia Tech) went 2-for-5 and drove in four runs.

Bourne split a doubleheader with Harwich, but the one win was enough to vault into first place, by a point over Wareham. In the first game, Harwich's Mike Gipson (Florida Atlantic) struck out six in six innings, and the offense delivered a balanced effort, with four players driving in runs as Harwich won 5-1. Bourne won the second game 7-2 behind a solid start from Robert Morey (Virginia), who allowed two runs in five innings. Zack MacPhee (Arizona State) drove in two for the Braves. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) finished the twin bill 3-for-5 with a home run, his league-best seventh of the year. He's now hitting .331.

Cotuit got three strong pitching performances and a big game from Zack Cox (Arkansas) to beat Chatham 2-1. It's the second-straight win for the Kettleers, who are tied with Wareham for second place. Chatham has lost seven in a row. Craig Fritsch (Baylor) got the start for Cotuit and allowed a run in 3.2 innings. Navery Moore (Vanderbilt) and Ben Rowen (Virginia Tech) combined for 5.1 scoreless innings of relief. Cox went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Brewster scored early then held off Orleans for a 4-2 victory. Combined with the Chatham loss, the win propels Brewster into a tie with Chatham for third place in the East. Steven Maxwell (TCU) picked up the win for the Whitecaps with five strong innings, striking out five and allowing one run. Tyler Thornburg (Charleston Southern) got the save. Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) snapped out of a cold streak with a 3-for-4 day. Harold Martinez (Miami) hit a home run and drove in two. Jarrett Parker (Virginia) also drove in two.

Hyannis was two outs away from making its game with Falmouth official, but fog persisted and forced the game to be called with the Mets leading. Since the game wasn't official, it'll be started from scratch at a later date.

What to Watch For Tonight

Can Y-D make it 10 in a row? The Red Sox will host Harwich tonight at 5 p.m., with John Leonard (Boston College) scheduled to get the start. Justin Wright (Virginia Tech) is Harwich's probable starter.

Daily Fog: Moving On Up

2009-07-28T08:52:00.001-04:00

You can't see it right now since the standings haven't been updated, but last night's games created a quirky little situation in the West. Bourne has 18 wins, Wareham has 17, Cotuit 16, Falmouth 15 and Hyannis 14. I don't really know what to call that. Symmetry?

Whatever it is, it amounts to the parity everyone wants to see.

Because of ties, the points race isn't so symmetrical, and Falmouth and Hyannis are a more distant fourth and fifth than their win totals would indicate. But with the playoffs the way they are, it's not out of the realm of possibility that one of those teams could make a run to the last playoff spot.

They helped their cause last night.

Falmouth continued its occasional blowout trend with an 11-2 victory over Harwich. Brian Fletcher (Auburn) went 5-for-5, B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Miss) hit his fifth home run and Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) raised his league-leading average to .397. All in all, the Commodores pounded 18 hits in giving a big cushion to Kyle Winkler (TCU), who went five strong innings.

Over in Bourne, Hyannis staked Tyler Wilson (Virginia) to an early lead and he did the rest. Wilson, who has a scoreless streak of 21 innings and an ERA of 0.86, went seven shutout innings in this game to stop Bourne's four-game winning streak. Ryan Cuneo (Delaware), Ryan Graepel (North Carolina) and Jackie Bradley Jr. (South Carolina) each had two hits to back Wilson.

Elsewhere

In the only other game of the night, Cotuit topped Brewster 5-3. Zach Maggard (Florida Southern) and Zach Cone (Georgia) each hit home runs to pace the Kettleer offense. Jake Buchanan (NC State) won his third game of the summer and kept his ERA under one at 0.84. Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern), who still hasn't allowed a run this year , worked two scoreless frames to pick up his fourth save.

What to Watch For Tonight

Y-D will visit Wareham in a battle of two top teams and, potentially, two top pitchers. Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) is scheduled to go for Wareham against either Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) or John Leonard (Boston College).

Daily Fog: One-Sided Rivalry

2009-07-27T08:08:00.001-04:00

Here's one way to get a leg-up on your division rival: Beat them. Every chance you get.

That's exactly what the Bourne Braves have done, and it's a huge reason why they're where they are in the West standings. Bourne has beaten Wareham five times, out-scoring the Gatemen 34-7 in those games. The five wins account for more than a quarter of all of Bourne's wins, and more than a third of Wareham's losses. To some extent, Bourne and Wareham have defined each other's seasons. Even if just two of the games had a different result, the Gatemen would be in first place by seven points. If three games were different, the Gatemen would officially be running away with the division.

As it is, Wareham has a slim one-point lead over Bourne for first, and the Braves actually have one more win.

They've also got another dominant performance in the books.

Last time the teams met, Bourne's Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) took a no-hitter into the fifth and the bullpen held the lead as Bourne won 4-0. Last night, Seth Maness (East Carolina) was even better. He carried a perfect game into the eighth before a single broke it up. Maness allowed nothing else the rest of the way in finishing off a complete-game one-hit shutout. Bourne won the game 8-0.

Maness has been good this summer, but not dominant. Last night, he was as dominant as anybody has been all summer, short of Chad Bell in his no-hitter. If you take away the fact that Bell finished that no-hitter off and Maness didn't, Maness was probably more dominant. He struck out 11, didn't walk anybody and faced just one batter over the minimum. In the process, he lowered his ERA to 2.30, and he's now got 31 strikeouts against just four walks in 27.1 innings.

He also had plenty of support. The Bourne defense didn't make an error and the offense delivered eight runs for the second straight night. Rob Segedin (Tulane) continued to sizzle with a 3-for-3 performance. Adam Rice (Coastal Carolina) and Kyle Roller (East Carolina) hit home runs and Pierre LePage (Connecticut) drove in two runs.

The Braves were in a rough patch not too long ago, but they've now won four in a row. They've got ten games left in the regular season, including the season finale against Wareham.

The Gatemen better hope they've got a cushion by then.

Elsewhere

Y-D topped Chatham 6-4 for its eighth consecutive win. It's also Chatham's sixth straight loss. Austin Wates (Virginia Tech) drove in two runs to lead the Red Sox, whose six runs were all unearned. Mario Hollands (UC Santa Barbara) got the win with five solid innings, while Chase Dempsay (Houston) and Kevin Rhoderick (Oregon State) combined for three scoreless innings of relief. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) allowed his first earned run of the summer in the ninth but held on for his 11th save.

Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 2-for-5 and delivered a walk-off single in the ninth to give Falmouth a 4-3 victory over Cotuit. Cunningham is now hitting .393 and he drove in Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt) with the winning run. Chad Bell (Walters State) started for Cotuit and struck out 10 in 6.2 innings. Nick Tepesch (Missouri) pitched well for Falmouth, striking out eight and allowing one earned run in six innings.

Orleans topped Harwich 3-1 for its second win in a row. Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) was lights-out, allowing just one hit and an unearned run in eight innings. He struck out nine and walked just one. Alex Hassan (Duke) relieved Reyes in the ninth and picked up the save. Kevin Muno (San Diego) had three hits and Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) had two to lead the Firebirds.

Hyannis and Brewster split a nip-and-tuck doubleheader, with Brewster winning game one 4-3 and Hyannis taking game two 3-2. Brewster won game one on the strength of a four-run sixth inning. Tant Shepherd (Texas) accounted for two of the runs with a two-run homer. Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) had a home run for Hyannis. In game two, the teams played nine innings before Hyannis' Dustin Harrington (East Carolina) broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the ninth.

What to Watch For Tonight

Just three games on the schedule. League ERA leader Jake Buchanan (NC State) is scheduled to go for Cotuit at Brewster.

Daily Fog: Still Going

2009-07-25T09:13:00.001-04:00

They had more players on the field at Fenway on Thursday than any other team, but real proof of what the Y-D Red Sox have accomplished comes in what they're doing on the Cape.

And they're still doing it.

After what was for them a two-day all-star break, the Red Sox beat division rival Chatham 6-3 last night for their sixth consecutive victory. Orleans also lost last night, putting the Red Sox in first place by eight points in the East.

Y-D now has the best team average and best team ERA in the league and both those dimensions were on display last night. Jordan Casas (Long Beach State), one player who wasn't an all-star, went 3-for-4 while Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) hit a home run and knocked in two, raising his league-leading RBI total to 21. The game was tied 3-3 until the seventh, when Ben McMahan (Florida) doubled and eventually came around on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Hanover (LSU).

The Red Sox added two insurance runs in the eighth and Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) continued his dominance with a scoreless ninth inning, giving him a league-best 10 saves. Burgoon helped make a winner out of Greg Peavey (Oregon State), who pitched three innings of relief after starter Michael Goodnight (Houston) lasted just four innings.

The loss was the fourth in a row for Chatham, and Orleans is on the same streak. Combined with Y-D's surge, things have really opened up in the East.

Elsewhere

Bourne was supposed to play a doubleheader with Brewster but had it postponed. With a Cotuit loss mixed in, Wareham took the opportunity to jump into sole possession of first place in the West with a dramatic 2-1 win over Orleans. The Gatemen trailed 1-0 from the third inning on, but Jordan Swagerty (Arizona State) jump-started a rally with a leadoff single in the top of the ninth. He eventually scored the tying run on a base hit by Chris Hannick (Cal State Northridge). Later in the inning, Shea Vucinich (Washington State) drove home Connor Rowe (Texas) with the go-ahead run. Josh Slaats (Hawaii) picked up the win for Wareham with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Bruce Kern (St. John's) helped get it to that point with four scoreless innings.

Falmouth swept a twin bill the day before the all-star game and kept the good times rolling last night with a 3-2 victory over Hyannis. Like Wareham, the Commodores trailed all game before a two-run rally in the ninth. Theirs came in the bottom half and was a bit more dramatic, as B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Miss) hit a walkoff two-run homer to turn a 2-1 deficit into the 3-2 win. It was the fourth home run of the year for Vollmuth, who is emerging as one of the top freshmen in the league. The Commodores are still five games under .500, but only seven points out of a playoff spot.

Seven different players had hits and the bullpen shined as Harwich held off Cotuit 3-2. The Mariners broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh on an RBI single by Phil Gosselin (Virginia). Justin Wright (Virginia Tech) pitched 3.1 innings of relief to pick up the win, with Brian Dupra (Notre Dame) getting the save. Those two combined to limit Cotuit to three hits over the final 4.1 innings.

What to Watch For Tonight

Chad Bell (Walters State) will try to continue his recent dominance as Cotuit visits Wareham. He pitched a no-hitter two weeks ago and in his most recent start, allowed one run and struck out seven in seven innings. Wareham will counter with Josh Mueller (Eastern Illinois). The Gatemen are just two points ahead of Cotuit.

All-Star Live Blog

2009-07-23T18:49:00.001-04:00

6:45 - So I fully planned on being at Fenway Park this evening, but I am at home instead. If I had just left in the morning, without glancing at any radar, I probably would have been fine. But idle hands and attractive meteorologists are a bad recipe for me. I kept going back to them until their fear-mongering convinced me that Hurricane Barry was on the way. So with the possibility of a drive from Little Rhody going for naught in a Boston deluge, I made the prudent but potentially regrettable decision to stay home and watch on NESN. Of course, it appears now that they'll play through this eminently light rain, and I am of course wishing I was there. However, I will soldier on. I feel I've taken one for the team here. I'm pretty well-acquaintaned with Murphy and his law, so I'm pretty sure this is all me. If I was at Fenway, I really would have brought a hurricane. So you're welcome. Anyway, the point is, I'll be watching and doing a little live blog here for anyone else who is not at Fenway. Stay tuned.

6:50 - They're starting early to get ahead of the rain. Workman on the mound for the home West squad, ready to go.

6:53 - Top four in East lineup looks real strong. Gary Brown leading off.

6:55 - Workman strikes out Brown with a 94 mph high fastball.

6:56 - Wates goes down swinging on a curveball. Workman hasn't been here long, but there's no doubting the stuff.

6:58 - Miscommunication in the outfield almost costs the West, but Todd Cunningham makes the diving catch in center. That's a 1-2-3 inning for Workman. In all-star appearances the last two years, he now hasn't allowed a base-runner and he has struck out four.

6:59 - It took until the third inning for a run to score last year. Todd Cunningham leading off for the West against Rob Rasmussen.

7:01 - Cunningham reaches on a hard shot to third that got past Jedd Gyorko. They'll call it an error.

7:02 - That didn't take long. After the error, Zack Cox crushed the first pitch he saw to deep center for a triple. Cunningham scores to give the West a 1-0 lead.

7:03 - Kyle Roller goes down on strikes. Blame it on the Cotuit helmet he was wearing. Actually, Ryan Cuneo is wearing a Cotuit helmet too. Apparently, Cotuit brought the helmets.

7:06 - Cuneo works the walk, and it's first and third for the West. There weren't two runners on base in last year's game until the fifth inning. Almost a twin killing for the East, but Cody Stanley legs out the throw, and Cox scores. It's 2-0.

7:08 - Stanley caught stealing by Chatham's Mike Murray to end the inning.

7:10 - Baseball America's Aaron Fitt is at the game and blogging. He says 13,000 in attendance. That's a great crowd, even on a clear night.

7:12 - Another Gatemen gets the call for the West. Jack Armstrong in and throwing 96.

7:15 - Armstrong leaving everything up. He walks Mike Murray with one out.

7:16 - My first look at the new Harwich home unis. I'm a fan.

7:19 - A couple of ground balls get Armstrong out of the inning with no damage done.

7:20 - NESN has Oriole Brian Roberts in the booth. He played for Chatham in 1998. Reminiscing about facing Ben Sheets and Barry Zito.

7:25 - Kyle Blair on for the East. He gets two quick outs before a soft line drive from B.A. Vollmuth gets over shortstop.

7:26 - With Blair on now, that means two of the first four pitchers in the game were top-five round picks in the 2007 draft. Blair went in the fifth, Workman in the third.

7:27 - A walk puts two on, and the ~~East~~ West is threatening. Cunningham up.

7:30 - Cunningham hit by a 3-2 pitch. Bases loaded for Zack Cox.

7:31 - Zack Cox for MVP. Opposite field line drive plates Vollmuth for a 3-0 West lead. Bases still loaded for Roller.

7:32 - Blair gets out of the jam with a grounder to first.

7:34 - Make it three Gatemen in a row. Eric Pfisterer on the mound for the West.

7:37 - After a fielder's choice, a pickoff throw that glances off the glove of Roller allows Colin Walsh to take second.

7:41 - Pfisterer strikes out Brown and Wates to end the inning. Neither of those two have struck out much this year (Brown 9 in 85 AB, Wates 18 in 96). Impressive stuff from Pfisterer.

7:45 - Red Sox assistant GM Ben Cherington: "You could certainly make the argument that if you're going to see one amateur game in a year, this is it."

7:46 - Chris Sale doesn't give Cherington much time in the booth. Groundout, strikeout, groundout, and we're on to the fourth.

7:48 - Dallas Gallant on for the West. He's the first non-starting pitcher to make an appearance.

7:53 - Mike Murray just misses a home run. A deep drive to right drifts foul.

7:54 - Gallant strikes out Murray. The East squad still has just one hit, and it was an infield single.

7:59 - BA's Aaron Fitt in the booth, summing up the league's makeup this year: "I think it's a very solid year. There aren't the consensus top guys . . . this summer will go a long way to establishing who goes in the first round."

8:02 - Good play from Wiswall on a low throw gets the East out of a jam. End four, still 3-0.

8:03 - Some speculation from the Cape Cod Times: "The West subbed all its reserves in, too, indicating that this game might not go on much longer."

8:10 - Stephen Harrold in for the West. He has issued a pair of walks. Two on, one out for the East.

8:11 - Nice double play turned by Nick Crawford and Derek Dietrich, ending the inning.

8:14 - The tarp is on the field. Rain delay.

8:18 - NESN still calling it a rain delay. Cape Cod Times seems to think it's over. The game is official at this point.

8:20 - Well that's that. NESN confirms the game has been called after four-and-a-half. Zack Cox wins the MVP award. He goes 2-for-2 with a triple and a single and two RBI.

8:21 - Great interview with Cox. Paraphrasing: "Everyone wants to make it to the Major Leagues, but this right here is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

8:22 - As the Cape Cod Times noted earlier, the teams made sure to get all their positional subs into the game early. That left nine pitchers who didn't unfortunately didn't get to take the mound: Casey Gaynor, Aaron Meade, John Leonard, Tyler Burgoon and Russell Brewer for the East; Kevin Munson, Daniel Tillman, Patrick Cooper and Taylor Wall for the West.

8:24 - It's too bad that they had to call this one, but kudos to the Red Sox for allowing the league to play long enough to make it official. If this thing hadn't happened at all, it would have been a much bigger shame than an early ending.

Starry (and hopefully not rainy)

2009-07-23T12:38:00.001-04:00

It's sadly fitting that in this wet, strange summer, the Cape League's biggest event could be heavily influenced by doppler radar.

The all-star game heads to Boston's Fenway Park tonight, and the forecast doesn't look great. Whatever happens, there will be an all-star game somewhere, some time. If rain forces a postponement of a suspension tonight, the game will be played in Hyannis on Saturday.

Here's hoping they play tonight, even if it's a little wet.

That, too, would be fitting in its own way.

If the 2009 class of Cape Leaguers have shown anything, it's that they can deliver good baseball, whenever they play.

I've found it tough to get a good feel for the 2009 season. That might just be me. It might be the rain. But the picture has come into focus lately, and it's becoming clear that there's a deep pool of talent on the Cape this year. There may not be a consensus top prospect or a shoo-in MVP, but there are a lot of players on the same plane. And I get the feeling that it's at a fairly high level.

Tonight, a lot of those players will take the field at Fenway Park. For this group, that will make taking the field in the Cape League all-star game a little more, even a lot more special.

They've earned a special opportunity. Let's hope they put on a good show.

Ten to Watch
A rundown of my picks for the top players at Fenway.

1. Todd Cunningham, Falmouth
He has hit from day one, and he's just not going to cool down. In a doubleheader yesterday, he went 3-for-5, raising his average to .394.

2. Jedd Gyorko, Brewster
He's 0-for-his-last-11 so his average has dipped to .308, but he might be the best all-around hitter in the league.

3. Chris Sale, Y-D
A tall lefty who has starred since the first day of the season, Sale is a good bet to be a first-rounder next year.

4. Gary Brown, Orleans
He was a late arrival, but he has done nothing but hit. And steal bases. And drive in runs.

5. Kyle Blair, Brewster
A high pick out of high school, Blair's performance has matched the hype this season. He's second in K's.

6. Zack Cox, Cotuit
Five tools, and plenty of production from perhaps the top frosh in the league: .364, 6 XBH

7. Kyle Roller, Bourne
Late-round pick this year is making his case for a big contract or a better result next June. Triple Crown candidate.

8. Mickey Wiswall, Y-D
BC star is league's leading run producer and is hitting .319.

9. Austin Wates, Y-D
Outfielder with some speed has been near the top in average all summer.

10. Tyler Burgoon, Y-D
League-leader in saves still hasn't allowed an earned run.

And Five More . . .
Because it was hard to narrow it down.

Brandon Workman
Derek Dietrich
Jack Armstrong
Kevin Munson
Dallas Gallant

What a Relief
Last year, the West squad had probably the six best starters in the league for the all-star game. This year, with Chad Bell and Jake Buchanan not chosen (big snubs, by the way), the West squad is much heavier on relievers. Brandon Workman, Eric Pfisterer, Jack Armstrong and Taylor Wall are the only starters. The rest of the innings will be left to bullpen guys, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Combined the five relievers -- Dallas Gallant, Stephen Harrold, Kevin Munson, Daniel Tillman and Patrick Cooper -- have struck out 111 in 79.1 innings, while allowing only 13 earned runs. So can we say just get the game to the fourth?

A ~~Cardinal~~ Firebird starter
Orleans' Rob Rasmussen is the second straight Orleans pitcher to start the all-star game. Last year, it was San Diego's Matt Thomson, who delivered one dominant inning. Rasmussen's 32 strikeouts are the most for an East all-star starter since 2005, when Chatham's Jared Hughes came in with 42.

Veterans
The East roster features just one freshman, Y-D's Tyler Hanover. The West has seven, including three starters.

Small Sample
Seven of the 24 position players in the game have played in fewer than 20 games.

Derby Bets
I predict we won't see a ton of home runs, based on Fenway's dimensions. I'd put my money on Hunter Morris sneaking a few around Pesky's Pole.

That's about all I've got for now. I will be heading out soon, taking a train in. For everyone who's going, have fun.

Yesterday, Quickly

2009-07-23T11:37:00.001-04:00

I've got to get an all-star post up, so here's an abbreviated recap of last night's games.

Falmouth has had a pretty tough season, but the Commodores hit the all-star break on a roll thanks to a doubleheader sweep of Chatham. The Commodores took game one 7-6 on the strength of an 11-hit attack. Conner Mach (Missouri) hit a three-run homer that broke a 4-4 tie. Falmouth then held off a Chatham rally for the win. In game two, Falmouth won 5-2. Kyle Winkler (TCU) allowed two runs in six strong innings. Ryan Jones (Wichita State) went 2-for-2 and B.A. Vollmuth hit a home run. Jones went 5-for-5 in the two games, raising his average from .183 to .237. Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 3-for-5 in the two games and head into the all-star game with a league-best .394 average.

Brewster's Matt Lujan (San Francisco) went six shutout innings and Hyannis' Tyler Wilson (Virginia) was almost as good through seven, but the one unearned run Wilson allowed was the difference in a 1-0 Whitecaps victory. A Harold Martinez (Miami) fifth-inning single brought home the game's lone run, after Tant Shepherd (Texas) reached on an error. Kendal Volz (Baylor) made his first appearance for Brewster, tossing a scoreless inning in relief.

Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) struck out 10 in six shutout innings as Bourne topped Wareham 4-0 in a crucial game in the West. Pierre LePage (Connecticut) and Zack MacPhee (Arizona State) backed Wimmers with two hits apiece. After Wimmers' night was done, Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) struck out five in two hitless innings and Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) struck out two in the ninth. The win moved Bourne into a tie with Wareham for first place in the West.

Daily Fog: Steady and Surging

2009-07-21T09:04:00.001-04:00

It's one thing to get back into the mix with a winning streak. That's what a lot of teams have done this year, turning around some struggles and winning four or five in a row to get into the thick of things again.

To be near the top already and to pull away -- that means a little more.

And that's exactly what the Y-D Red Sox have done. Early in the season, they lost five straight games before responding with four straight wins. Since then, they've been probably the steadiest team in the league. In that span, they haven't lost more than two games in a row.

They've won a few, too.

The Red Sox beat Orleans, the team that's chasing them, by a 4-1 score last night. It's their fifth consecutive win. In the last nine games, they've lost just once, with one tie also mixed in.

Suddenly, the Red Sox have 20 wins, three more than anyone else in the league. With 41 points, they're in first place by six points, which has to be the largest margin in the East this season.

It helps that the Red Sox keep playing -- and beating -- Orleans. On Sunday, they swept a doubleheader with the Firebirds. The schedule is kind of quirky now because of the rainouts, so the teams got together again last night, which wasn't a good thing for Orleans. Y-D ace Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) struck out five and scattered seven hits in seven innings. He allowed one run, and picked up his fourth win of the summer. Drew Hayes (Vanderbilt) pitched two scoreless innings for the save.

As usual, the offense took care of the rest. The Red Sox, who lead the league in hitting, haven't blown people out in their winning streak, but they've always done enough. Last night, they touched up all-star Casey Gaynor (Rutgers) for three runs on six hits in five innings. The most impressive part of that was the balance. The Red Sox got RBI from leadoff man Jordan Casas (Long Beach State), No. 3 hitter Tyler Hanover (LSU), No. 7 batter Josh Rutledge (Alabama) and ninth batter Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State). League RBI leader Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) didn't drive in a run, but he didn't have to.

I guess that's what happens when you get a winning streak going.

Even if you really didn't need one

Elsewhere

Jake Buchanan (NC State) posted an ERA over six this spring so you might think that he would eventually drop down from the top spot on the ERA leaderboard. Or he could pull away with one of the most dominant performances of the summer. Buchanan picked the second option. He tossed a complete-game shutout last night to lead Cotuit past Hyannis 3-0. Buchanan struck out 11, walked one and allowed just three hits. He lowered his league-best ERA to 0.50, and he continues to make me wonder how he was left off the all-star team.

By the way, that was Cotuit's third straight win. The Kettleers remain tied with Wareham atop the West.

Speaking of Wareham, the Gatemen had one of those "staff days," where they pitch a bunch of guys, probably in preparation for the all-star game. It didn't cost them anything, as five pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout and a 3-0 win over Brewster. All-stars Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) and Brandon Workman (Texas) were the bookends, and neither allowed a hit while combining for five shutout innings. Scott Rembisz (Florida International) picked up the win. George Springer (Connecticut) led the Wareham offense with two hits and a home run.

Mike Gipson (Florida Atlantic) delivered his best start of the summer, striking out 10 and allowing just three hits in seven shutout innings as Harwich topped Chatham 7-2. Gipson, who has great strikeout numbers (38 in 30 innings), lowered his ERA to 3.00. Dan Grovatt (Virginia) went 3-for-4, while Leon Landry (LSU) homered and drove in two. Trent Mummey (Auburn) also had two hits and two RBI.

Bourne scored two in the bottom of the ninth and walked off with a 4-3 victory over Falmouth. Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina) hit the walk-off single, knocking in Ben Klafczynski (Kent State) with the winning run.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne, which sits a game behind Wareham, will send Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) to the mound against the Gatemen. This will be the second start of the summer for Wimmers. He's scheduled to go against Blake Monar (Indiana).

Daily Fog: A Quick Duel

2009-07-20T08:27:00.001-04:00

My parents are vacationing on the Cape so I went over this weekend to visit them, which didn't leave me any time to write yesterday. We did, however, have time to go to the Chatham game last night.

Not that we needed much time.

Wareham's Cole Green (Texas) and Chatham's Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State) staged perhaps the best pitchers' duel of the summer, and it didn't take them long to do it. In a game that lasted just an hour and 54 minutes, Lyons and the Anglers came away with a 1-0 victory. Dean Green (Oklahoma State) hit a bases-loaded line drive that clipped the glove of a diving Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge) and brought home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

Though the one run ended up defining the game's result, the pitching was the real story.

Both Green and Lyons ended up with 11 strikeouts. If I had been keeping a scorebook, I could tell you how many were strikeouts looking. I wasn't but I can still tell you: it was a lot. Green and Lyons were constantly ahead and freezing hitters time and again. Lyons, in particular, had a knee-bukcling curveball that he kept dropping right into the zone with two strikes.

It was as impressive a pitchers' duel as I've seen in a long time. Both allowed just two hits. Lyons didn't walk anybody. After a while, it didn't seem possible that either team could break through. The teams had one hit apiece through the first six innings, and both of the players who reached were thrown out trying to steal second. When Brett Eibner (Arkansas) hit a two-out double in the eighth, it was the first time a player for either team had been to second base. Zach Wilson (Arizona State) hit a sinking line drive to center that looked like it might bring Eibner home, but Addison Johnson (Clemson) made a charging catch to keep things scoreless.

Chatham finally put something together in the ninth. Green started missing some spots, and I actually thought he got squeezed on a couple of pitches as he issued a pair of one-out walks. After a mound conference, he got real wild and walked Mike Murray (Wake Forest) on four pitchers, prompting a change. Jordan Swagerty (Arizona State) came in and faced Green, who crushed the line drive to second. Had Pineda somehow caught it, he would have doubled the runner off first. Instead, the ball rolled into right field and the game was over.

As we packed up to leave, I felt a pang of regret that I hadn't gotten to see Chatham flamethrower Jesse Hahn (Virginia Tech), who had been warming up in the late innings. If it had gone to extras, he probably would have been on the mound.

But then I realized: I saw all the pitching I needed to see.

Elsewhere

With Wareham's loss and their own 5-3 comeback victory over Bourne, Cotuit moved into a first-place tie in the West. The Kettleers trailed 3-2 going into the eighth but put up three runs to take a lead. An RBI single by Jeff Rowland (Georgia Tech) brought home the go-ahead run and Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) drove in two more with a double. Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern) then worked a scoreless ninth to secure the victory. Rowland and Plagman both finished with two hits for the Kettleers, as did Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington) and Chris Bisson (Kentucky). Rob Segedin (Tulane) went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Bourne.

Y-D swept a huge doubleheader with Orleans for its league-best 18th and 19th wins. The Red Sox are now in first place by four points over the Firebirds, who had been hot until last night. Y-D got strong pitching in both games, with Mario Hollands (UC Santa Barbara) going five shutout innings in game one and Austin Ross (LSU) tossing six shutout frames in game two.

Brewster an Falmouth split their doubleheader, with the Whitecaps taking game one 2-1 and the Commodores winning game two 3-0. In the opener, Brewster got two RBI from Daniel Butler (Arizona) and didn't need much more. Kyle Blair (San Diego) allowed a run on three hits in six innings and struck out 11. Jordan Cooper (Wichita State) pitched well for Falmouth, but the bullpen allowed an unearned run in the sixth. In game two, Mark Pope (Georgia Tech) surrendered just two hits in five shutout innings for Falmouth. B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Miss) hit his second home run to spark the offense.

Harwich got a big performance from Anthony Sosnoskie (Virginia Tech) and a strong start from John Gast (Florida State) then held on for a 4-2 victory over Hyannis. Gast allowed four hits in 6.1 scoreless innings. Hyannis rallied for two in the ninth, but Glen Troyanowski (Florida Atlantic) got a strikeout to strand two runners and end the game. Sosnoskie went 3-for-4 with two home runs -- his first two of the year -- and three RBI for the Mariners.

What to Watch For Tonight

Orleans and Y-D will get together again for their third game in two days. Not sure about the pitching match-ups, though Chris Sale (Flodia Gulf Coast) is listed in the probables. Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) is listed for Orleans, but he pitched the second game of yesterday's doubleheader.

Daily Fog: A Sleeping Giant

2009-07-18T13:07:00.001-04:00

The first 25 games of the season have not gone well for the Falmouth Commodores. They have nine wins, the lowest number in the league, and in a Western Division race that has really tightened up, they're the only team that's still not in the mix.

But a little streak can make a big difference in a Cape League summer, and Falmouth has the kind of team that can do it.

I was originally going to write this post about Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State), who's still one of the league leaders in hitting, despite Falmouth's struggles. Then I decided I should probably mention Brian Fletcher (Auburn), before I looked down the stat sheet and realized Hunter Morris (Auburn) was also tearing it up. B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Miss) and Chris O'Brien (Wichita State) deserve a mention too.

As these realizations hit me, it became clear: the Commodores have a lineup that's turning into one of the most dangerous in the league.

They posted an 8-3 victory over Cotuit last night, and I wouldn't be shocked if they continued to deliver nights like that, now that things are starting to click.

Cunningham has been a key cog in all of Falmouth's big victories this season. In a 10-2 win on July 11, he went 4-for-5. In a 14-9 win on July 6, he went 2-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBI. Last night, the trend continued, as Cunningham went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. He's not hitting .380 with two home runs and 11 RBI. A little more power the rest of the way, and he could put himself into the MVP conversation, if he's not already there. Falmouth players have won the last two MVP awards.

While Cunningham has been big in Falmouth's big wins, he's obviously been steady all the way along, even in the losses. Now, he's getting a little more help. Fletcher, who's hitting .323, went 2-for-5 last night with two runs and an RBI. O'Brien, who leads the league in on-base percentage and is one of just four players in the league with more walks than strikeouts, went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Vollmuth didn't do much last night, but he's hitting .260 and six of his 13 hits have gone for extra bases.

And then there's Morris. Perhaps the league's best pure slugger, he's really starting to heat up. Since taking an 0-for-4 on Sunday, Morris is eight for his last 11, with a home run, four runs scored and three RBI. For a while, it looked like he might turn in the more typical Cape League power-hitter line, with a .260 average and a big home run total. Now, he's hitting .313 with four home runs.

All in all, there's a lot to like in the Falmouth lineup. The Commodores are currently second in the league in hitting, but I could see that improving. The pitching certainly needs to improve -- the Commodores are last in ERA -- but if it does, Falmouth is a team to watch.

Elsewhere

Bourne snapped its five-game losing streak in emphatic fashion. After a day off Thursday, the Braves hosted Chatham Friday and stormed to a 10-1 victory on the strength of a nine-run sixth inning. To that point, the Braves were getting shut down by Anglers starter Patrick Johnson (North Carolina), who allowed two hits in five inning. But once Johnson left the game, the floodgates opened. The Braves sent 13 men to the plate and scored more runs in the one inning than they had in their last four games, combined. Rob Segedin (Tulane), Nick Schwaner (New Orleans) and Chris Wallace (Houston) each drove in two runs to power the Braves' attack. Bourne starter Bryan Morgado (Tennessee) struck out eight but walked six in five innings and took a no-decision. Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) picked up the win with three strong innings.

Y-D moved into a tie for first in the East thanks to a 3-1 victory over Brewster. Michael Goodnight (Houston), who lasted just 2.2 innings in his last start, allowed only three hits in five shutout innings this time around. Goodnight didn't factor in the decision but kept the game tied. Y-D broke through with two in the top of the ninth. Josh Rutledge (Alabama) had an RBI single to bring home the go-ahead run and Micah Gibbs (LSU) brought in an insurance run with a double. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) struck out two in the bottom of the ninth for his league-best eighth save. For Brewster, Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) hit his fourth home run.

In a game that went nearly five hours because of a lightning delay, Wareham out-lasted Hyannis 7-3. Ryan LaMarre (Michigan) had one of the best offensive nights the league has seen this summer, going 3-for-4, with two doubles, two runs scored and four RBI. His second double, brought home two runs and broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh. Dean Kiekhefer (Louisville) got the win for Wareham with three lights-out innings in relief. He allowed just one hit. The win kept Wareham in a first-place tie with Bourne.

Orleans had 16 hits and blew past Harwich 10-2. Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton) continued to be a major spark for the Firebirds, delivering four hits and three RBI. This boxscore was not reported so the numbers aren't factored into the leaderboards, but a little math tells me that Brown is now hitting .383, tops in the league. All the offense was more than enough for Rob Rasmussen (UCLA), who struck out six in 5.2 innings.

Daily Fog: A Race Again

2009-07-17T11:47:00.001-04:00

Remember last year, when no team really ever pulled away? As recently as last week, it looked like we were headed for a different script this year, at least in the West. The Bourne Braves had surged into the top spot, and they were starting to pull away.

Funny how quickly things can change.

The Braves have lost five straight. They were off last night, and so was Wareham, who had moved into a first-place tie on Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep.

Cotuit did play, and the Kettleers posted an 8-5 victory over Orleans.

All of a sudden, we've got a three-way tie for first in the West. Bourne, Cotuit and Wareham all have 28 points.

The Kettleers are maybe the most surprising part of this equation. They had lost six straight before Sunday, when Chad Bell (Walters State) threw a no-hitter against Chatham. That win started a 4-0-2 stretch for the Kettleers.

Last night, they won in seven innings, with the game getting called due to darkness. Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) hit a solo home run that broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning. Cotuit added an insurance run when Rico Noel (Coastal Carolina) brought home Chris Bisson (Kentucky) with a bunt single.

Ben Rowen (Virginia Tech), who pitched three scoreless innings of relief, was lights-out once he got the lead, facing the minimum in the seventh. Rowen, who's tied for the league lead in appearances, picked up his second win. He has a 2.63 ERA.

The Cotuit offense got good showings from Cory Vaughn (San Diego State) and Jeff Rowland (Georgia Tech), who each had two hits. Both of those guys have had their struggles this summer, but they're now hovering around .250. If they can continue to hit well, they'll provide a big lift for the Kettleers.

For Orleans, Kevin Muno went 4-for-4 with two steals and two runs scored. The Firebirds have lost to Cotuit twice in the last three days.

Elsewhere

In the only other game on the schedule, Hyannis beat Brewster 5-0 for its second shutout in as many days. Tyler Wilson (Virginia) struck out nine and allowed just two hits in seven innings. Kevin Moran (Boston College) and Dallas Gallant (Sam Houston) each tossed a scoreless inning to preserve the shutout. At the plate, the Mets got another big night from Jackie Bradley Jr (South Carolina), who went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and an RBI. Bradley is now six for his last 12, with three extra-base hits and four RBI. He was hitting under .200 before this stretch. The Mets also got two hits from Dustin Harrington (East Carolina) and Johnny Reuttiger (Arizona State). Eddie Rohan (Winthrop) drove in two runs. Hyannis is now just three points out of first place in the West.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne will try to get back on track at home against Chatham. The Braves will send Bryan Morgado (Tennessee) to the hill against Patrick Johnson (North Carolina).

All-Star Rosters Announced

2009-07-16T15:46:00.001-04:00

Culled from the Cape Cod Times Twitter . . .

West

C - Cody Stanley - Cotuit - UNC Wilmington
C - Cameron Rupp - Cotuit - Texas
INF - Kyle Roller - Bourne - East Carolina
INF - Nick Crawford - Hyannis - UAB
INF - B.A. Vollmuth - Falmouth - Southern Miss
INF - Zack Cox - Cotuit - Arkansas
INF - Derek Dietrich - Wareham - Georgia Tech
OF - Todd Cunningham - Falmouth - Jacksonville State
OF - Brian Fletcher - Falmouth - Auburn
OF - Zach Cone - Cotuit - Georgia
OF - Johnny Ruettiger - Hyannis - Arizona State
DH - Ryan Cuneo - Hyannis - Delaware

P - Brandon Workman - Wareham - Texas
P - Jack Armstrong - Wareham - Vanderbilt
P - Eric Pfisterer - Wareham - Duke
P - Dallas Gallant - Hyannis - Sam Houston State
P - Stephen Harrold - Bourne - UNC Wilmington
P - Kevin Munson - Bourne - James Madison
P - Dan Tillman - Cotuit - Florida Southern
P - Patrick Cooper - Falmouth - Des Moines Area CC
P - Taylor Wall - Falmouth - Rice

Alternates - P Seth Rosin (Hyannis), P Turner Phelps (Bourne), P Mark Gormley (Hyannis) and C Dan Burkhart (Hyannis)

East

C - Mike Murray - Chatham - Wake Forest
C - Dan Butler - Brewster - Arizona
INF - Mickey Wiswall - Y-D - Boston College
INF - Colin Walsh - Brewster - Stanford
INF - Blake Kelso - Y-D - Houston
INF - Jedd Gyorko - Brewster - West Virginia
INF - Tyler Hanover - Y-D - LSU
OF - Dan Grovatt - Harwich - Virginia
OF - Austin Wates - Y-D - Virginia Tech
OF - Gary Brown - Orleans - Cal State Fullerton
OF - Alex Hassan - Orleans - Duke
DH - John Barr - Brewster - Virginia

P - Rob Rasmussen - Orleans - UCLA
P - Kyle Blair - Brewster - San Diego
P - Casey Gaynor - Orleans - Rutgers
P - Aaron Meade - Harwich - Missouri State
P - Elliot Glynn - Orleans - Connecticut
P - Chris Sale - Y-D - Florida Gulf Coast
P - John Leonard - Y-D - Boston College
P - Tyler Burgoon - Y-D - Michigan
P - Russell Brewer - Chatham - Vanderbilt

Alternates - P Taylor Hill (Chatham), P Eric Jokisch (Harwich), P Matt Price (Harwich) and C Micah Gibbs (Y-D).

I'll have some first impressions up later tonight.

Daily Fog: Double, No Trouble

2009-07-16T15:29:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the delay . . .

Maybe Wareham should play more doubleheaders.

The last 10 days have been kind of a roller-coaster for the Gatemen. They've played 11 games. They've been to Martha's Vineyard. They've tied three games. They've lost some heartbreakers.

But through it all, when the Gatemen play two games in a day -- which they've done three times in 10 days -- they haven't lost.

The trend continued last night for the Gatemen and the impact of it made its biggest impression yet. The Gatemen went on the road and beat Harwich 5-1 and 2-1. With those four points and a Bourne, the Gatemen are suddenly tied for first in the West.

Apparently, all those postponements weren't the worst thing in the world.

Last night, Wareham got a pair of complete games en route to the wins. Making his first start of the summer, Brandon Workman (Texas) took the ball in game one and turned in the kind of performance that he delivered consistently all of last summer. Workman struck out nine, walked one and allowed just a run. Harwich starter Aaron Meade (Missouri State) matched Workman with nine strikeouts in seven innings, but when the game went to an extra frame, Wareham scored four unearned runs off the Harwich bullpen. A dropped popup paved the way, and Alex Dickerson (Indiana) made Harwich pay, belting a three-run homer later in the inning. It was his first of the summer.

In game two, Brett Eibner (Arkansas) was staked to a 2-0 lead in the first. A George Springer (Connecticut) RBI single brought home the first run, and the second scored on an error. Eibner proceeded to hold on to the slim lead the rest of the way, striking out eight in seven innings.

Just like that, the Gatemen were a first-place team. They're still not crushing the ball -- they're ranked last in the league in batting average -- but they're scrapping, and I still think their offense has plenty of potential. If they get more starts like the two they got yesterday, the pitching will be in good shape, too.

And maybe the best news? They're still got two doubleheaders on the schedule.

Elsewhere

Cotuit got another strong pitching performance and continued its resurgence with a 3-0 victory over Y-D. Ricky Bowen (Mississippi State) got the start and went five shutout innings. Matt Grace (UCLA) and Navery Moore (Vanderbilt) combined for a scoreless inning before Jeff Walters (Georgia) closed the game with three innings of one-hit ball in just his second appearance of the summer. Cotuit's offense got two hits from Cory Vaughn (San Diego State). Zach Cone (Georgia) and Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) drove in runs. The Kettleers have won two in a row and are just two points back of first place. They had lost six in a row coming into the week.

Bourne saw its skid stretch to five as Hyannis topped the Braves 5-0. Seth Rosin (Minnesota), who's emerging as the Mets' top starter and one of the best in the league, struck out five in five shutout innings. Jimmy Messer (North Carolina) worked three scoreless innings in relief and Mark Gormley (Brown) went one scoreless frame. Jackie Bradley Jr. (South Carolina) went 2-for-5 with two RBI and Dustin Harrington (East Carolina) went 3-for-5 with one run knocked in.

Chatham beat Falmouth 6-4 for its second straight victory. Dean Green (Oklahoma State) went 2-for-3 with a grand slam for the Anglers and Logan Verrett (Baylor) allowed three runs in five innings to pick up the win. Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) picked up his seventh save, which ties him for the league lead.

Orleans and Brewster somehow got through 11 innings before finally succumbing to darkness in Brewster. The teams ended up with a 3-3 tie. Tim Ferguson (Ole Miss) went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI and Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) went 3-for-6 for the Whitecaps. Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton) went 2-for-5 and drove in two to lead the Orleans offense.

What to Watch For Tonight

Only two games on the docket. Hyannis hosts Brewster and Orleans visits Cotuit. The Kettleers will have Seth Blair (Arizona State) on the mound as they go for their third win in a row.

Daily Fog: Out of the Woodwork

2009-07-15T08:06:00.001-04:00

One of the more interesting trends in the 2009 Cape League season is the high number of recently-drafted players who have found their way to the Cape. I did a quick comparison between this year and last, and there's definitely a difference.

Last year, six players who were picked in the first 15 rounds of that June's draft ended up seeing some action on the Cape. The highest pick was fourth-rounder Jason Kipnis.

This year, the number is 11. The highest pick is third-rounder Bryan Morgado, who's pitching for Bourne.

So far, most of these high picks have stuck around. They're also almost all pitchers. Of the 11, Harwich's Connor Powers is the only position player. The presence of pitchers like Morgado, Tyler Lyons and Chad Bell has added a new dimension to the Cape League's arms race.

One team just caught up.

Sometimes these guys come out of nowhere -- at least from the perspective of an outside observer -- and that's exactly what happened last night for Brewster. The Whitecaps used a pair of recently-added fifth-round picks -- Nathan Baker (Mississippi) and Caleb Cothame (Vanderbilt) -- to beat Wareham 5-1.

Baker had pitched one inning out of the bullpen before getting the start last night. He allowed one run on three hits and struck out four in four innings of work. Cotham, who pitched for Brewster last year, was even better. He surrendered just one hit in three shutout innings and struck out seven. Cotham ended up getting the win. For a Wareham team that's struggling to hit the ball, I can't imagine it was much of a pleasure to see those two take the mound back-to-back.

We'll see how the rest of the summer plays out for Baker and Cotham, but their presence -- however long it lasts -- has to be a good thing for the Whitecaps. After last night's game, Brewster has the second-worst team ERA in the league, and outside of Kyle Blair (San Diego), Matt Lujan (San Francisco) and Sean Hoelscher (TCU), their starting pitchers have not put up great numbers. If they end up in the rotation, Baker and Cotham could certainly provide a boost.

Whatever happens, it's fun to see some big names make an appearance.

Elsewhere

Back to the aforementioned game for a moment. Harold Martinez (Virginia) and John Barr (Virginia) led the Brewster offense with two hits and an RBI apiece. Jarrett Parker (Virginia) and Daniel Butler (Arizona) also drove in runs. Parker, somehow, is hitting only .237 since arriving from the College World Series, but it seems like he's had a hit in every game. That average is going to go up at some point.

Apparently, Cotuit just needs dominant pitching performances to keep from hitting the skids again. After Chad Bell's no-hitter snapped a five-game losing streak, the Kettleers tied both games of a doubleheader on Monday before getting a complete-game from Jake Buchanan (NC State) on Tuesday to beat Orleans 5-2. Buchanan, who leads the league with a 0.67 ERA, struck out eight and didn't walk anybody against an Orleans team that had won five in a row. He allowed just one earned run. Cory Vaughn (San Diego State), who's breaking out of an early slump, hit his second home run of the year to back Buchanan. Brian Guinn (California) added two hits and two RBI as the Kettleers improved to 10-12-4, just four points behind first-place Bourne.

Speaking of Bourne, the once-scorching Braves have now lost four straight -- all on the road -- after last night's 5-4 decision in Falmouth. Hunter Morris (Auburn) went 3-for-3 and hit his fourth home run, while B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Mississippi) added a triple and three RBI for the Commodores. Morris' solo shot in the eighth gave Falmouth the lead, and Cecil Tanner (Georgia) preserved it with a scoreless ninth.

Three teams in the East now have 15 wins after Chatham beat Hyannis 4-2 last night. Shawn Tolleson (Baylor), who's been a little up and down for the Anglers, went six innings and allowed two runs. Jesse Hahn (Virginia Tech) didn't allow a hit in 2.1 innings of relief, and Russell Brewer got the final two outs for his sixth save. The Anglers broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh when Dean Green (Oklahoma State) and Steven Brooks (Wake Forest) hit back-to-back doubles. Brooks later scored an insurance run on a wild pitch.

What to Watch For Tonight

Wareham will visit Harwich for its second doubleheader in three days. Brett Eibner (Auburn) and Brandon Workman (Texas) are scheduled to go for the Gatemen against Aaron Meade (Missouri State) and Eric Jokisch (Northwestern).

Daily Fog: Double Statements

2009-07-14T08:36:00.001-04:00

The league staged a pair of doubleheaders last night, and one probably left everyone feeling pretty unsatisfied. Wareham and Cotuit played to a pair of 3-3 ties.

The other one? Well, Orleans was certainly satisfied.

The Firebirds hosted West-leading Bourne, the hottest team in the league, last night and swept a twin bill by 6-2 and 2-1 scores. Not only were those big victories over one of the best teams in the league, they gave Orleans the credentials to put itself in the same category. The Firebirds now have 15 wins, tied with Y-D for most in the league. They've won five in a row.

In the first game, the Firebirds trailed until the sixth when they put up five runs en route to the 6-2 win. Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) had a double and Danny Muno (Fresno State) drove in two with a single to lead the rally.

The game one victory went to Jimmy Reyes (Elon), who pitched into the seventh.

In game two, Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) struck out seven in six innings, keeping Orleans locked in a 1-1 tie with the Braves. In the bottom of the seventh, the Firebirds broke through. Steven Selsky (Arizona) scored the winning run on a wild pitch.

Just like that, the Firebirds had finished off quite a night. It's funny because I tend to think of doubleheaders as a bad thing, and I'm sure they're a grind, but when something like this happens, you can see the other side of it.

I think the Firebirds are glad they played two last night.

Elsewhere

As for the other doubleheader, Wareham and Cotuit couldn't break away from each other. The first game went nine innings, but was called a tie after that to leave time for game two. The second game was still called because of darkness, ending after six innings. Ryan LaMarre (Michigan), George Springer (Connecticut) and Jake Lemmerman (Duke) drove in runs for the Gatemen in the fourth inning of game one, while Cotuit answered quickly with an RBI single by Zach Cone (Georgia). It was a similar story in game two as Wareham took the lead before Cotuit answered. The ties put Wareham four points back of first-place Bourne. Cotuit is six back.

After getting no-hit on Sunday, Chatham put up 10 hits last night against Hyannis. Unfortunately for the Anglers, the Mets put up 12 and held off a late charge for a 4-3 victory. Elliot Soto (Creighton) drove in two runs for the Mets and Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) hit his third home run. Chatham loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth, but Mark Gormley (Brown) somehow worked out of the jam to preserve the Hyannis win.

Y-D got home runs from Brian Hernandez (UC Irvine) and Micah Gibbs (LSU) and a dominant start from Mario Hollands (UC Santa Barbara) to beat Harwich 5-3. Hollands allowed one earned run on four hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking none. His ERA now sits at 2.29 after three starts. In addition to the home runs, Y-D got two RBI from Mickey Wiswall (Boston College), who now leads the league in that category.

What to Watch For Tonight

Brandon Workman (Texas) is scheduled to make his first start of the summer for Wareham as the Gatemen host Brewster. The Whitecaps counter with another new face, Nathan Baker, who has pitched one inning in relief. I'll assume this is the Nathan Baker from Mississippi, in which case, the league has another big arm trying to gain some leverage. A junior lefty, Baker had a 3.63 ERA for Ole Miss this spring, with 69 strikeouts in 67 innings. He was drafted in the fifth round this year by the Pirates.

Daily Fog: Answering Bell

2009-07-13T08:17:00.001-04:00

That's one way to end a losing streak.

The Cotuit Kettleers had lost five straight heading into last night's game against Chatham. They needed a big performance to stop the skid, and they got a bigger one than they ever could have imagined.

Chad Bell (Walters State) pitched the first nine-inning no hitter in the Cape League since 2007, leading Cotuit to an 8-2 victory over Chatham. The last pitcher to do it was Hyannis' Matt Daly, who's now a lights-out closer for Lansing in the Class A Midwest League.

Bell could find himself at a similar level sooner rather than later. He's committed to transfer from Walters State to Tennessee for next season. But he was also a 14th-round pick this year, which marked the third time he'd been drafted. He was picked out of high school and again after his first year at Walters.

Whatever happens, Bell has emerged as one of the top-performing pitchers in the Cape League, with the no-hitter as the cherry on top. Bell now has a 2-1 record, a 1.01 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 26.2 innings. He has allowed nine hits all summer.

Last night, he carried a perfect game into the fifth, when Dean Green (Oklahoma State) walked. A walk and an error paved the way for two unearned runs in the ninth, but even then Bell was in control. He struck out Rick Oropesa (USC) to end the game.

Bell finished with eight strikeouts and three walks.

Thankfully for him and for Cotuit, the two late runs didn't matter. The Kettleers had an 8-0 lead when the ninth inning began. Kevin Keyes (Texas) and Brandon May (Alabama) both hit home runs and May finished with four RBI to power a strong offensive effort.

Elsewhere

Bell wasn't the only pitcher in dominant form last night. Brewster's Kyle Blair (San Diego) struck out 12 in a complete-game four-hitter as the Whitecaps rolled past Bourne 10-2. The Braves had won eight of nine, but they ran into a buzzsaw in Blair. The righty allowed just two unearned runs and his season ERA dropped to 0.92. The 12 strikeouts moved him to second in the league in that category. Blair was backed by an 11-hit attack. Jarrett Parker (Virginia), Harold Martinez (Miami) and Dan Butler (Arizona) all hit their first home runs of the season.

So I guess it was kind of a big night all around, because this is seriously notable too: Harwich beat Hyannis 6-5 last night in 15 innings, the longest Cape League game of the season. Harwich was involved in a 13-inning game on June 29, and the Mariners have come away with the victory in both of their marathons. This one was pretty epic, with 15 pitchers taking the hill and the teams combining for 35 hits. After Hyannis took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 14th, Harwich answered with one of its own to force another frame. The Mariners won it on a walk-off sinlge by Jeff Vigurs (Bryant).

Orleans beat Falmouth 9-2 for its third win in a row. The Firebirds now have the fewest losses in the East, and by that measure, are sitting in first place. Elliot Glynn (Connecticut) struck out five and allowed one hit in six shutout innings for the win. Riccio Torrez (Arizona State) hit a home run and Ross Heffley (Western Carolina) drove in three.

Wareham and Y-D went 10 innings but their game ended in a 2-2 tie when darkness crept in. Blake Monar (Indiana) struck out seven in 7.1 innings for the Gatemen, while Greg Peavey (Oregon State) allowed two runs in five innings for Y-D. Brandon Workman (Texas) made his first appearance of the summer for Wareham and got touched up for the tying run in the ninth inning on a home run by Mickey Wiswall (Boston College).

What to Watch For Tonight

Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) will make his first start of the summer as part of a doubleheader between Bourne and Orleans. Wimmers, who has a 3.00 ERA in two relief appearances, is scheduled to go in the second game.

Daily Fog: Bourne Again

2009-07-12T11:44:00.001-04:00

In the preseason, I thought the Bourne Braves looked like the most talented team in the league. But with more ifs than any other team, a lot of things had to go right.

They didn't really go right. For example: Of the five players I was excited to see in Bourne's Early Look, four are not in Bourne, and the fifth -- Alex Wimmers -- was a late arrival who has pitched only out of the bullpen so far.

But the Braves have shown an amazing ability to adjust on the fly. Their two best hitters -- Kyle Roller and Stefen Romero -- were not on their initial roster. Neither was their most overpowering starting pitcher, Bryan Morgado.

That's just the tip of the iceberg and there's a common thread running through it all -- these things have gone right.

Very right.

The Braves beat Cotuit 5-1 last night for their eighth win in nine games. They're in first place by seven points and they're tied with East leaders Chatham and Y-D for most points in the league.

Last night's game was as complete an effort as they've delivered all season. The first five players in the batting order delivered one RBI each, with Pierre LePage going 3-for-5 (Connecticut) to lead the way. Nick Schwaner (New Orleans) and Raynor Campbell (Baylor) also had two hits and Roller (East Carolina) hit his fourth home run.

On the mound, Turner Phelps (James Madison) got the start and allowed one run on four hits in 6.1 innings. Cameron Roth (UNC Wilmington) and Kevin Munson (James Madison) combined for 2.2 perfect innings to finish it off. In all, those three pitchers retired 21 batters in a row. Cotuit didn't have a baserunner after the third inning.

That stat is pretty remarkable, but considering what Bourne's bullpen has done, the back end of that performance isn't a huge surprise. If you want to highlight Bourne's biggest strength, I think you've got to look at the bullpen first.

That's certainly what the Braves do: “Our bullpen is fantastic," Phelps told the Cape Cod Times. Our starting pitchers know that if we can get it to the (relievers), they’ll come in and shut the game down.”

The numbers are pretty staggering. In Bourne's last eight wins, relievers have pitched 29 innings. They have allowed just four runs. Five times, they haven't allowed any runs.

Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) and Justin Poovey (Florida) have emerged as lights-out setup men, while Munson and Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) essentially give the Braves two closers. Neither Munson nor Harrold has allowed an earned run this summer. While Harrold leads in saves with six, Munson has better peripheral numbers, with 17 strikeouts in 9.1 innings. Combined, Harrold and Munson have allowed 10 hits in 19.1 innings of work. Harrold hasn't even allowed an unearned run.

It's all pretty ridiculous, and it's a big reason why the Braves are where they are.

Where we thought they'd be, I guess, even if they took a slightly different road.

Elsewhere

I headed over to Wareham last night to catch the Gatemen against Harwich. I ended up seeing a lot more offense than I expected from the teams that run nine-ten in the league in team batting. Wareham led most of the way, but Harwich scored four in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth to tally for a 9-7 victory. Connor Powers (Mississippi State) hit a long home run -- his first of the year -- to give Harwich a lead, but Wareham started stringing hits together soon after. Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech), Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge), Brett Eibner (Arkansas) and Ryan LaMarre (Michigan) all had doubles to lead the charge, and Eibner added a triple on a ball that bounced in front of left-fielder Leon Landry before taking a crazy bounce over his head. But Harwich started rallying and chased Wareham starter Josh Mueller (Easter Illinois) before continuing to hit against the Wareham bullpen. An RBI double by Powers brought home the tying run in the eighth and a sac fly by David Herbek (James Madison) scored the go-ahead run.

After falling off the pace momentarily, Y-D got right back on it with an 8-1 victory over Chatham. The teams are now back to having the same number of wins. Y-D's John Leonard (Boston College) allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, earning his second victory of the summer. On offense, the Red Sox pounded Chatham pitching for 14 hits. Blake Kelso (Houston) and Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) had two RBI each. Five players had two hits.

Every once in a while, Falmouth -- the team with the worst record in the league -- comes up with a blowout. Last night, the Commodores blitzed Hyannis 10-2, ending a three-game winning streak for the Mets. B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Missippi) went 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple and three RBI and Chris O'Brien (Wichita State) also had three RBI. Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 4-for-5 and now leads the league in hitting. Hunter Morris (Auburn) hit his third home run. Jordan Cooper (Wichita State) delivered a quality start for Falmouth, allowing one run in five innings.

Orleans scored seven runs in the first inning en route to a 9-4 victory over Brewster. Kevin Muno (San Diego), Michael Olt (Connecticut), Jeremy Gould (Duke), Danny Muno (Fresno State) and Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton) all drove home runs in the big inning, with Gould's two-run homer serving as the exclamation point. Rob Rasmussen (UCLA) struck out nine in 5.2 innings and picked up the win. The Firebirds have won two in a row and are three games over .500.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne will try to stay hot on a visit to Brewster. Robert Morey (Virginia), who has a 1.29 ERA in two appearances will go for the Braves against Kyle Blair (San Diego).

Daily Fog: Streaking

2009-07-11T10:16:00.001-04:00

A hot team met a cold team in the West last night, and the results were predictable.

Hyannis beat Cotuit 6-3. It's the third straight win for the Mets and the fifth straight loss for the Kettleers. Those two streaks have caused some upheaval in the standings. Hyannis has moved into third place, just two points out of second. Cotuit, who has been near the top all summer, now finds itself in fourth.

Cotuit had Seth Blair (Arizona State) on the mound in this one, and he might have been able to serve as a stopper if not for some shaky defense behind him. The Kettleers made four errors, and only half of the Mets' runs were earned.

Though the Mets are in the middle of the pack in team batting average, they're not a team that you want to provide with extra outs. Their big three -- Nick Crawford (UAB), Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) and Cody Hawn (Tennessee) -- are as good an offensive trio as there is in the league this summer. They delivered last night, with Cuneo going 3-for-4 and Hawn and Crawford each going 2-for-5.

Cuneo and Hawn are still one-two on the RBI leaderboard, and they've particularly strong in the Mets' win streak. The last two games, they've combined to go 8-for-16 with four runs scored and five RBI. That's some solid production from the middle of the order. Hawn actually has an eight-game hitting streak going. He's batting .391 with four home runs and 14 RBI. If he had enough plate appearances, he'd be leading the league in hitting. That goes along with a tie for first in home runs.

Offense hasn't been the only piece to the puzzle for the Mets. The first two wins in the streak were both shutouts. Last night, Tyler Wilson (Virginia) made his first start and allowed two runs in five innings. The bullpen did the rest. Eric Maust (Notre Dame) allowed one run in 1.1 innings before Mark Gormley (Brown) and Dallas Gallant (Sam Houston) shut the door. Gormley struck out four and didn't allow a hit in 1.2 innings. He hasn't allowed an earned run since moving from Brewster to Hyannis. Gallant continued his dominance with one perfect inning and two strikeouts. Gallant has 10 strikeouts in his last four innings and, remarkably, is second in the league in strikeouts. He has pitched just about half the number of innings as leader Chris Sale.

The victory moved Hyannis to 9-11-1. Just a few days ago, when they got swept by Wareham in a doubleheader, it looked like they were fading. They're not back to .500 yet, but they're right in the thick of things.

Elsewhere

With a Y-D loss and their own 5-2 victory over Harwich, the Orleans Firebirds moved into second place in the East. Casey Gaynor (Rutgers) allowed a run on two hits in six innings of work to pick up the win. Alex Hassan (Duke) got the save. Hassan also contributed at the plater, where he went 2-for-2 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Michael Olt (Connecticut) and Jeremy Gould (Duke) also drove in runs.

Chatham finally got itself a little breathing room atop the division, winning 6-4 over Brewster on a night when Y-D lost. That's the first time since June 28 that the teams have had different results. The Anglers got their victory thanks to two runs in the eighth. Both came home on a triple by Matt Perry (Holy Cross), who was pinch-hitting. I guess that was the right button to push. Jeff Schaus (Clemson) and Joey Terdoslavich (Long Beach State) added two hits for Chatham. Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) had two doubles for Brewster.

Bourne topped Y-D 7-5 for its second victory in a row and its seventh win in its last eight games. The Braves had 12 hits, with a Nick Schwaner (New Orleans) three-run homer serving as the biggest blast. Raynor Campbell (Baylor) had three hits for the Braves, with Kyle Roller (East Carolina) and Chris Wallace (Houston) adding two apiece. Bryan Morgado (Tennessee) has his worst outing of the summer -- 4 ER in 5 IP -- but he did enough to get the win. As usual, Justin Poovey (Florida) and Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) were lights-out in relief. Harrold picked up his sixth save, which ties him with Y-D's Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) for tops in the league.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne will try to stay hot against Cotuit, who will be trying to stop its skid. Turner Phelps (James Madison) is scheduled to go for the Braves against Chad Bell (Walters State), who allowed just a run in six innings his last time out.

Daily Fog: Match Game

2009-07-10T11:15:00.001-04:00

Chatham and Yarmouth-Dennis have a nice little race going in the East. They've got the most wins in the league, and it seems like they've been tied atop the division forever.

They kind of have been.

Since June 29, there have been eight days on which Chatham and Y-D each had a game. On every single one of those days, the teams ended up with the same result. Two wins or two losses, and no in between. It's perfectly even too, with four wins each and four losses each. The only difference was on July 2, when Y-D won on a day when Chatham didn't play. Since that point, the teams have been tied every day.

They ran the streak of consecutive days with the same results to six last night. And though I'm sure both of them would like to break away, they'll both be happy with their victories.

A day after losing to Brewster in a game where they had eight hits but just one run, the Red Sox broke through for nine runs on 15 hits in a 9-1 victory over Cotuit. Amazingly, there was only one extra-base hit among the 15 hits for Y-D, but the Red Sox still managed to get the runs home. Most of them came in the early innings, with Y-D getting five runs in the first inning and three in the third.

Josh Rutledge (Alabama) went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Jake Schlander (Stanford) was 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead the way. Blake Kelso (Houston), Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) and Ben McMahan (Florida) also had two hits.

All the early support was more than enough for Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast). He was a hard-luck loser in a 1-0 game his last time out. This time, he went six shutout innings, striking out eight and allowing four hits. Sale is now tied for the league lead in wins and tops in strikeouts. He continues to cement himself as the top performing starter in the league.

As for Chatham, the Anglers came away with a 5-3 victory over Brewster. Logan Verrett (Baylor), who has been strong in two relief appearances, was just as strong in his first start. He allowed just one hit and an unearned run in five innings. He struck out eight. Verrett now hasn't allowed an earned run in 10.1 innings of work.

Flamethrower Jess Hahn (Virginia Tech), who touched 98, pitched two hitless innings. The Vanderbilt late-innings duo of Taylor Hill and Russell Brewer each allowed a run but minimized the damage in keeping Chatham in front. Brewer picked up his fourth save.

On the offensive side, Chatham got two hits each from Phillip Pohl (Clemson) and Brian Harris (Vanderbilt). For Brewster, Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) hit his third home run in just 10 games.

Elsewhere

On the losing end in that Y-D game were the Cotuit Kettleers, who have dropped four in a row. The Kettleers have allowed 32 runs in that span, including 14 to Falmouth at the start of the skid. Their own offense has a little more depth now, with the addition of Texas' Kevin Keyes and Cameron Rupp. But Cotuit needs better performances from its starting pitchers, too. Chad Bell (Walters State) has turned in the only quality start in the last four games. Seth Blair (Arizona State) is scheduled to get the ball tonight. His complete-game win over Falmouth on the Fourth of July was Cotuit's last victory.

In the second annual Martha's Vineyard game yesterday afternoon, Falmouth stopped Wareham's three-game winning streak with a 6-2 victory. Brian Fletcher (Auburn), who has 10 hits in a six-game hitting streak, went 2-for-4 with two RBI to pace the Commodores. Ryan Jones (Wichita State) went 3-for-4 with an RBI, Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) had two hits and B.A. Vollmuth (Southern Mississippi) also delivered two. Hunter Morris (Auburn) hit his second home run. All the offense backed Taylor Wall (Rice) who allowed two hits and struck out six in six shutout innings. He lowered his ERA to 0.53, second in the league. For Wareham, Zach Wilson (Arizona State) saw his 10-game hitting streak come to an end.

Hyannis posted its second shutout in a row with a 5-0 victory over Harwich. Seth Rosin (Minnesota) allowed three hits and struck out six in five shutout innings. Kevin Moran (Boston College), Mark Gormley (Brown) and Thomas Girdwood (Elon) combined to preserve the shutout. Cody Hawn (Tennessee) went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) knocked in two, upping his league-leading total to 15. For Harwich, Leon Landry (LSU) made his first appearance since arriving from the College World Series. He went 2-for-4 with a double.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne's Bryan Morgado (Tennessee) will make his third start of the season, and if any pitcher has earned must-see status, it's him. In 10 innings, he has 21 strikeouts and only three walks. He's scheduled to go at home tonight against Y-D and Michael Goodnight (Houston).

Daily Fog: What a Relief

2009-07-09T11:07:00.001-04:00

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.

Daily Fog: Out of the Gate

2009-07-07T08:56:00.001-04:00

When the day began, Wareham was under .500 and sitting in third place in the West, seven points behind first-place Bourne.

Amazing what a doubleheader sweep can do.

The Gatemen beat Hyannis 4-0 and 4-3 last night to move over .500 at 9-8-1 and jump into second place, just three points behind the Braves, who lost for the first time in six games. Before Monday, the Braves had beaten Wareham on consecutive nights.

But the Gatemen bounced back in a big way. Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) pitched a complete game shutout in the opener, striking out six and surrendering two hits in the seven-inning game. Armstrong now leads the league with three wins. He has won each of his starts.

Armstrong was backed by a strong offensive effort. Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech) tripled in the first and Zach Wilson (Arizona State) homered, staking Wareham to an early lead. Wilson has been very strong since arriving from the College World Series. In nine games, he's hitting .344 with six extra-base hits.

The Gatemen got a seventh-inning home run by Cole Leonida (Georgia Tech) and an RBI single from Dietrich to add to their lead.

The second game was a little more dramatic. After Wareham built a 3-0 lead, Hyannis fought back to tie the game, forcing extra innings. But it didn't take long for Wareham to respond. In the top of the eighth, Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge) singled in George Springer (Connecticut) with the go-ahead run.

The Mets put a major threat together in the bottom of the inning when they loaded the bases, but Dean Kiekhefer (Louisville) came in and struck out the side to end the game. That's as impressive a save as you'll see all season. Wareham has three players with one save each, so they may be looking for a closer to emerge. Kiekhefer has certainly thrown his name into the hat.

Elsewhere

The Harwich Mariners, who shut out three straight opponents last week, haven't shut out anybody lately and have, in fact, lost three straight. Last night, it was Chatham beating the Mariners 4-3. That's the second straight win for the Anglers, who continue to cling to first place. Dean Green (Oklahoma State) and Whit Merrifield (South Carolina) each hit home runs to pace the Anglers. Mike Dennhardt (Boston College) picked up his second win of the year, with Taylor Hill (Vanderbilt) getting the save. Highly-touted freshman Rick Oropesa (USC) made his first appearance for Chatham and hit a triple.

Bourne's five-game winning streak ended with a thud as Orleans posted a 9-3 victory last night. Jimmy Reyes (Elon) went seven strong innings for his second win of the year. Leadoff man Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton) had two hits and scored four runs. The Firebirds moved to 10-8 with the win, and they're just four points out of first place.

Brewster won its third straight game behind a dominant start from Kyle Blair (San Diego). Blair struck out 10 and allowed one run in eight innings en route to his first win in four starts this summer. His ERA is now sitting at 1.33, and he's quickly becoming one of the top-performing pitchers in the league, in addition to his status as a top prospect. Brewster broke open a 1-1 game with a big seventh inning. That's the second time in as many games that they've gotten a late rally.

Falmouth had some offense again, but Y-D had a little more. A day after scoring a league-high 14 runs, the Commodores put up six last night thanks in large part to two-run homers by Ryan Jones (Wichita State) and Brian Fletcher (Auburn). But Y-D kept pace and broke through for four runs in the seventh to take the lead. They held on for a 7-6 victory. Jordan Casas (Long Beach State) and Tyler Hanover (LSU) each doubled home runs to cap off the uprising. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) picked up his league-leading sixth save. He has still given up just one hit all summer.

What to Watch For Tonight

Chatham will head to Falmouth for a pitching-rich doubleheader that's set to begin at 4:30 p.m. In game one, Shawn Tolleson (Baylor), who has struggled since a dominant first start, will go for Chatham against Falmouth's Tommy Collier (San Jacinto), who's fourth in the league in ERA. In the nightcap, it'll be a pair of good freshman, with Logan Verrett (Baylor) going for Chatham and Taylor Wall (Rice) getting the ball for Falmouth. This will be Verrett's firs start, though he has had one very strong extended relief appearance. Wall has a 0.82 ERA in two starts.

Here We Go

2009-07-06T23:33:00.001-04:00

I don't want to jinx it or anything, but we have had sun in New England on four consecutive days, which I'm pretty sure is some kind of record. Along similar lines, the league has gotten a full slate of games in for four consecutive days, which had not happened since June 13-16, the first week of the season.

So yeah, it's been kind of a weird summer. The weather pattern looks like it has finally changed though, at least enough to break us out of the clouds-every-day thing we had going for a while.

It's a good thing, too. The Cape League is about to get into the thick of its schedule.

If you break the summer down into stages, I feel like it's the three weeks leading up to the all-star game that really define the season. Most all the players who are going to be here are here. Players who got off to big starts are either fading or officially delivering big summers. Top prospects are emerging.

Right now, it's tough to get a feel for all that, but we'll get there soon enough. Over the next 15 days before the all-star game on July 23, the league will stage 73 games, pretty much a full slate every night. Several teams will play 14 games over those 15 days, making this the most intensive stretch of the season.

So this is going to be fun. Let's enjoy it.

And pray for sun.

Some quick notes . . .

Just as several of us guessed, LSU star pitcher Anthony Ranaudo will be taking the summer off. Randy Rosetta of the Baton Rouge Advocate wrote on Saturday about Ranaudo's plans. Ticketed for either Team USA or Y-D, Ranaudo will rest his arm after throwing 124.1 innings this spring. As Ranaudo correctly notes in that story, "if scouts want to come see what I can do, they can come next year." Indeed. It's a shame we won't see him, but the kid has nothing left to prove this year.

Bourne teammates Kyle Roller and Stefen Romero might be the early favorites for MVP. Roller is hitting .345 with three home runs and 11 RBI. Romero is at .354 with four home runs and 12 RBI. Pretty good for two guys who were not on Bourne's original roster.

At some point, Jedd Gyorko might put himself in that conversation, too. Since arriving from Team USA trials, Gyorko has posted 11 hits in seven games, with two home runs and eight RBI.

Another recent addition to the Brewster lineup is off to a good start. Virginia's Jarrett Parker has three hits in three games, all of them of the extra-base variety.

A few more names to keep an eye on at this point, among many others: Hyannis' Cody Hawn and Ryan Cuneo, Y-D's Austin Wates, Nick Crawford and Mickey Wiswall, Falmouth's Todd Cunningham, Cotuit's Cody Stanley, Harwich's Dan Grovatt and Orleans' Jaren Matthews.

Over the next few weeks, it looks like we'll be seeing more and more of two of the bigger pitching names in the sophomore class. Ohio State's Alex Wimmers is in Bourne and made a relief appearance last night. Texas' Brandon Workman is scheduled to arrive in Wareham on Wednesday.

Chatham's Matt Harvey (North Carolina) has apparently seen his stock slip lately, but his performance Saturday was on the mark. The righty struck out six and didn't walk anybody in six shutout innings.

Daily Fog: Same Song, Different Verse

2009-07-06T08:59:00.001-04:00

On a night when there was once again a ton of offense around the league, Chatham and Orleans again played a 1-0 game.

Saturday, it was Orleans winning it in the 10th.

This time, Chatham came out on top, and it only took nine.

The Anglers got their 1-0 lead in the sixth when Whit Merrifield (South Carolina) singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Parker Bangs (South Carolina). For a team that had been shut out two games in a row, that's exactly the kind of manufacturing you have to do.

It wasn't much offense, but it was enough for a trio of Chatham pitchers. Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State) only struck one but also surrendered just two hits in seven shutout innings. The Vanderbilt duo of Taylor Hill and Russell Brewer each pitched a scoreless inning to help seal the win. Brewer picked up his third save.

For Chatham, the victory was much-needed. The Anglers had lost six of seven, including two to Orleans. By virtue of Sunday's win, the Anglers stayed in a tie with Y-D for first place in the East. Orleans, at 9-8, is two games back.

Elsewhere

As for that offense, Falmouth took care of a lot of it. The Commodores scored 14 runs -- the highest total in the league this year -- then held on for a 14-9 victory over Cotuit. The Kettleers sent Justin Grimm (Georgia) and his sub-1.00 ERA to the hill but he hit trouble early. Falmouth scored two in the second and three in the fourth to chase Grimm. They scored four more in the sixth against the Cotuit bullpen. Hunter Morris (Auburn) hit his first home run of the year for the Commodores, while Brian Fletcher (Auburn) and Josh Adams (Florida) each had three hits. Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) went 2-for-4 with three RBI and four runs scored. Coming into the game, Falmouth had lost six of seven, including one to Cotuit on Saturday, so this was a big turnaround. For Cotuit, Zack Cox (Arkansas) went 3-for-5 with two RBI and Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington) hit a home run.

For the second straight day, a Hyannis vs. Y-D game featured a two-home run performance by a player on the winning team. This time, it was Micah Gibbs (LSU) belting two and Y-D posting a 9-8 victory. The Red Sox led 8-4 before Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) hit a grand slam in the eighth to tie the game. But Y-D answered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State). Tyler Burgoon (Michigan), who got Y-D out of the eighth after the grand slam, pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the win. Burgoon still hasn't allowed an earned run this year, and he has give up just one hit.

Bourne topped Wareham for the second straight night, winning 8-5 and stretching the win streak to five. Raynor Campbell (Baylor) had a three-run triple to lead the Braves, who also got a home run from Kyle Roller (East Carolina). Bourne is now 10-5-2 and two games ahead of Cotuit for first place in the West. Wareham got a home run from Shea Vucinich (Washington State) but couldn't mount a comeback. For Bourne, Alex Wimmers (Ohio State) made his first appearance of the summer since arriving from Team USA trials. He pitched two innings out of the bullpen, striking out four and allowing one run on one hit.

Brewster trailed 3-2 in the eighth before Lyle Allen (Georgia) -- who went 4-for-4 the night before -- hit a pinch-hit two-run homer to make it 4-3. An RBI triple by Jarrett Parker (Virginia) made it 5-3, and Brewster held on to win by that margin. The Whitecaps have won two in a row and are right behind Harwich in the standings.

What to Watch For Tonight

Tanner Robles (Oregon State) will make his second start for Bourne as the Braves try to make it six in a row against Orleans. They'll go against Jimmy Reyes (Elon), who has a 1.56 ERA in three starts.

Daily Fog: Fireworks Shows

2009-07-05T11:20:00.001-04:00

In thinking back on the season so far, I'm pretty sure I haven't written much of anything yet about offense. That's par for the course in the early going, and with more dominant pitching performances than usual, it's tough to focus on anything else.

But the offense is starting to have its say. Some big hitters have arrived and some others who have been on the Cape from the beginning have caught up.

Yesterday, on the Fourth of July, they sent off some fireworks.

Yes, there was a pitchers' duel in Chatham, but in all the other games, offense reigned. In total, teams combined for 78 hits, 27 extra-base hits and five home runs. Though no teams reached double digits in runs, three of them got to double digits in hits.

The coordinators of the fireworks shows: Cody Hawn, the Bourne Braves and the Brewster Whitecaps.

Hawn (Tennessee), who missed several games earlier this week, is back in the lineup and crushing the ball. He went 2-for-3 last night against Y-D with two home runs. I believe that's the first two-home run game of the summer. Hawn is now hitting .346 and is tied for the league lead with four home runs. His blasts yesterday helped power Hyannis to a 6-4 victory. Hawn's teammate Nick Crawford (UAB) went 2-for-4 to up his league-best average to .400. For Y-D, Austin Wates (Virginia Tech) went 4-for-5 with two doubles.

In Bourne, the Braves didn't hit a home run, but made up for it with six doubles in a 9-1 win over Wareham. Ben Klafczynski (Kent State) went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, and Nick Schwaner (New Orleans) went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI. Kyle Roller (East Carolina) and Stefen Romero (Oregon State) also hit doubles. Robert Morey (Virginia) picked up the win for the Braves with five strong innings. Bryan Morgado (Tennessee) worked out of the pen for the first time, picking up three strikeouts in two innings.

Finally, in Brewster, the Whitecaps took Harwich's streak of three straight shutouts and turned it on its head. The Whitecaps pounded 14 hits en route to a 7-4 victory. Lyle Allen (Georgia) went 4-for-4 to lead the way, and Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) hit his second home run in six games. John Barr (Virginia) and Daniel Butler (Arizona) had two hits apiece. The Whitecaps did most of their damage against Rob Gariano (Fairfield), who had been lights out so far. They touched him up for five runs in one-plus inning of work. Scott Alexander (Pepperdine) got the win for Brewster.

Elsewhere

There was a little offense -- but more pitching -- in Falmouth, where Cotuit came to town and topped the Commodores 5-1 behind a dominant performance by Seth Blair (Arizona State). Making his first start of the summer since arriving from the College World Series, the '08 Cape League all-star turned in the first nine-inning complete game in the league this year. He struck out six, didn't walk anybody and allowed a run on five hits. He was backed by a home run from Kevin Patterson (Auburn) and two RBI from Chris Bisson (Kentucky).

As for that pitcher's duel in Chatham, Orleans came away with a 1-0 victory in 10 innings. Matt Koch (Loyola Marymount) doubled and Ross Heffley (Western Carolina) brought him in with a base hit in the 10th. The starting pitchers were the stars of the night, with Orleans' Rob Rasmussen (UCLA) allowing three hits in seven shutout innings and Chatham's Matt Harvey (North Carolina) giving up three hits in six shutout innings. Jesse Hahn (Virginia Tech) also shined, striking out five in three innings of relief for Chatham.

What to Watch For Tonight

Bourne has surged into first place in the West, and the Braves will try to stay there as they visit third-place Wareham. Eric Cantrell (George Washington) and his 24:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio goes for the Braves against Wareham's Blake Monar (Indiana), who has a 2.81 ERA in three starts.

Daily Fog: On a Roll

2009-07-04T07:15:00.001-04:00

Before their game on June 29, the Harwich Mariners had a team ERA of 3.33.

It's gone down a bit.

In the three games since, the Mariners haven't allowed a run. Yes, that's three consecutive shutouts. They beat Chatham 6-0 last night after 1-0 wins on Monday and Tuesday. That team ERA? Down to 2.54. For a team that at one point had been shut-out three times in four games, this is a nice little trend.

It's also one of the more impressive feats of the summer, made better by how it started. On June 29, the Mariners didn't just shut out the Y-D Red Sox, they shut them out for 13 innings. Three pitchers combined to allow just four hits.

I don't know if that inspired the Harwich pitching staff or what, but something has clicked. With last night's game tacked on, the Mariners have a scoreless streak of 31 innings. It stretches back even further if you add on the three scoreless innings at the end of Sunday's win over Bourne.

And everybody is in on it. This isn't like a Major League Baseball playoff series involving a team with a good bullpen getting to the sixth and turning out the lights. Ten different pitchers have seen action during the streak.

The starters have of course had their say. Aaron Meade (Missouri State) delivered the best performance, striking out 12 in seven shutout innings on Tuesday. Against Y-D, Mike Gipson (Florida Atlantic) allowed two hits in seven shutout innings of his own. Brett Bruening (Grayson CC) got the start last night and went 3.1 innings.

The bullpen performances have been perhaps more impressive. In that first game, Geoff Parker (Florida State) struck out five and didn't allow a hit in three innings. Matthew Price (Virginia Tech) finished it off by surrendering just two hits in three innings.

In relief of Meade on Tuesday, Les Williams (Northeastern) and Glen Troyanowski (Florida Atlantic) worked two scoreless frames, and last night, four pitchers combined to hold Chatham without a hit over the final 5.2 innings. Chase Reid (Vanderbilt) struck out five in 2.2 innings, while Garrett Davis (North Carolina), Brian Dupra (Notre Dame) and Troyanowski finished it off.

All in all, that's 10 pitchers allowing no runs on 14 hits in 31 innings.

Crazy.

And on top of all that, the Mariners also had a little offense last night, getting two RBI from Connor Powers (Mississippi State), Dan Grovatt (Virginia) and Marcus Niddifer (Kentucky).

Elsewhere

The other team that's caught fire of late is Bourne, and the Braves matched Harwich with a shutout of their own last night. Behind 5.1 strong innings from Turner Phelps (James Madison) and 3.2 no-hit innings of relief, the Braves beat Chris Sale and Y-D 1-0. A fourth-inning home run by Stefen Romero (Oregon State) -- his league-best fourth of the season -- accounted for all the offense. The Braves have won three in a row and sit in first place in the West. Sale suffered his first loss for Y-D. Micah Gibbs (LSU) made his first appearance of the summer.

Orleans blew a 7-0 lead, but came back to pick up an 8-7 victory over Brewster. The winning run scored in the bottom of the ninth when Jeremy Gould (Duke) got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Matt Packer (Virginia) picked up the win for Orleans with three scoreless innings. Gould hit a home run and Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) went 2-for-4 with three RBI. For Brewster, second-team All-American Jarrett Parker (Virginia) made his first appearance of the summer and went 1-for-3 with a triple and three RBI.

Josh Mueller (Eastern Illinois) struck out eight in five innings and Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech) hit a three-run homer as Wareham topped Falmouth 6-4. The Commodores made two errors but they were big ones -- all of Wareham's runs were unearned.

Hyannis and Cotuit played to a 3-3 tie. The Kettleers led 3-0 into the sixth before Hyannis put up three runs to tie it. A two-run single by Ryan Cuneo (Delaware) was the big blow. For Cotuit, Chris Bisson (Kentucky) had three hits and two stolen bases.

What to Watch For Tonight

Harwich will try to keep its streak going with a game at Brewster. Rob Gariano (Fairfield) and his 0.79 ERA will be on the hill.

Daily Fog: The Only Game in Town

2009-07-03T10:10:00.001-04:00

When the Cape League announced schedule changes this season, one of the big things was "The Only Game In Town" concept.

This is not what they meant.

Originally, nine of the 10 teams had a date on which their game was the only one scheduled. Because of all the postponements, there is only one of these dates left -- Aug. 3 when Chatham visits Orleans -- but even that one could be in jeopardy if the rain continues.

Maybe Mother Nature felt bad for ruining things, though she's not very good at making up for it. Y-D and Wareham ended up with the only game in town last night, as the other four games got postponed. I believe that gives us 33 postponements for the summer. It's the fifth time that at least four games have been rained out. It sounds like Cotuit had its field ready to go, but Orleans didn't have a bus to get there. When it rains, it pours, or something like that.

As for the on-field action, Y-D topped Wareham 4-1 for its sixth win in seven games. The Red Sox now have 10 wins, tied with Chatham for most in the league. Wareham dropped to 6-6-1.

Three pitchers combined to absolutely shut down the Gatemen, who had scored 18 runs in their last three games. Michael Goodnight (Houston) got the start and allowed just one unearned run on one hit in 4.1 innings. Drew Hayes (Vanderbilt) went 1.1 hitless innings, and Kevin Rhoderick (Oregon State) finished it off with 3.1 hitless innings. He struck out four.

Eric Pfisterer (Duke) made the start for Wareham and was solid in four innings of work, allowing one run on three hits. But Y-D broke through against the Wareham bullpen with three in the seventh. Blake Kelso (Houston) led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) and Josh Rutledge (Alabama) added RBI singles.

Y-D finished with 10 hits, getting at least one from all but one spot in the lineup. Rutledge and Ben McMahan (Florida) each had two hits and an RBI. Zach Wilson (Arizona State) had Wareham's only hit, an RBI double in the fourth.

What to Watch For Tonight

The chance for rain is supposedly smaller tonight and there might be some sun today to dry out the fields so we can hope. And the weekend does look nice. For tonight, Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) will make his fourth start as he tries to keep the Red Sox rolling in a home game against Bourne.

Daily Fog: Either Way

2009-07-01T08:49:00.001-04:00

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.

Daily Fog: Going Long

2009-06-30T08:44:00.001-04:00

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.

Daily Fog: Lucky Seven

2009-06-29T08:33:00.001-04:00

With the rule changes implemented, I believe Sunday's seven-inning doubleheader games were the first scheduled seven-inning games played in the Cape League in a long time. I'm guessing they might have had a few somewhere along the line, maybe before the modern era. But Cape League games have been nine-inning affairs for as long as I can remember.

Either way, the Y-D Red Sox didn't mind.

Using just two pitchers -- the fewest number of pitchers they've used in any two-game stretch this summer -- the Red Sox swept past Falmouth 6-3 and 4-0 in a Sunday doubleheader. The victories gave Y-D a four-game winning streak and moved them to 8-6. They had previously lost five games in a row.

In the first game of the twin bill, Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast), the most effective starter in the league thus far, made his third appearance and delivered a strong performance again. Having not allowed a run prior to Sunday, Sale stretched his scoreless streak all the way to 20 innings when he got through six without allowing anything. Falmouth finally got to him in the seventh, touching him up for three runs. But with two men on and two out, Sale finished the game with a strikeout. He ended up striking out four and walking none in the complete-game effort. Sale leads the league in strikeouts.

Brian Hernandez (UC Irvine) led the way at the plate in game one, going 2-for-2 with three RBI. Austin Wates (Virginia Tech) and Mickey Wiswall (Boston College), two of the league's top hitters, stayed hot with two hits apiece. Wates is second in the league with a .391 average. Wiswall is fourth at .360.

It was more of the same for the Red Sox in the second game of the doubleheader. John Leonard (Boston College) one-upped Sale by taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He lost it with one out in the sixth but still finished off six scoreless frames and struck out five. Kevin Rhoderick (Oregon State) came on in the seventh with a runner on first and struck out the side to preserve the victory.

Wiswall went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Jordan Casas (Long Beach State) and Blake Kelso (Houston) had two hits apiece.

With the victories and a Chatham loss, the Red Sox moved within three games of the Anglers for first place in the East.

Elsewhere

In the other doubleheader, Harwich and Bourne played to a split, with Bourne winning game one 6-3 and Harwich taking game two 8-1. Stefan Romero (Oregon State) went 3-for-3 in the first game with a home run (his third) and four RBI. Chris Wallace (Houston) added a home run in the same inning as Romero. Cameron Roth (UNC Wilmington) picked up the win with six strikeouts in four strong innings. Harwich turned things around in game two, posting its second-highest run output of the season. Everybody in the lineup was on base at least once, with Trent Mummey (Auburn) driving in two Phil Gosselin (Virginia) delivering two hits. Justin Wright (Virginia Tech) and Chase Reid (Vanderbilt) combined to strike out 11. Reid struck out six and didn't allow a hit in 3.1 innings of relief.

A wild first inning was all Orleans needed to beat Chatham 2-1. Two walks and four wild pitches staked the Firebirds to a 2-0 lead. Starter Jimmy Reyes (Elon) made that lead stand up with seven strong innings. He allowed just an unearned run, struck out nine and didn't walk anybody. Matt Packer (Virginia) and Alex Hassan (Duke) went one scoreless inning each to keep the slim lead. Logan Verrett (Baylor), who had been with Team USA, struck out seven in 5.1 innings after relieving starter Thomas Keeling (Oklahoma State) in the first. The loss was Chatham's third in a row.

Cotuit broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth to beat Hyannis 2-1. An RBI single by Zach Cox (Arkansas) scored Jeff Rowland (Georgia Tech) with the go-ahead run. Benjamin Rowen (Virginia Tech) struck out four in three scoreless innings to pick up the win.

Wareham played just its second game in the last seven days, but the Gatemen certainly weren't rusty. After postponements the last two nights, the Gatemen reached double digits in runs for the first time all year in a 10-2 victory over Brewster. Shea Vucinich (Washington State), Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge), George Springer (Connecticut) and Ryan LaMarre (Michigan) all drove in two runs each, with Springer delivering a team-high three hits. Blake Monar (Indiana) allowed two runs in 5.1 innings to pick up the win. Scott Rembisz (Florida International), Keith Bilodeau (Maine) and Zach Brewster (Georgia Tech) combined for 3.2 shutout innings of relief.

What to Watch For Tonight

Jake Buchanan (NC State) goes for Cotuit against Bourne and Bryan Morgado (Tennessee), the highest-drafted player on the Cape this year. Neither pitcher allowed an earned run in his first start.

Daily Fog: An Early Statement

2009-06-28T14:55:00.001-04:00

Chatham may have the best record in the league, but the Anglers are 0-2 against Cotuit, the team with the next-best record. The Kettleers beat the Anglers 3-1 last night. That's their second two-run victory over Chatham, which has dropped its last two after six straight wins. Amazingly, Chatham and Cotuit are the only two teams in the league with winning records.

Last night, Chatham out-hit Cotuit 10-8 but stranded 10 runners. A second-inning solo home run by Steven Brooks (Wake Forest) accounted for Chatham's only run. Cotuit responded quickly with two runs in the bottom of the second on a sac fly by Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) and an RBI single by Jeff Rowland (Georgia Tech). Cotuit added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI double by Cory Vaughn (San Diego State).

For the second straight night, strong pitching performances helped keep Chatham from putting together a comeback. Justin Grimm (Georgia) got the start for Cotuit and allowed just the one run in 4.1 innings. Seth Blair (Arizona State), a star on the Cape last year, made his first appearance this year since arriving from the College World series and worked four shutout innings to pick up the win. Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern) struck out two in the ninth to pick up his first save.

All in all, an impressive win for the Kettleers. Strangely enough, they didn't necessarily play their game to do it. They didn't have a stolen base, which I believe is the first time that's happened all year. They also didn't have a sacrifice bunt.

That's the thing about this team, though. For all the speed and small-ball leanings, when you look at their lineup, you realize they have some hitters who can be very productive. The combination of the two gives Cotuit a real dangerous offense.

Of course, Chatham's offense has been more dangerous. The Anglers still lead the league in runs scored, but last night, they didn't have enough.

The Kettleers and Anglers won't see each other again until July 12. It'll be interesting to see what they do then, and where they stand.

Elsewhere

In a sadly unsurprising twist, two games were postponed last night, which means that just once in the last week has a full slate of games gone off without a hitch. Crazy.

One game got impacted by weather but went far enough to be official. Y-D beat Brewster 5-3 in a game called because of lightning and rain. Remarkably, the lightning didn't flash until just after the bottom of the seventh inning. In the top half of the inning, Y-D had taken its 5-3 lead. If Brewster's at-bat in the bottom of the inning hadn't been completed, the seventh inning wouldn't have counted and the game would have gone back to a 3-3 tie. Y-D got its lead on an error and a Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State) RBI single. Seth Simmons (East Carolina) picked up the win with four strikeouts in two innings of relief. For Brewster, Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) made his first appearance of the summer, going 1-for-3. Gyorko was at Team USA trials.

In the longest game of the summer so far, Hyannis outlasted Falmouth 6-5 in 12 innings. A passed ball on a strikeout allowed the go-ahead run to score in the top of the 12th. Cody Hawn (Tennessee) went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI to lead the Mets. He was one of five players who had two hits for Hyannis.

What to Watch For Right Today/Tonight

With doubleheaders at Y-D and Bourne, games are happening as I write this. In tonight's action, Chatham will try to stop its two-game skid with a home game against Orleans. It's the second match-up of the year between the East rivals. It appears that former Falmouth Commodore and CWS hero Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) will go for Orleans. He was not on anybody's roster this year, but has just popped up for the Firebirds. He was a 17th-round pick this year.

Daily Fog: End of the Line

2009-06-27T09:51:00.001-04:00

The way things have been going, you got the feeling it would take something special to stop the Chatham Anglers.

Three Bourne pitchers delivered it.

Turner Phelps (James Madison), Justin Poovey (Florida) and Stephen Harrold (UNC Wilmington) combined on a four-hit shutout as the Braves toppled the Anglers by a 4-0 score, snapping Chatham's six-game winning streak.

It was the third start of the season for Phelps, who turned it into his longest and best start so far. The sophomore righty allowed just two hits, struck out nine and walked only one in six shutout innings. Bourne gave Phelps the lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth, and the bullpen helped keep the lead, a crucial part of the equation against the comeback-minded Anglers. Poovey struck out two and allowed one hit in two innings. Harrold surrendered a leadoff single in the ninth but got three straight groundouts to end the game.

It's the first time this season that Chatham has been shut out. The Anglers came into last night's game leading the league in hitting, but they dropped behind Y-D after their four-hit performance.

Kaleb Fleck (Pitt-Johnstown) got the start for Chatham and pitched well, surrendering just a run on two hits in four innings. Cody Freeman (Mississippi State) hit a solo home run for the Braves. Raynor Campbell (Baylor) scored the second run on a wild pitch and a throwing error. A dropped fly ball allowed two runs to score in the ninth.

The Anglers still sit in first by eight points, and they're the only team in the East with a winning record. Bourne improved to 4-4-2.

Elsewhere

Rob Gariano (Fairfield) got credited with the shortest complete game of the season as the Harwich-Hyannis game got called in the sixth because of rain. The Mets were trying to rally when the game was called. They had runners on second and third. Before that, Gariano had been lights-out. Making his second start, the junior righty struck out 11 and walked nobody through his 5.1 innings. For the season, he has struck out 19 without a single walk, one of the more impressive early pitching lines of the season. Harwich made a winner out of Gariano thanks to two runs in the second and one in the fifth. Levi Michael, North Carolina's freshman who was making his first appearance, drove in a run, as did David Herbek (James Madison) and Marcus Niddifer (Kentucky).

Y-D got just enough offense, and Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) delivered a lights-out relief performance to lead the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over Orleans. After a strong start by Jared Ray (Houston), who allowed just an unearned run in six innings, Burgoon struck out seven and didn't allow a hit over the final three innings. Burgoon is establishing himself as the league's best reliever. He now has four saves and 16 strikeouts in 7.2 innings. He has not allowed a hit or an earned run. On the offensive side, Jonathan Jones (Long Beach State) led the way for the Red Sox with three hits and an RBI. Elliot Glynn (Connecticut) allowed one run in 5.2 innings for Orleans.

The other two games were postponed because of rain.

What to Watch For Tonight
Two first-place teams will get together in Cotuit as the 9-2 Chatham Anglers take on the 5-4-1 Kettleers. Before last night, Cotuit had handed Chatham its only loss. Chad Bell (Walters State) will get the start for Cotuit against Chatham's Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State). Both have been impressive in the early going.

Historically Fast, etc.

2009-06-27T00:14:00.001-04:00

Notes written while wondering how on Earth it rained again today . . .

I wrote the other day about Chatham's start and where it ranked in recent history. Right then, I didn't have time to go back and really look, but I did I have time tonight.

Good thing I had a lot of time.

The Anglers' 9-1 start is the best since 2002, when the Cotuit Kettleers started 13-0, breaking the all-time league record for most wins to start a season. Led by batting champ and league MVP Pete Stonard, that Cotuit team ended up tying two games before it lost its first game, which didn't happen until July 1. Pretty remarkable.

Maybe more remarkable? The Kettleers won 10 games the rest of the regular season. They still won the division title, but lost in the Western Division playoffs.

So Chatham, your cushion is nice, but it's not everything.

The league has announced some policy changes in response to all the postponements. Greg posted the full release on Codball . It looks like the big one is the allowance for seven-inning games in doubleheaders. Previously, league bylaws prevented that, but with a lot of doubleheaders on the horizon, this looks like the right move.

Some interesting names have popped up over the last few days, adding to the already large number of players drafted in 2009 who are on the Cape. Two were big names last summer on the Cape -- Baylor's Raynor Campbell and Mississippi State's Connor Powers. Campbell was a 31st-round pick while Powers went in the 11th round. Also of note is Tennessee's Bryan Morgado, who got the start for Bourne last night. Morgado was a third-round pick of the Dodgers. He missed his freshman year at Tennessee because of Tommy John surgery, but he's got a power arm that can light up radar guns. I believe he's the highest pick to play on the Cape in a few years. Last year, I think the highest pick was fifth-rounder Greg Miclat, who left pretty early in the summer.

Cotuit pitcher Drew Gagnier is the first Cape League player to come from the University of Oregon since the program was re-established. Oregon hadn't played baseball since 1981, but the program was set on course in 2007 for a return and was officially brought back to life this spring. Gagnier, a redshirt sophomore who previously played at Fresno State, is a pretty good first representative. He had a 2.70 ERA out of the bullpen for the Ducks and was a 14th-round pick of the A's earlier this month. In three appearances for Cotuit, he hasn't allowed a run and has struck out six in four innings.

Some of the Virginia contingent has arrived from the College World Series, and they're making sure everyone knows it. Dan Grovatt has gone 4-for-7 in his first two games for Harwich. John Barr went 3-for-4 last night in his first game with Brewster.

As LSU tries to defend its national championship next year, Brett Bruening may play a big role. A juco star who has committed to the Tigers, Bruening has a 0.75 ERA in two starts for Harwich. He has struck out 12 in 12 innings of work.

Speaking of LSU, it'll be very interesting to see what Anthony Ranaudo does this summer. He's on the Y-D roster, but as Dave touched on over at Codball, Ranaudo pitched a lot of innings this year -- 124.1 after just 12 last year. I too wouldn't be surprised if Ranaudo is either shut down for the summer or kept on a very tight leash. To some extent, he's done everything he needed to do this year, helping lead LSU to a title and, in the process, establishing himself as perhaps the top college prospect for the 2010 draft. On the surface, Ranaudo's situation is similar to Alex White's last year. A top prospect who carried his team deep into the tourney, White was scheduled to pitch in Chatham but was shut down for the summer. We'll find out soon enough what's going to happen with Ranaudo.

Daily Fog: Finding It

2009-06-26T15:32:00.001-04:00

Man. It's 2:30 p.m. and I have no reasonable excuse for why this hasn't been posted yet. I have a day off, with nothing going on. I tried starting it three separate times, but no matter how many box scores I stared at, I couldn't come up with a theme.

This is rare. For all the times I've had writer's block in my life, I don't think I've ever had Cape League writer's block. In two years of putting out these daily updates, I'm pretty sure this has never happened. But today, I feel out of the loop, out of rhythm. It's like the rainy interruptions killed every ounce of momentum. Nothing connects to anything else. Wednesday's games offered a brief moment of excitement: Hey, they're playing again. Today, it's more of a "What now?"

I can only imagine how the Hyannis Mets feel.

They were on a two-game winning streak before the monsoons rolled in. Then they did nothing for four days. On that fourth day, when everyone else was back in action, they were postponed again.

Somehow, they fought through it.

Facing the same Cotuit team they beat in their last game on June 20, the Mets put a ninth-inning rally together to edge the Kettleers 3-2 last night. The bullpen shined, with Dallas Gallant (Sam Houston) and Kevin Brandt (East Carolina) tossing four shutout innings and setting the stage for the rally. The Mets delivered in the top of the ninth as Dustin Harrington (East Carolina) worked a walk and Eddie Rohan (Winthrop) knocked him in with a base hit. Brandt struck out two in the bottom of the inning to seal the victory.

That's three wins in a row for the Mets, who improved to 4-4. I can't imagine it feels much like a streak, but they'll take it.

I'll take it too. Rhythm or not, it's about time this season gets in gear.

Elsewhere

Wareham, the only other team that missed four days, didn't fare quite as well in its return. But that might have had more to do with the scorching Chatham Anglers, who came to Clem Spillane Field and beat the Gatemen 6-4 in 10 innings for their sixth straight win. That's the third extra-innings victory of the year for the Anglers, who have shown quite a flair for the dramatic. Whit Merrifield (South Carolina), who pinch-ran after a walk to Tom Belza (Oklahoma State), scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch after he had moved up two bases on sacrifice bunts. Phillip Pohl (Clemson) also scored on a wild pitch for an insurance run. Thomas Keeling worked a perfect bottom of the inning to pick up the save. The win moved Chatham to a league-best 9-1. Wareham starter Eric Pfisterer (Duke) finally allowed a hit after surrendering none in his first two starts.

Ace Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) was scheduled to start for Y-D last night against Orleans. He didn't go, but if he had, he might have been out-dueled. Orleans' Casey Gaynor (Rutgers) allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings and struck out three as the Firebirds rolled to a 6-0 victory. It was the second strong start of the year for Gaynor, who has has a 0.69 ERA. Gary Brown (Cal State Fullerton) went 3-for-5 with two RBI in his first game since arriving from the College World Series. Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) and Alex Hassan (Duke) each had two hits and two RBI. Hassan, a 20th-round pick this year, is now hitting .421 with seven RBI. He's emerging as one of the most productive hitters in the league.

Bourne got a strong start from newcomer Bryan Morgado, a third-round pick this year out of Tennessee, but it went for naught in a 5-4 loss to Falmouth. Morgado struck out five in three shutout innings, but Falmouth jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the Bourne bullpen then held off a late charge. Taylor Wall (Rice) picked up the win with six shutout innings in his first appearance of the summer. Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt) and Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State) each had two hits and an RBI for the Commodores.

Harwich snapped a six-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over Brewster. Eric Jokisch (Northwestern) struck out five and allowed one earned run in six innings. Recent additions Dan Grovatt (Virginia) and Connor Powers (Mississippi State) both had two hits and an RBI.

What to Watch For Tonight
Looks like a nice pitching match-up in Falmouth. Casey Schmidt (San Diego), a 15th-round pick this year, will go for Brewster against Jordan Cooper, who had an outstanding freshman year at Wichita State. Cooper allowed two runs in seven innings in his first start. Schimdt has made two starts and has a 2.70 ERA.

Daily Fog: Game On

2009-06-25T11:24:00.001-04:00

I always try to use this space to write about what seemed important from the night before. The most important thing last night?

They played baseball. On Cape Cod.

After two full days of rainouts and one day with four rainouts, the weather finally cooperated long enough last night to get most of the games in. Hyannis had to postpone its match-up with Wareham, but that was the only one. Everyone else played, and I, for one, am glad they're back.

I'm guessing the Chatham Anglers are happy to be back, too.

I feel like I've partially lost it in all the unevenness of the early season, but it's time to take notice: the Anglers are on fire. Last night, they won their fifth straight game as they topped Y-D 8-3. They're now 8-1, a full seven points ahead of second-place Brewster in the East. They're off to a faster start than even the 2007 juggernaut Y-D Red Sox, who were 7-2 through nine games.

Last night, they wasted no time jumping on top. They batted around in the first inning and chased Y-D starter Greg Holle (TCU) before he could record an out. Mike Murray (Wake Forest) had an RBI single, with three of the other runs coming home on bases-loaded walks or hit-batsmen.

Staked to a big lead, Chatham pitcher Pete Kennelly (Fordham) was just as dominant in his first start as he has been in relief. He went four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four. Kennelly now hasn't allowed a run in four appearances. Parker Bangs (South Carolina) picked up the win in relief.

Murray went 3-for-3 to lead the offense, while Tom Belza (Oklahoma State) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Elsewhere

Chris Dwyer (Clemson) made his first start on the Cape, and it was a great one. A fourth-round pick this year as a draft-eligible freshman, Dwyer struck out nine in five scoreless innings to lead Cotuit past Falmouth 2-0. Greg Schimmel
breaks down Dwyer's performance on his blog, saying that Dwyer is the most impressive pitcher he's seen this summer. Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern), Chad Bell (Walters State CC) and Drew Gagnier (Oregon) came out of the pen to preserve the shutout, with Tillman striking out five in 2.2 innings and Gagnier striking out the side in the ninth to pick up his first save. Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) had an RBI double and Brian Guinn (California) hit an RBI single to power a two-run fifth.

Brewster has played five home games and tied three of them, including last night's 2-2 result against Bourne. Braves starter Eric Cantrell (George Washington) was strong again, striking out eight in five innings. Brewster's Kyle Blair struck out four and walked four in 4.1 scoreless innings. Stefan Romero (Oregon State) hit a two-run home run to power Bourne's attack. Mark Canha (California) drove in both of Brewster's runs with a sixth-inning single. He's tied for the league lead in RBI with seven. Raynor Campbell (Baylor), a 31st-round pick who was an all-star for Wareham last summer, was in the lineup for Bourne and went 2-for-4.

Orleans scored four runs in the top of the ninth to rally past Harwich 6-4. Kevin Muno (San Diego State) knocked in a run to get the rally going before an error allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score. Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) knocked in two to lead Orleans.

What to Watch For Tonight
Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast), who has struck out 20 and hasn't allowed a run in 14 innings, will make his third start of the year as Y-D hosts Orleans. The Firebirds will counter with Casey Gaynor (Rutgers), who allowed one run in six innings in his first start.

Team USA Releases Final Roster

2009-06-24T23:25:00.001-04:00

With its trials complete, USA baseball announced its final roster today. You can read the release here.

Here's the breakdown, starting with the good news. Eight players on Cape League rosters were left off the final USA roster:

Micah Gibbs - C - Y-D
Thomas Girdwood - RHP - Hyannis
Jedd Gyorko - IF - Brewster
Anthony Ranaudo - RHP - Y-D
Logan Verrett - RHP - Chatham
Alex Wimmers - RHP - Bourne
Kyle Winkler - RHP - Falmouth
Ross Wilson - IF - Harwich

Though that's not as high a number as last year, when 11 Cape Leaguers didn't make the final roster, it's still a good group. Ranaudo and Wimmers could be the two most highly-touted pitchers on the Cape if they do indeed make it. Same goes for Gibbs at the catcher spot, and Wilson and Gyorko on the infield.

The bad news is that 15 of the 22 who did make the final roster were slated for the Cape. That list includes Christian Colon, Bryce Brentz, Tyler Holt, Blake Forsythe, Gerrit Cole and Drew Pomeranz. It would have been cool to see all those guys in Cape League uniforms.

There are three names floating out there that I'm not sure about -- Hunter Morris (Falmouth), Deck McGuire (Orleans) and Danny Hultzen (Hyannis). All three were/are on Cape League rosters and were on the initial USA invite list. But the most recent trials roster -- even before the final roster came out -- did not include them. I'm not sure what that means for their summer destinations, but I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Morris and McGuire are still listed on the Falmouth and Orleans rosters, but Hultzen hasn't been on the Hyannis roster since the Team USA invites went out.

Update (11:29): Just realized I missed Casey Harman, as well. He was not on the most recent trials list either and isn't on the final roster. He's slated for Hyannis.

And Another Update (11:53): The fact that their trial roster kept changing is killing me. There's another name that falls into the unknown category, and it's a big one -- Fullerton pitcher Daniel Renken. He's on the Harwich roster and was, at one point or another, a Team USA invite. I hope I'm not missing anybody else.

Why not another one? (11:55): I'm losing it over here. Jarrett Parker. Brewster. Also a one-time invite who disappeared from the trials roster. Though I'm quietly going crazy, this is actually looking better and better for the Cape League if all these guys make it.

And We're Back

2009-06-22T22:33:00.001-04:00

The weekend got away from me and I had to work a super long day today, so I've missed a few things. But as lost weekends go, I guess this wasn't a bad one to lose. I'm sure everyone has noticed: it's raining a bit. In the last four days, only eight of the 20 scheduled games have been played. It's kind of terrible.

With the entire slate getting washed out tonight, there will be nothing to recount tomorrow, but I'll try to catch up on a few things that may have slipped through the cracks the last few days. For now, I leave you with some marginally coherent ramblings. Proceed.

If you look at team stat rankings, you can get a pretty good idea why Chatham has the best record in the league. The Anglers lead the league in hitting at .252 and are second in ERA, sitting at 2.19. They're also coming through in the clutch: they've won half their games with late-inning rallies, including Sunday's dramatic victory over Orleans. The Anglers trailed 7-1 before scoring four in the eighth and five in the ninth to win 10-7. I'd call that the craziest game of the summer so far. It moved Chatham to 7-1, a full six points ahead of Y-D in the East. That's a nice little cushion to have this early in the season.

The league named Bourne's Eric Cantrell and Kyle Roller the Pitcher and Player of the Week for the season's first week. I can't disagree with either of those. Roller, a solid Cape Leaguer who lasted deep into the draft, could become one of the stories of the summer if he continues to shine. I'll be eager to see what Cantrell does in his second start after eight dominant innings his first time out.

So my pick for pitcher of the year, Max Russell? Yeah, he's got an X by his name on the stat sheet, which presumably means he's done. Is it too late to change my pick? I swear I was leaning toward Chris Sale all along.

Orleans' Michael Olt (Connecticut) was tabbed by Baseball America as the NECBL's top prospect last summer and he's well on his way to making a mark in the Cape League, too. Olt leads the league in extra-base hits, RBI, runs scored and he's tied for the lead in home runs. Orleans teammate Jaren Matthews is also off to a really nice start, with a .321 average, a home run and five RBI.

Tomorrow

2009-06-19T15:40:00.001-04:00

Just a quick note. The Daily Fog will not be up tomorrow until late in the day. I'm not going to be around in the morning.

Daily Fog: Pitcher's Delight

2009-06-19T10:06:00.001-04:00

At some point, the ERA leader board will not have 10 guys with 0.00 ERA's.

But this is not that point.

Cape League starting pitchers have been dominant so far this season, and the trend continued in a big way last night. I count five legitimately dominant starts:

Mike Dennhardt, Chatham - 8 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 4 K, 1 BB
Rob Rasmussen, Orleans - 6 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 10 K, 1 BB
Eric Pfisterer, Wareham - 7 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 7 K, 1 BB
Sean Hoelscher, Brewster - 6.2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 8 K, 3 BB
Chris Sale, Y-D - 8.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 12 K, 1 BB

A little math tells you that those five combined to allow two runs on seven hits in 35.2 innings. They struck out 41.

Pfisterer (Duke) and Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) get special mention. This wasn't their first time at the rodeo.

Pfisterer made a splash on the second day of the season when he went didn't allow a hit in a five-inning outing. With seven more innings under his belt, he still hasn't allowed a hit. He's got 17 strikeouts and three walks. His performance Thursday helped send Wareham to a 7-0 victory over Harwich. It sounds like sloppy field conditions kept him from making a run at a full no-hitter.

Sale doesn't have the no-hit thing going, but he's been just as dominant. In 14 innings, he hasn't allowed a run. He's struck out a league-high 20 and walked only two. Thought he took a no-decision Thursday when the Y-D bullpen blew a lead, he's been perhaps the best starter in the league.

The other three pitchers on the above list were new to the party but no less impressive. Dennhardt (Boston College) needed just 81 pitches to toss his eight-inning gem. Rasmussen (UCLA), who had an up-and-down season with Orleans last year, started his new summer with a huge performance. After one start, he already leads the Firebirds in strikeouts. Hoelscher (TCU) also made his first start a very strong one.

Elsewhere

Of course, on the day I talk about the pitching, we've also got a slugfest to discuss. Hyannis scored a league season-high in runs in a 13-5 victory over Falmouth. Tennessee's Cody Hawn made his first start and powered the offense with a grand slam. He finished 2-for-5, while Nick Crawford (UAB) and Dustin Harrington (East Carolina) also had two hits each. Seven Mets drove in runs, with Crawford and Eddie Rohan (Winthrop) knocking in two. Hyannis did most of its damage against Falmouth starter Mitch Mormann (Des Moines Area CC), who allowed seven earned in two innings after pitching four perfect innings in his first start. For the Mets, Austin Hudson (Central Florida) picked up his second win with five strong innings. In the lineup for Falmouth was a new addition -- Wichita State's Ryan Jones. He hit eight home runs for Falmouth last year and got drafted in the 38th round this year.

Dennhardt and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) combined on the shutout for Chatham over Bourne, with Brewer working a scoreless ninth to seal the 2-0 win. Jeff Schaus (Clemson) went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Anglers.

Behind Rasmussen, Orleans posted a 6-1 victory over Cotuit. Michael Olt (Connecticut) drove in two runs, as did new arrival and familiar face Alex Hassan (Duke), who was a 20th round pick of the Red Sox this year. The Kettleers got four more steals -- though Chris Bisson (Kentucky) was shut out for the first time because he didn't get on base.

Wareham had a big night from Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech), who went 3-for-5 with two home runs, becoming the first player this season to hit two home runs in a game. Alex Dickerson (Indiana) drove in two. Harwich has now been shut-out two nights in a row.

Sale's big effort went to waste when Brewster rallied from a 1-0 deficit with four in the ninth to win 4-1 over Y-D. The Whitecaps orchestrated their rally without getting a hit. Three errors were the biggest culprits for Y-D.

What to Watch For Tonight
Oklahoma State's Tyler Lyons, a 10th-round pick of the Yankees earlier this month, will make his first start for Chatham as the Anglers visit Falmouth. The Commodores will counter with Nick Tepesch (Missouri), who struggled his first time out. In Cotuit, a pair of 15th-round picks will duke it out, with Mike Nesseth (Nebraska) going for Cotuit and Casey Schmidt (San Diego) getting the ball for Brewster.

Another CCBL Blog

2009-06-18T22:41:00.001-04:00

I just stumbled on a new Cape League blog that you should check out. Simply titled "Cape Cod League Blog," it's written by Greg Schimmel, a freelance scout who's following the league this summer. It looks he's catching a game every night and giving a scout's perspective on the proceedings. There's a lot of great stuff on there already.

You can find the site at http://capecodbaseballleague.blogspot.com

Two years ago, the Cape Prospects site was a real nice compliment to Cape League coverage, but it wasn't around last year. This new blog looks like it will fill the void and then some.

Daily Fog: The Total Package

2009-06-18T08:55:00.001-04:00

I wrote about Cotuit's speed yesterday, and so did the Cape Cod Times today.

Then the Kettleers went and did it all.

They were still running loose on the base paths, stealing six bases against Harwich last night, led by three from Rico Noel (Coastal Carolina). But that's not the only thing they were doing. Cory Vaughn (San Diego State) hit a grand slam and Brandon Cumpton (Georgia Tech) tossed eight shutout innings as the Kettleers posted a 7-0 victory over the Mariners, the most lopsided win of the season for any Cape League team.

It was a season-high in runs and it tied a season-high in hits for the Kettleers, who now haven't lost since opening night. But as impressive as they've been, this one probably takes the cake.

Vaughn, the son of former Major League and Cape Leaguer Greg Vaughn, had been struggling mightily, with just one hit in his first 13 at-bats. But he broke out in a big way on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with two singles and the grand slam. Vaughn was the top prospect in the Northwoods League last year. If he continues to bust out this year, he could emerge as one of the Cape's top prospects and as a key middle-of-the-order bat for a team that's going to have a lot of runners in scoring position.

Vaughn wasn't the only piece to the offensive puzzle last night. In addition to his three steals, Noel went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a home run of his own. Like Vaughn, Noel had also been struggling but he's now hitting .278 with nine steals. Jeff Rowland (Georgia Tech) and Zach Cone (Georgia) also drove in runs for the Kettleers.

All the offense was more than enough for Cumpton. The Georgia Tech sophomore pitched for Cotuit last summer and did some good things, striking out 20 in 20.1 innings. He also had some problems with walks and his ERA was up over four. But last night, Cumpton shined. Making his first appearance of the summer, Cumpton allowed just three hits in eight innings. He only struck out three but Harwich couldn't sustain anything against him. The Mariners stranded seven runners.

All in all, a really impressive night for the Kettleers. And as if they needed a boost, Clemson's Chris Dwyer, a fourth-round pick as a draft-eligible freshman, has decided to come to the Cape.

Elsewhere

In the only other game of the night, Chatham improved to 4-1 with a 5-4 extra-innings victory over Wareham. The Gatemen led 4-1 much of the way before Chatham tied the game with three in the seventh. A two-run double by Dean Green (Oklahoma State) was the big blow.

The game stayed knotted at four until the 10th. Nick Schwaner (New Orleans) and Matt Duffy (Vermont) singled to start the inning. Brian Harris (Vanderbilt) pinch ran for Schwaner and moved to third on a bunt single by Joey Terdoslavich (Long Beach State). With the bases loaded and nobody out, Wareham reliever Keith Bilodeau (Maine) got the strikeout he needed, but the ball got away and Harris scampered home with the winning run.

Taylor Hill (Vanderbilt) picked up the win for Chatham with two scoreless innings of relief.

The game was the seventh one-run game of the season in the league. There's been at least one every night.

What to Watch For Tonight

We're back to the beginning of a few pitching rotations, with several early standouts set to make their second starts. Mitch Mormann (Des Moines Area CC) will go for Falmouth against Hyannis and Austin Hudson (Central Florida). Y-D's Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) will be pitching at home against Brewster, while Wareham's Eric Pfisterer (Duke) will go against Harwich. Also of note, Cotuit's Max Russell (Florida Southern) will make his first start.

Inside the Boxes

2009-06-17T21:55:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned the other day, I couldn't get into quite as much detail as usual in the Daily Fog because of a lack of box scores in the morning. That ended up being the case Monday, Tuesday and today. I don't know if they're going to be up late like that all year, but if they are, I'll try to do something like this most days to kind of catch up on things.

I think I eventually tracked most things down from Monday but I missed some stuff Tuesday. So let's get to some notes.

Parker Bangs (South Carolina) batted cleanup for Chatham last night and pitched a scoreless inning of relief. It'll be interesting to see how many innings Bangs gets this year. You don't often see a true two-way player in the league. Usually they're spending the summer focusing on one thing. I believe Y-D's Mike Belfiore is the only one who saw significant time on the mound and at the plate last year.

Devin Harris (East Carolina) and Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) are pretty big additions in Cotuit, and it looks like they'll certainly be counted on. They hit three-four in the lineup last night against Chatham.

Some strong relief performances around the league, headed by Brewster's Steven Maxwell (TCU), who allowed one hit in four shutout innings. He struck out seven and didn't walk anybody. Other standouts: Hyannis' Kevin Moran (2 IP, 0 R, 4 K's), Wareham's Josh Slaats (2 IP, 0 R, 3 K's), Bourne's Logan Billbrough (2 IP, 0 R, 3 K's), and Falmouth's Chad Sheppard (1 IP, 0 R, 3 K's).

Also of note in the relief department, Y-D's Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) picked up his league-leading third save. Burgoon hasn't yet allowed a hit this summer in 4.1 innings of work. He has struck out eight and walked just one.

Tennessee's Cody Hawn, my pick for MVP, made his first appearance of the last year, pinch-hitting for Hyannis. He did not get a hit, which was par for the course for the Mets. They managed just two all night against four Orleans pitchers.

He hasn't had a hit yet so you might not have noticed, but Florida State's Stephen Cardullo, the only Baseball America first-team All-American on the Cape, is now in the lineup for Harwich. Cardullo hit .376 with 10 home runs and 51 RBI for the Seminoles this spring, but went undrafted.

Seriously, what's with all the stealing? Cotuit's thefts are well-known, but Bourne's Pierre LePage did the same thing Chris Bisson did opening night and stole four bases last night against Falmouth. I don't know this for sure, but I'm pretty sure nobody stole four bases in a game all of last year, and now it's happened twice. LePage is also hitting .389 for Bourne.

Falmouth's Murray Watts (Arkansas State), a temporary player who was signed out of the invitational tryout, went 2-for-3 last night to up his average to a team-best .357. Watts is a 6'7, 250-pound redshirt freshman who hit .305 with 10 home runs this spring.

Wareham's Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech) broke out of a mini slump with a 2-for-5 day. Dietrich had just one hit in the first three games.

Daily Fog: Running Wild

2009-06-17T08:28:00.001-04:00

Last year's Cotuit Kettleers finished second in the league in home runs but only fifth in steals.

That's a rare feat for a Mike Roberts-coached team. In Roberts' previous seasons at the helm in Cotuit, the Kettleers led the league in stolen bases twice, finished second once and third the other time. When Roberts managed Wareham in 2000, the Gatemen tied the all-time league record for stolen bases with 134.

So last year was an anomaly. It was a down year for speed all across the board, with the individual league leader getting only 15. The Kettleers finished with 46, less than one a game.

These days, things are back to normal.

If this can be called normal.

Roberts' Kettleers have gone crazy on the base paths so far this summer. In five games, they've stolen 23 bases. Yes, that's halfway to last year's total. In five games.

It may be the normal approach, but there's nothing normal about the results.

Chris Bisson has been the ring-leader. The sophomore from Kentucky leads the league with 10 steals. He has swiped at least two in every game, and he stole four in the season opener. You know that saying that if a certain fast guy gets a single, it's basically a triple? That's not the slightest exaggeration for Bisson. Heading into last night's game, Bisson had stolen eight bases despite having a .231 on-base percentage. He really hasn't been on base very much. Every time he gets on, though, he's stealing second and third.

I thought someone from Cotuit would win the stolen base title this year. There was a lot of speed, and when you couple that with Roberts' approach, you're going to see a lot of steals. But I thought the champ would be Rico Noel, who stole 46 bases for Coastal Carolina. Noel does have six steals, but right now it's Bisson who's stealing the show.

A sophomore who's originally from Ontario, Bisson was a second-team all-SEC pick this season after hitting a team-best .362. But he only stole 13 bases, a sign that perhaps he didn't have the green light very often.

This summer, it looks like he and the rest of the Kettleers have it all the time. In a 5-3 victory over Chatham last night, they stole seven bases. The victory moved them to 2-1-1. They're playing fairly well, and if they can get some clutch hits to go with the steals, they'll be a real tough team to beat.

Could they set a few records in the process? The league's individual record for stolen bases is 48, set by Wareham's Roy Marsh in 1993. No one's been close to that since 2005, when current San Francisco Giant Manny Burriss of Orleans stole 37. Right now, Bisson is on pace for 88. You'd think the pace would have to slow down, but even if Bisson only averages one steal per game the rest of the way, he would still get 49.

The team mark could also be challenged. The Kettleers are on pace to steal more than 200 bases, which would demolish the current record. That pace, too, will probably slow down as teams make a concerted effort to limit the running game. They'll have to, or they'll find themselves in trouble.

Either way, you can bet the Kettleers will keep running.

Elsewhere

Cotuit's Chad Bell (Walters State CC) struck out four in five strong innings, and Craig Fritsch (Baylor), who played for Y-D last year, picked up his first save. The loss was the first of the season for the Anglers, which means there are no more undefeated teams.

In Hyannis, Orleans' Elliott Glynn (Connecticut) struck out five and allowed one hit in six scoreless innings as the Firebirds earned their first victory of the season, 2-0 over the Mets. Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) provided all the offense with a two-run home run, his first of the year. He's now hitting .333.

Michael Goodnight (Houston) carried a no-hitter into the fifth and ended up with a solid six-inning, three-hit line as Y-D beat Harwich 6-5. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) notched his league-leading third save of the season to hold off a Mariners rally and Jordan Casas (Long Beach State) went 4-for-4, the league's best offensive performance of the season.

Making his first appearance in a Bourne uniform, Stefan Romero (Oregon State) tripled to knock in the go-ahead run then scored an insurance run in the seventh inning as the Braves rallied to beat Falmouth 4-2.

Wareham and Brewster played to a 2-2 tie, the third tie in five days of action. Wareham led 1-0 and 2-1, but Brewster came back both times, netting the second tying run on a safety squeeze by Lyle Allen.

What to Watch For Tonight

Originally an off day, two rescheduled games will be played tonight as Cotuit visits Harwich and Wareham travels to Chatham. There's no fog or rain in the forecast.

Daily Fog: The Junior Circuit

2009-06-16T09:04:00.001-04:00

Falmouth has more junior-college players than any team in the league, and all of them are pitchers who figure to be key parts of the staff.

They certainly made an impact Monday night.

Tommy Collier (San Jacinto) and Patrick Cooper (Des Moines Area CC) combined for eight shutout innings to lead Falmouth to a 4-0 victory over Orleans in a battle of winless teams.

I said before the season that it would be interesting to see how the juco guys would do against much tougher competition. So far, so good for Falmouth's trio. Mitch Mormann, also of Des Moines CC, tossed four perfect innings in the Commodores' opener.

But until Monday, the Commodores hadn't found the win column. They tied the game Mormann pitched, then lost on Saturday and Sunday.

Collier, Cooper and another reliever, Georgia Tech's Mark Pope, finally turned things around.

Collier, a freshman who got drafted in the 29th round out of high school, had a fantastic season at San Jacinto, a juco baseball powerhouse. He finished with 13 wins, a 2.67 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 91 innings. Among pitchers who are currently on the Cape, that strikeout total ranks at the top.

Monday night, Collier picked up where he left off, allowing just two hits in six shutout innings. He struck out nine and didn't walk anybody.

In relief, Cooper also shined. He got himself into some early trouble but responded nicely to preserve the shutout. Cooper had great numbers at Des Moines this year -- 106 Ks in 72.1 IP -- and was a 34th-round pick of the Diamondbacks.

The performance by Collier and Cooper set the stage, and Pope made sure to finish it off. The Georgia Tech freshman had a high ERA this spring but also struck out a batter an inning. He worked a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his first save.

Falmouth's offense was led by Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State), who hit a home run, and Scott Lawson (Florida), who went 3-for-5 and stole four bases. He's the second player already to steal four bases in a game this season. Chris Bisson did it for Cotuit.

Elsewhere

Falmouth's win dropped Orleans to 0-4, which is a surprising start considering how solid the offense looks on paper right now. But the Firebirds have a team ERA close to five, by far the worst in the league.

If I told you one of the two pitchers who went for Brewster Monday night had a dominant performance, you'd probably pick Kyle Blair (San Diego), right? Blair was good -- three shutout innings -- but the real star was Mark Gormley. Brown's top starter this spring, Gormley came on in relief for Brewster in the fourth inning last night and turned in one of the top pitching performance of the night. He ended up going six scoreless innings and striking out six. The offense didn't provide much support but he didn't need it anyway. The Whitecaps scored a pair of runs on errors. Gormley has now made two appearances and has struck out 10 in nine innings.

There was a great story playing out for Bourne last night, and I hope someone will tell it in more detail at some point. According to the Bourne broadcast crew, Braves pitcher Stephen Porlier (Oklahoma) was making perhaps the last start of his career before he enlists in the Marines. And what a start it was. Porlier, who decided to join the Marines in part because injuries were derailing his baseball career, allowed one run in six innings, struck out four and didn't walk anybody. He didn't get a decision as Bourne and Cotuit ended in a 2-2 tie, but he still went out in style. If this is indeed the end of the line for Porlier's baseball career, best of luck to him.

For Cotuit, newcomers Devin Harris (East Carolina) and Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) each had RBI. Chris Bisson (Kentucky) stole two more bases to bring his league-leading total to eight.

Yesterday, there was one 3-0 team. Today, there's a different one. Chatham, who's played one fewer game than most of the rest of the teams, moved to 3-0 by knocking off previously unbeaten Y-D 3-2. Former Y-D player Whit Merrifield (South Carolina), who's now with Chatham, scored what proved to be the winning run when he scampered home from third when Nick Schwaner (New Orleans) got caught in a rundown between first and second. Kaleb Fleck (Pitt-Johnston) went five shutout innings for Chatham and Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) picked up his first save. Brewer led the league in saves last year while pitching for Hyannis.

Wareham topped Hyannis 4-2 thanks to a late rally. Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge) scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on a throwing error, and Eric Pfisterer (Duke) made it a 4-2 game with an RBI single. Reliever Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) made his first appearance for Wareham and picked up the win in relief with 3.2 shutout innings.

What to Watch For Tonight
Looks like a good pitching match-up in Chatham as Cotuit's Chad Bell (Walter State CC) goes against Chatham's Jake Thompson (Long Beach State). Bell was a 14th-round pick in last week's draft. He'll be making his first Cape appearance.

More Dominance and Another Name

2009-06-15T23:00:00.001-04:00

A few Monday night notes . . .

Junior-college standout Tommy Collier made his first start for Falmouth tonight and it doesn't look like the step up in competition hurt him. Collier tossed six shutout innings and struck out nine, continuing the trend early-season of dominant starting pitching.

Over in Cotuit, a highly-touted player showed up on the lineup card. Devin Harris, a draft-eligible sophomore from East Carolina who wasn't on Cotuit's original roster, was in the lineup tonight and delivered an RBI. Harris, an outfielder, was an eighth-round pick by Baltimore last week, so I believe he's the highest-picked player who's currently on the Cape.

Harris was a breakout prospect for ECU this year, hitting .344 with 14 home runs, to go with 13 steals. Here's a snippet from Baseball America's draft scouting report: "Sophomore-eligible outfielder Devin Harris has big tools and looks the part of a prototypical right fielder. He's an average runner at 6-foot-3, 227 pounds, with a plus arm suited for right field. Harris has massive raw power as well and the athletic ability to make adjustments . . . Harris fits in the first five rounds for a team that believes in his bat, but could fall because of the signing leverage he has as a sophomore."

His arrival in Cotuit means he might be looking for a little more leverage. He's definitely a player to keep an eye on this summer.

More on all of this and the rest of Monday's happenings tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we'll have some box scores.

Daily Fog: Another Gem

2009-06-15T08:53:00.001-04:00

At this rate, we're going to get a no-hitter tomorrow.

On the first night of the season, Hyannis' Austin Hudson (Central Florida) and Y-D's Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) turned in dominant starts. Saturday, it was Wareham's Eric Pfisterer (Duke), who struck out 10 in five no-hit innings.

On the third day of the season, Bourne's Eric Cantrell topped them all.

The sophomore from George Washington tossed eight shutout innings, allowed two hits, struck out 12 and didn't walk anybody in leading Bourne to a 5-1 victory over Wareham. Two singles in the second were all the Gatemen could muster against Cantrell, who at one point, struck out six in a row and retired 16 in a row.

Cantrell wasn't on my radar for the top pitchers in the preseason. In fact, when I highlighted this game yesterday, I made special mention of the other half of this pitching match-up, Scott Rembisz.

Cantrell's numbers at GW weren't overwhelming. He had an ERA just a shade under five, and he struck out 60 while walking 26 in 72.2 innings. Cantrell actually had a slightly better freshman year, when his ERA was 4.02.

But for pitchers, college stats aren't the best predictors of Cape League success. Clearly, Cantrell is a good one, and he's getting the chance to really show it. The Bourne broadcast team last night noted that he was pounding the zone, something he probably couldn't do quite as much at school.

Cantrell's performance helped Bourne post its first victory of the year after two straight losses to open the season. Cody Freeman (Mississippi State) had an RBI single to stake Bourne to a lead and Carlos Alonso (Delaware) had a two-run double in the seventh to break it open.

Elsewhere
These might be a little lighter in detail than usual, because box scores haven't been posted yet. I'm going off the Cape Cod Times and team web sites.

Pitching was also the story in Brewster, where Chatham's Shawn Tolleson (Baylor) picked up where he left off last summer. Tolleson pitched for Y-D last year and ranked fourth in the league in strikeouts. He's in Chatham now, and after a shaky spring -- he had one win -- he must be happy to be back on the Cape. Tolleson tossed seven one-hit innings to lead the Anglers to a 3-0 victory. Pete Kennelly (Fordham), a 38th-round pick last week who's working his way back after Tommy John Surgery, struck out four in two innings to pick up the save.

The only two teams to start last season with three straight wins were Harwich and Cotuit, who ended up playing for the championship. This year, Y-D stands alone. The Red Sox improved to 3-0 last night with a 3-1 victory over Hyannis. Darrin Campbell (San Diego) allowed three hits in six innings to pick up the win. Blake Kelso (Houston) and Steven Chatwood (San Diego) drove in runs for the Red Sox.

It was a rally that might have ended the game either way. With darkness creeping in, Cotuit got two runners on base in the 10th inning of their game against Falmouth. They might not have gotten to the 11th, but they didn't have to. Cody Stanley (UNC Wilmington) doubled home Kevin Patterson (Auburn) with the winning run as Cotuit posted a 3-2 victory. Justin Grimm (Georgia) was the other star for the Kettleers, going six shutout innings and allowing just one hit. Chris Bisson (Kentucky) stole two bases to bring his league-leading total to six after just two games.

In another extra-innings thriller, Trent Mummey (Auburn) hit a walk-off home run to give Harwich a 2-1 victory over Orleans. Mummey, a sophomore who hit 15 home runs in the spring, scored both the Mariners' runs and also he had a double. He was one of the few offensive stars in a game dominated by the pitching staffs. Brian Dupra (Notre Dame) picked up the win in relief for Harwich, whose pitchers struck out 13. Harwich moved to 2-0.

What to Watch For Tonight
A familiar name gets the start for Bourne as Ricky Bowen (Mississippi State) makes his return in Cotuit. Bowen had a 3.53 ERA as a regular starter for the Braves last year and was a 43rd-round pick last year. He was not on initial rosters. In Harwich, San Diego's Kyle Blair will start for Brewster.

My head is spinning, etc.

2009-06-14T21:25:00.001-04:00

Notes written while wishing I could revise my Outstanding Pitcher watch list to include Eric Pfisterer . . .

So we're off and running. What do we know so far? Not much.

It's always funny this time of year. I get all geared up for the season, counting down the days, doing everything I can to be prepared, to know what to expect and then all of a sudden they're playing baseball, and half the players are guys I've never heard of. But I guess that's the fun part. The beauty of a Cape League season is that when it starts, you never know which team will shine or which players will turn into stars. It's fitting that the season starts with a giant jolt of uncertainty.

I'm actually working on a list of new and temporary players (basically, guys who weren't on preseason rosters) with some brief bios, so that we can have an idea of who we're watching, even if they don't stick around for long. That should be going up in the next day or two.

For now, let's talk about a few names we've heard of, but maybe didn't expect to hear.

As I mentioned in today's Daily Fog, Brewster had Jim Klocke in its lineup last night. The Southeast Missouri State junior catcher played for the Whitecaps, and though he struggle with them, he's had a fantastic college career. Much of this year's draft, though, went by without his name popping up. He went in the 46th round.

Listening to the Bourne game tonight, I heard a familiar name who's in the same boat. East Carolina junior Kyle Roller hit .270 for Bourne last year and was one of the league's leaders in doubles last year. Roller hit .336 with 16 home runs this spring but didn't get drafted until the 47th round. He was in the Bourne lineup tonight for the first time this season. For a Bourne team that's been hit hard by Team USA, Roller could provide a big boost.

Over on Codball, Dave relayed some info he heard on WEEI. Boston Red Sox ninth-round pick Kendal Volz, a big arm who pitched for Wareham in '07 and USA in '08, will be playing on the Cape this summer, according to Jason McLeod, the Red Sox Director of Amateur Scouting. I'm assuming the Red Sox will keep an eye on him then decide what to offer based on his performance. If that is indeed the case, it'll be interesting to see where he goes. Wareham's roster is looking pretty full, so a return to the Gatemen might not be possible. We'll see.

Finally, the Georgia Tech site Beesball is reporting that Tony Plagman will play for Cotuit. A junior, Plagman hit .364 this spring with 16 home runs and a team-best 73 RBI. Like Klocke and Roller, he didn't get picked until the late rounds, so it sounds like he'll be trying to raise his stock with the Kettleers. Last year, Plagman played briefly for Orleans.

In other news, Cotuit can run. You never want to get carried away defining teams after a few games, but I think this one is going to be a safe bet. The Kettleers stole seven bases in their opener against Wareham and a few more tonight against Falmouth. Chris Bisson (Kentucky) now has six steals in two games, which is pretty close to half as many as league-leader Tim Wheeler had all of last year. I thought this year might be a return to normal in the stolen base department -- there were no true speedsters last year -- and it looks like Bisson and fellow Kettleer Rico Noel will lead the charge.

How about those Whitecaps? Mark Canha was the only player in the league to hit a home run on opening night, and he hit another one Saturday. Teammates Bobby Coyle and Tim Freguson also went yard, giving Brewster four of the eight home runs that were hit in the season's first two days.

Making an appearance for Orleans last night was one Jared Bard. A junior at Richmond, Bard is the brother of former North Carolina and Cape League star Daniel Bard. Daniel was called up to the Boston Red Sox in early May.

I made mention of this on Twitter and Dave also noted it on Codball: Rice star Anthony Rendon will not play this summer. The only freshman among the Golden Spikes Semifinalists, Rendon was signed up to play for Bourne or Team USA, but he suffered an injury in Rice's Super Regional loss to LSU.

Third-round pick Robbie Shields was on the Cape for some preseason action, but he has since moved off the active section of Cotuit's roster. If he's signing, best of luck to Shields, who's a real Cape League success story. He wasn't fully on the radar until last year, when he was an early-season star with Cotuit before an injury ended his summer. It's a shame he didn't get to play all summer, but he played enough to make people take notice.

I've written about Wareham's stability, but out in Orleans, the Firebirds are in pretty good shape, too. Guys like Devin Lohman, Michael Olt, Kevin Muno, Danny Muno, Michael Lang and Jaren Matthews -- all of whom looked like key players in the preseason -- have been in the lineup since day one. The Firebirds are still waiting for CWS participants Gary Brown, Matt Newman, Matt Packer and Riccio Torrez. Newman has also been invited to Team USA.

The start of the Cape League season is kind of the first official date on the next year's draft calendar. Over the next two months, a lot of preliminary perceptions will be established. For now, there's a little bit of talk out there about the 2010 draft. ESPN's Keith Law has an article up (for Insiders only) detailing some early thoughts, and he mentions quite a few '09 Cape Leaguers, most of whom haven't yet arrived because of the CWS or Team USA. The guys that Law mentions who have arrived: Wareham's Derek Dietrich, Y-D's Josh Rutledge, Cotuit's Justin Grimm and Falmouth's Nick Tepesch. MLB's Jonathan Mayo has also thrown out a few names for 2010: Christian Colon, Matt Harvey, Drew Pomeranz, Anthony Ranaudo and Victor Sanchez. Colon, Harvey and Ranaudo are on Cape rosters but are currently in Omaha. Pomeranz is on Team USA's trial roster, while Sanchez is out with an injury. He played in Chatham last summer.

If you're not on Twitter or at least checking CCBL Twitter pages, you should be. Several teams are on there, with broadcast teams doing most of the updates. That means lots of in-game updates, which is really nice to see. In the past, if you weren't watching or listening to the online broadcast, it was tough to know what was going on. The Cape Cod Times is also on Twitter, as is Bourne assistant Jordan Wyckoff, who apparently is posting updates from the dugout. If you want to find all these, click here for my Twitter page. I'm following all of them.

I haven't forgotten about the Chatham and Orleans not-so-early looks. They will be up this week. I feel blind when I look at those rosters, so I'll get them done.

Daily Fog: Quick and Steady

2009-06-14T11:47:00.001-04:00

They might have to work on the finish a little, but the start was about as good as any we've seen in the young season.

Eric Pfisterer (Duke) tossed five no-hit innings with 10 strikeouts, Wareham's veteran lineup scored four runs in the first and the bullpen held off a late charge by Cotuit to seal a 5-3 victory in the season opener for both teams.

Though the game turned into a bit of a nail-biter, the first few innings were all Wareham, and the Gatemen were doing exactly what they hoped to do this season. It appears that they're the only team in the league currently fielding a lineup without any temporary players, so their lineup looks a lot like it'll look in a few weeks. That's particularly true of the middle of the order. Assuming everyone hits pretty well, it's entirely possible that the top five of Ryan LaMarre (Michigan), Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech), Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge), Alex Dickerson (Indiana) and George Springer (Connecticut) won't change much all season.

After last night, that's a reason to think big. Those five combined to go 8-for-19 with two RBI and all five of the runs. A double by Dietrich sparked the four-run first inning rally. Pineda, Dickerson and Springer also had hits, and the Gatemen proceeded to capitalize on a passed ball and a key error to chase home a few more runs. Springer added an RBI single in the eighth.

Pfisterer did the rest, and for five innings, he was a bigger story than the offense. Though he allowed base runners in each of the first two innings, he had unhittable stuff. He ended up getting 10 of the 15 outs he recorded via the strikeout, and he now leads the league in strikeouts.

This early in the season, it's not surprising that he wasn't sent back out to chase the no-hitter: you want to be careful with the arm. Especially when it's one that's this good. Pfisterer, a 15th-round pick out of high school last year, had an ERA of 5.00 at Duke this year, but he also struck out 45 in 45 innings. That kind of stuff plays well on the Cape, where the ERA is bound to go down. I wasn't sure how much Pfisterer would factor into Wareham's pitching plans -- he's also a hitter -- but clearly, he'll play a big role.

He's certainly off to the right kind of start.

For a game story with a focus on John Wylde, read Ed Collins' article on South Coast Today.

Elsewhere

Two notes on Cotuit from that game. Mike Nesseth (Nebraska), a 15th-round pick this year, didn't pitch all that badly. Three of the four runs he allowed were unearned. On the offensive side, the Kettleers ran wild. They're always one of the more aggressive teams in the league, and this year, it looked in the preseason like they would have the perfect mix of players to play that way. Cotuit ended up stealing seven bases last night, with Chris Bisson (Kentucky) swiping four, Rico Noel (Coastal Carolina) getting two and Zach Cone (Georgia) stealing another. If they can keep that up, the Kettleers are going to put a lot of pressure on people

They had lights, so they could have played all night, but this time, the Brewster Whitecaps took care of business in the ninth. A night after their game went to 10 innings but ended in a tie because of darkness, the Whitecaps played under the lights in Orleans and rallied from an 8-6 deficit with four in the ninth to win 10-8 in probably the most dramatic game of the young season. The Whitecaps sent nine to the plate in the ninth and got all the runs home with two outs. Lyle Allen (Georgia) plated the first run with a single, Davy Wright (TCU) worked a bases-loaded walk for the second run and Jim Klocke (Southeast Missouri) hit a single that ended up bringing in two, with the help of a throwing error. Bobby Coyle (Arizona) and Tim Ferguson (Ole Miss) each had three hits and a home run, and Mark Canha (California) added his second home run in as many games. Michael Olt (Connecticut) had a home run for Orleans.

Klocke is an interesting name to see in the lineup. He's a junior catcher who wasn't on Brewster's initial roster, but he played on the Cape last year and hit .189. He had a huge spring, hitting .394 with nine home runs, but when the draft came around, he lasted until the 46th round. It would appear he's trying to show his stuff this summer.

Y-D is the only team in the league with two victories, as the Red Sox posted their second one-run victory last night, this one a 4-3 decision over Bourne. The Red Sox trailed 2-1 until the eighth, when Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) knocked in a run with a single and Brian Hernandez (UC Irvine) drew a bases-loaded walk for the go-ahead run. Tyler Burgoon (Michigan) struck out five in two hitless innings of relief.

The fog rolled into Chatham again last night, but this time, the Anglers at least got to make their game official. After playing one inning last night before a fog postponement, the Anglers posted a 4-1 victory over Hyannis in a game that was called in the seventh. Mike Dennhardt (Boston College), Russell Brewer (Vanderbilt) and Taylor Hill (Vanderbilt) combined for seven strong innings, allowing just an unearned run. Tom Belza (Oklahoma State) led the offense with a 3-for-3 night that included a fog-aided inside-the-park home run. The game was the second fog-shortened contest in as many games for Hyannis.

Playing their first game two days after they were supposed to, the Harwich Mariners must have been chomping at the bit. They scored 10 runs on 10 hits in beating Falmouth 10-5. Chris Wade (Kentucky) went 3-for-5, Trent Mummey (Auburn) had two hits and David Herbek (James Madison) and Ryan Lockwood (South Florida) each drove in two runs. Matthew Price (Virginia Tech) worked four strong innings of relief to pick up the win.

What to Watch For Tonight

Scott Rembisz, who put up some good numbers at Florida International (90 K's in 94 innings), makes his first start of the year for Wareham as the Gatemen visit Bourne. The Braves will counter with George Washington's Eric Cantrell.

Daily Fog: Just Like Old Times

2009-06-13T11:16:00.001-04:00

Nobody wants weather postponements wreaking havoc on the league schedule, but I've got to say: fog, our old friend, it was nice to see you again.

Fog wasn't around much last year. Its regular appearances in Chatham didn't even happen. But last night, the Chatham game got postponed when the fog rolled in, and the Bourne-Hyannis game got called after seven innings. Disappointing, for sure, but getting a quintessential Cape League night -- with all the trappings -- isn't the worst thing in the world on opening night.

And fog wasn't the only old friend hanging around.

Back for his third year in the Cape League, it looks Hyannis' Austin Hudson (Central Florida) is happy to be in a Mets uniform, happy to be seeing a little fog, and maybe most of all, happy to be seeing those wooden bats.

Hudson has had kind of a strange college career. He has never put up great numbers at Central Florida. His career ERA there is 7.15. This year, it was over 10. But something about the Cape turns Hudson completely around. In two summers, his career Cape ERA is 2.70. Last year, he led the league in ERA.

On Friday, Hudson got the opening night start for Hyannis.

And he did what he always does on the Cape. Hudson allowed one run in six strong innings and picked up the win as Hyannis beat Bourne 4-2 in seven innings.

His ERA after last night? It's 1.50, exactly the same as his league-leading mark last year.

Welcome back, Mr. Hudson.

You too, fog.

Elsewhere

The Hyannis offense was powered by Kenny Swab (Young Harris) and Ryan Cuneo (Delaware), who each had two hits and an RBI. Swab, whom manager Chad Gassman is really high on looked poised for a big summer from the start after hitting .342 this spring. Cuneo wasn't on Hyannis' original roster, but hit .285 this spring with 17 home runs. Also for Hyannis, Will Weidig (Brown) picked up the save when the seventh inning turned into the last inning. Jamal Austin (UAB) had two hits and stole two bases.

Bourne's Turner Phelps (James Madison) allowed three earned runs in four innings.

Y-D got a dominant performance by Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) and used two squeeze plays to score runs in a 4-3 victory over Orleans. Steven Chatwood (San Diego) and Blake Kelso (Houston) delivered the key bunts, and Mickey Wiswall (Boston College) went 3-for-4 with an RBI, the league's best opening night line. Sale also shined, striking out eight and walking none in six shutout innings. Orleans got two hits each from Ross Heffley (Western Carolina), Michael Olt (Connecticut) and Jaren Matthews (Rutgers), though a ninth-inning rally fell one-run short. Jimmy Reyes (Elon) allowed two runs and struck out four in five innings.

Falmouth and Brewster played 10 innings before the game was called due to darkness, ending in a 2-2 tie. Mitch Mormann (Des Moines Area CC) worked four perfect innings for Falmouth and Casey Schmidt (San Diego) was almost as strong for Brewster, allowing three hits in five scoreless innings. Schmidt hasn't pitched a college game since 2007 -- injuries and a transfer year have kept him out -- but he was a 15th-round pick this year. Brewster's offense was led by Mark Canha (California), who hit the only home run of the night. Conner Mach (Missouri) and Murray Watts (Arkansas State) drove in runs for Falmouth.

What to Watch For Tonight

Well, the weather looks alright now, with just scattered showers in the forecast for tonight, so Chatham, Cotuit, Harwich and Wareham might actually get to play. Nick Tepesch (Missouri), an interesting pitcher to watch, is scheduled to get the start for Falmouth at Harwich.

Stumbling out of the Gate

2009-06-12T16:42:00.001-04:00

Cotuit and Harwich were supposed to be the first teams to play, but now it looks like they might be the last. Their game at Whitehouse Field that was pushed to tonight from last night has been postponed again, according to the Mariners' twitter page.

I haven't seen news of any other postponements yet, so hopefully the season will actually start tonight.

Falmouth at Brewster and Orleans at Y-D are both scheduled to go off at 5 p.m.

Wareham is scheduled to play in Chatham at 7 p.m. Hyannis visits Bourne at 7.

Play ball? Maybe?

Stop Any Time, Team USA

2009-06-12T15:31:00.001-04:00

Initially, USA baseball said 36 players would be invited to national team trials. Today, the final trials roster was announced and it has 41 players. Maybe they needed a few more because of the College World Series.

Either way, there are three more with Cape League connections: Falmouth's Brad Miller (Clemson) and Kyle Winkler (TCU) and Hyannis' Casey Harman (Clemson). That brings the total number of Cape Leaguers on the trials roster up to 28.

The final 22-man roster will be announced June 24.

Season Preview: The Teams

2009-06-12T13:54:00.001-04:00

When you're previewing Cape League teams it's hard to draw conclusions. Take last year, for instance.

I thought Wareham was the league's most talented team. Then Team USA raided the roster and the Gatemen finished with the worst record in the league.

I thought Chatham had a fantastic pitching staff and just needed a little offense. The A's had an ERA of 4.03.

I thought Orleans would have a powerful offense. The Cardinals hit .234, ninth in the league.

So, yeah, it's tough. Or I'm just wrong in everything I say, which is possible. I prefer to think it's just tough. When you get a league full of all-star teams with players in unfamiliar situations -- wooden bats, playing every day -- you just never know.

For a team to have success, a lot has to go right. They need to get the players they thought they'd get, or if they don't, get big contributions from temporary players turned regulars. They need good players to have good summers. Plenty of good players don't. And, if Harwich is any indication, that they need that extra something, chemistry or desire or whatever it is, to get over the top.

You could apply those conditions to every team. When I previewed the season last year, I tried to tailor them to each team but I felt like I kind of missed the mark, as you can see above. I thought Chatham just needed to hit a little and I thought Orleans just needed to pitch a little. I was way off.

This year, I was thinking about doing a best-case, worst-case scenario for each team, but as I started to do it, everyone's was the same. So instead of that, I'm going to offer up a general feeling for each team. At the end of the post, a prediction.

West
Bourne Braves
I like them a lot, but they're treading on the dangerous Wareham '08 territory with six Team USA invitees. Two years ago, though, the Braves went through some serious roster shuffling but ended up making the playoffs with several temporary players carrying a big load. This year, there's a lot of offensive depth, which should help the cause. Starters Robert Morey, Seth Maness and Turner Phelps will need to pick up the slack if Drew Pomeranz, Cody Wheeler and Alex Wimmers go with Team USA.

Cotuit Kettleers
Potentially the most talented team in the league, and though they've got some USA invitees, they still look strong. The pitching staff has a ton of potential, with Max Russell and Justin Grimm looking like aces who also happen to be free of CWS and USA commitments. I like the offense, too, with Cory Vaughn and Cody Stanley leading the way. There's also a ton of speed, and I'd be shocked if Rico Noel didn't lead the league in stolen bases.

Falmouth Commodores
Can I say I have no idea? There are now 41 players listed on their roster. That means at least sixteen of them will not be in a Falmouth uniform, so it's tough to make predictions. I will say that the pitching staff is going to have an interesting look, with three junior-college players who had great stats last year and two Wichita State freshmen who I like for the best freshman pitcher label. If a couple of drafted players go to Falmouth anyway, the Commodores could be a really veteran team.

Hyannis Mets
I think they're a little off the pace of the three aforementioned teams -- the three who might be the league's most talented -- but the more I look at their roster, the less I'm sure about that. I picked Cody Hawn for MVP and I think Eddie Rohan will have a big year, as well. Jackie Bradley, Jr., Trent Whitehead and Dan Burkhart also had great college seasons, giving the offense the makings of a strong nucleus. It could get a little dicey in the pitching staff. Some guys are going to have to step up.

Wareham Gatemen
Holy role reversal. Last year, the Gatemen were the Team USA-stole-everybody poster boys. Not this year. One player will be at Team USA trials, and he's a non-roster player. Derek Dietrich was on the initial invite list but he decided he'd rather be in Wareham. His presence should only add to a lineup with veterans and talent. The outfield of Ryan LaMarre, George Springer and Alex Dickerson is second-to-none, and Ryan Pineda has a Cape League track record. The pitching staff has a couple of potential aces in Scott Rembisz, Brandon Workman and Taylor Jungmann.

East
Brewster Whitecaps
Like Bourne, the Whitecaps might have some shuffling to do, with three key players at Team USA trials and a few more in Omaha. The offense doesn't look as deep as some other teams, particularly if Jarrett Parker, Jedd Gyorko and Yasmani Grandal go with Team USA. Another potential star, Tobias Streich, was a fifth-round pick earlier this week. I do think Mark Canha looks poised for a big summer, but he'll need some help. The pitching staff needs some starters to step up.

Chatham Anglers
New name and a new look. The Anglers ended up with a bunch of players who played for other Cape League teams last year. They also have quite a few small-school guys, as well as players from some schools that haven't had a big Chatham presence in the past, namely Oklahoma State. I think offensive production might hinge on some players making a leap, like Holy Cross' Matt Perry, Vermont's Matt Duffy and USC freshman Rick Oropesa. Jeff Schaus, Whit Merrifield and Tom Belza should be good Cape League hitters who can help carry the load. The pitching staff will need some rebounds from shaky springs, but Russell Brewer, Jake Thompson, Matt Harvey and Shawn Tolleson have had Cape League success before.

Harwich Mariners
Is a title repeat in the cards? There's no reason to think it isn't. The Mariners look plenty of good enough to make a run, with their offense poised to lead the way. In terms of spring production, Harwich players combined for 147, an average of almost ten per player. Bryce Brentz skews those numbers a little, but in general there is a lot of power. If Brentz doesn't go to Team USA, there's even more. The pitching staff needs to develop some starters.

Orleans Firebirds
On paper, I think they might be the most talented team in the East. The lineup features several players who had big springs, including Michael Lang, Jaren Matthews, Danny Muno, Michael Olt and Ross Heffley. The pitching staff could take a hit if Deck McGuire goes with Team USA, but I like Jimmy Reyes, Rob Rasmussen and Josh Poytress as potential aces. Orleans has had consistently strong pitching staffs over the years, and I don't think that'll change.

Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox
Two of the top returning hitters in the league, Josh Rutledge and Andy Wilkins, lead the charge for a team that should be able to score runs. I'd also expect Mickey Wiswall to be a key cog, and he's a prime candidate to win the New England top prospect award. I like the pitching staff a lot even if superstar Anthony Ranaudo goes with Team USA. Chris Sale and Austin Ross are coming off great springs, while two highly-touted freshman -- Brett Mooneyham and Michael Palazzone look like breakout candidates.

And for the prediction . . .

This might be even harder than usual. With the new playoff format, six teams will be in, which increases the odds that somebody just gets hot at the right time and rolls to the finals. Apparently, we could also end up with two teams from the same division playing each other for the championship.

But enough hemming and hawing. I'm taking the Wareham Gatemen. You take nine returning players, lose nobody to Team USA and mix in top-shelf talent like Dietrich, Dickerson, LaMarre and Springer and you have the makings of something special. I worry a little about the pitching staff, but I think there are enough good arms there to do the trick. Really, the stability and experience just stands out. The ifs with this team are about performance not arrivals. I think that counts for a lot.

Season Preview: The Players

2009-06-11T23:43:00.001-04:00

It can be a little bit of a grind to write bios for more than 250 players, like I've done the last two years. By no means am I complaining. If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't.

But still: it's a grind. The thing that gets me through is the sight of a player who's having a big year, who looks like he's a future Cape League star. I think every player who's invited to the league has that potential, but some have many more credentials than others. Every year, probably a third of the players in the league, maybe more, are coming off college seasons that they weren't too happy with. From my perspective, it's the other guys that spark the excitement. It's like playing a shaky round of golf, but hitting one or two great shots that make you want to come back.

This year, there were a ton of great shots.

That's what led me to hint a few days ago that the talent in the league might be up this year. Proclaiming something like that might be over-stating it a little bit, because production doesn't always equal talent, and vice versa.

But I think it's safe to say that the spring production from the 2009 Cape League class was off the charts.

I realized this gradually, and it started as a feeling more than a fact. For nearly every team I wrote about, I found myself plugging in another .320 hitter, another double-digit home run guy, another strikeout-an-inning pitcher. The list just kept growing. It never felt like a grind. I kept running into players with great numbers, players I wanted to know more about. Last year, that didn't happen nearly as much.

Now, I think some of the facts back it up. Check out the college stats files a few posts down, and you can see for yourself.

For comparison's sake:

At this time last year, there were 22 players on Cape League rosters who hit double-digit home runs, and the high was 18. This year: 38 players hit double-digit home runs and the high is 28.

Last year, there was one pitcher who had over 100 strikeouts. Even the vaunted arms that went with Team USA weren't over 100. This year: 11 pitchers struck out more than 100.

Of course, two stat categories do not a trend make, and some of the stats are similar. In fact, the number of .350-plus hitters is exactly the same from last year to this year.

But still, I can't shake the feeling.

In the end, I have no idea what it'll mean. This year's draft kind of reflected the fact that the league's overall level was down a bit last year. It was considered a light year for college hitters. Seven still went in the first round, and interestingly, all of them played on the Cape. But of the eight college pitchers who went in the first round, only one -- Drew Storen -- played on the Cape last year. That might have had something to do with the high batting averages and the high ERA's that marked last season.

The thing is, last season was one of the more interesting ones the league has had in recent years. There was ridiculous parity. This year, we might revert to typical form. And even with the supposed increase in production, we might not actually see it reflected in any statistics. If the pitching is better, then it all might even out again.

Who knows? But for now, it's a reason to get a little more excited than usual about the Cape's boys of summer.

Names, Numbers, Trends, Etc.

On current published rosters, there are 34 juniors, 191 sophomores and 83 freshmen. That's about average all around.

Some years, it's the freshmen that really pique my interest. If they're only freshmen and they're on the Cape, you know they're good. This year, there are plenty of freshmen to be excited about, but I feel like the sophomore class will not be taking a back seat. Lots of emerging talents ready to make a splash on the big stage.

One of the more interesting storylines last summer was the high number of players who got drafted in June and used the Cape to leverage nice deals. There were seven of them, and one of them -- Jimmy Cesario -- was actually the league's batting champ, even though he was playing in the minors when the Cape League season ended. This year, the number of drafted players is pretty high, so we may see some similar scripts. It'll be particularly interesting if some of the early-round sophomore-eligible players decide to head for the Cape.

In doing the early looks, one thing that stood out was the quality of the catchers on Cape League rosters. Of the 27 currently listed, 13 hit over .300 and five finished with double-digit home run totals. The production is spread out, too, with eight of the 10 teams having at least one of the catchers who hit over .300. Two Team USA invites -- Yasmani Grandal and Blake Forsythe -- lead the way statistically, but there are plenty of other guys who aren't far behind.

Anybody who likes a good small-school-kid-makes-it-big story should keep an eye on the pitching leaderboards. Several of the guys coming off the best springs aren't from major programs. Chris Sale had a huge year for Florida Gulf Coast, a program that's reclassifying to D-I. Jimmy Reyes had a fantastic season at Elon, a strong baseball program, but not a major-conference powerhouse. Max Russell and Daniel Tillman are coming from D-II Florida Southern. Tommy Collier, Patrick Cooper and Mitch Mormann are all ticketed for Falmouth after big junior-college seasons, while fellow juco star Chad Bell is on the Cotuit roster. It'll be interesting to see how these guys fare against tougher competition.

Like always, Team USA will have its say on who we get to see this summer. Twenty-five players have been invited to the trials -- 12 pitchers and 13 hitters. Of the 36 players at the trials, 22 will make the team. The final roster will be announced on June 24. Last year, Team USA took nearly all the power arms that were ticketed for the Cape, and that had a pretty big impact on the season. I think there's a little more depth on Cape rosters this year, so the inevitable USA selections might not hurt as much.

It looks like there are three '09 Cape Leaguers whose fathers played in the big leagues. Hyannis' Cam Seitzer is the son of Kevin Seitzer, Cotuit's Chance Ruffin is the son of Bruce Ruffin, and Cotuit's Cory Vaughn is the son of Greg Vaughn, who was recently selected to the Cape League Hall of Fame.

MVP Watch List

In an effort to put some names out there, I'll take a page out of the college awards playbook. I did this last year, and though my predictions for MVP and Pitcher of the Year were incorrect, some of the guys I listed had good summers. Others did not. So take this for what it's worth. It's fun, and I like having an idea of who the stars might be.

These are listed by team. Asterisks by Team USA invitees.

*Anthony Rendon - Bourne
*Blake Forsythe - Bourne
Ben Klafczynski - Bourne
*Tyler Holt - Bourne
*Jedd Gyorko - Brewster
Mark Canha - Brewster
*Jarrett Parker - Brewster
Jeff Schaus - Chatham
Cody Stanley - Cotuit
Cory Vaughn - Cotuit
Rico Noel - Cotuit
Kevin Keyes - Cotuit
Josh Adams - Falmouth
*Bryce Brentz - Harwich
*Ross Wilson - Harwich
Cody Hawn - Hyannis
Jackie Bradley, Jr. - Hyannis
Dan Burkhart - Hyannis
Michael Lang - Orleans
Derek Dietrich - Wareham
Alex Dickerson - Wareham
George Springer - Wareham
Ryan LaMarre - Wareham
Mickey Wiswall - Y-D
Andy Wilkins - Y-D

Prediction: I would pick Bryce Brentz, but I think he'll stay with Team USA, so I'm going with Hyannis' Cody Hawn. Two years ago, he was a potential early-round pick but an injury cost him that chance. After a big year in junior college last year, he didn't miss a beat while a making the huge step to Tennessee and the SEC.

Outstanding Pitcher Watch List

This is probably tougher to predict than anything involving the hitters. Plenty of good pitchers see their numbers balloon in the college game, so it's tough to get a feel for things. Changing roles also make it difficult. Many relievers turn into starters on the Cape, and vice versa. Last year's award winner was Nick McCully, who was a closer in the spring and a starter in Bourne.

*Alex Wimmers, Bourne
*Drew Pomeranz, Bourne
*Cody Wheeler, Bourne
Robert Morey, Bourne
Matt Harvey, Chatham
*Gerrit Cole, Cotuit
Max Russell, Cotuit
Chance Ruffin, Cotuit
Seth Blair, Cotuit
Justin Grimm, Cotuit
Jordan Cooper, Falmouth
Patrick Cooper, Falmouth
Tommy Collier, Falmouth
*Daniel Renken, Harwich
Aaron Meade, Harwich
Casey Harman, Hyannis
*Deck McGuire, Orleans
Jimmy Reyes, Orleans
Taylor Jungmann, Wareham
Brandon Workman, Wareham
Scott Rembisz, Wareham
*Trevor Bauer, Y-D
Chris Sale, Y-D
Austin Ross, Y-D
*Anthony Ranaudo, Y-D

Prediction:Any Team USA guys who come to the Cape would be good picks. I'll stay away from them when it comes to predictions and I'm also going to shy away from the Omaha crew. I think I'll go a little bit off the board for this one and take a flyer on Florida Southern lefty Max Russell. His numbers were really, really good this spring, and though he put them up against D-II competition, he seems to be a legitimate prospect who should be ready for a step up.

Or It's Not That Time

2009-06-11T15:35:00.000-04:00

The season opener has been postponed to Friday.

It's About That Time

2009-06-11T13:37:00.001-04:00

So I kind of missed my target on some of the preseason stuff I was working on, but that's beside the point today. It should all be up soon.

For now, it's baseball time. Cotuit visits Harwich tonight at 7 p.m. for the season opener. It's a rematch of last year's championship, and it's got the stage all to itself tonight, with every other team opening up tomorrow.

I'm not going to be around tonight, so I won't be able to keep tabs on the game, but I'll recap it tomorrow with the first 2009 edition of Daily Fog.

If you're going to the game, enjoy, and don't forget your umbrella. Hopefully the rain will hold off.

For those not making it to Harwich, I think you can listen to the Harwich broadcast here. It looks like Cotuit is doing a one-hour special before their broadcast, beginning at 4 p.m.

College Stats Galore

2009-06-11T11:01:00.001-04:00

Alright, so I put the last two early (late?) looks on hold for a bit and spent last night getting college statistics together for every player who's on a Cape League roster. Below are the results of my labor, and you better enjoy them because it took like four hours and, by the end, I had taken to singing home run totals.

But I really like having these stats. Below are all the links. Ideally, it would be one page and you could sort the stats however you want, but I don't know how to do that. So, you get a bunch of pages. And since Blogger doesn't let you have additional files, these are on a webs.com page. It should be fine.

So here they are. The first two categories are all players, sorted by school and Cape team. Then all players sorted by various statistics, and finally, pages with the pitchers and hitters from each team.

I should note that my spreadsheet program automatically puts zeroes in front of decimals, so people are hitting 0.322 instead of .322. Also, if it ends in a zero, that goes away, so 0.32 is .320. I put asterisks by the names of players who have been invited to Team USA and asterisks in the stats columns of players who sat out this season.

That should do it. Go.

Sorted By School
Hitters
Pitchers

Sorted By Cape Team
Hitters
Pitchers

Sorted By Statistic
Strikeouts
ERA
Wins

Batting Average
Home Runs
RBI
On-Base Percentage

Cape Teams
Bourne
Brewster
Chatham
Cotuit
Falmouth
Harwich
Hyannis
Orleans
Wareham
Y-D

Draft Tidbits

2009-06-11T00:03:00.001-04:00

In terms of all the former Cape Leaguers who got picked, we can wrap all that stuff up soon. For now, let's focus on the draftees who are on 2009 rosters. With 30 rounds complete (20 to go), it looks like 27 28 Cape Leaguers have been drafted. I may have missed somebody, so if you notice an omission let me know.

I think we'll end up seeing a good number of these players this season. Others were probably a long shot to begin with, but had the Cape League as a backup plan. Drew Storen has already signed with the Nationals. Tyler Townsend has been taken off Cotuit's roster.

The list, with the number corresponding to the round they were selected in:

1 - Drew Storen, Cotuit
1S - Kentrail Davis, Falmouth
1S - Mike Belfiore, Y-D
2 - D.J. LeMahieu, Harwich
3 - Tyler Townsend, Cotuit
3 - Robbie Shields, Cotuit
4 - Chris Dwyer, Cotuit
4 - Dan Mahoney, Bourne
5 - Tobias Streich, Harwich
9 - Trevor Coleman, Falmouth
9 - Brock Holt, Cotuit
10 - Nick Santomauro, Y-D
10 - Tyler Lyons, Chatham
11 - Chris Wade, Harwich
13 - Jake Goebbert, Harwich
14 - Chad Bell, Cotuit
15 - Mike Nesseth, Cotuit
15 - Casey Schmidt, Brewster
19 - Kipp Schutz, Wareham
20 - Mitch Mormann, Falmouth
20 - Kevin Nolan, Falmouth
20 - Thomas Keeling, Chatham
20 - Alex Hassan, Orleans
21 - Jeff Rowland, Cotuit
23 - Mike Mooney, Bourne
24 - Joey Wong, Falmouth
27 - Austin Hudson, Hyannis
28 - Aaron Meade, Harwich

After Thursday, I'll post this list with updates from the final day.

Drafty

2009-06-09T23:16:00.001-04:00

I've got some brief draft updates on my twitter page.

More details to come.

Early Look: Harwich

2009-06-09T22:19:00.001-04:00

HARWICH MARINERS
Manager: Steve Englert
2008 Record: 24-20

The 2008 Harwich Mariners didn't have a ton of players on leaderboards and didn't really separate themselves in any of the team statistics.

And yet.

In a season filled with parity, the Mariners were the last team standing. They won the franchise's first league championship since 1987. They got hot at the right time, won a ridiculous 18-inning game over Orleans in the semis and rode the momentum to the title.

While getting hot was a big part of the run, for sure, Harwich manager Steve Englert wanted everybody to know that it wasn't the only part. All year, he said his Mariners had tremendous chemistry. In a league with essentially 10 all-star teams, how those teams fit together is as important as anything else. Harwich made things fit perfectly.

The hard part will be doing it again. When you're building a team at any level, chemistry is a tough attribute to quantify. For a summer league squad, a good place to start is taking players from successful programs. If they fit on a College World Series team, chances are they'll fit on a lot of other teams, too.

But you can have too much of a good thing, and that might be the case for Harwich in '09. The thing that stands out right now about Harwich's roster is this: nine players are on their way to Omaha, not on their way to Harwich. It's great for them. But it means the first few weeks of the season will be a little hectic in Harwich. Hopefully for the Mariners, that won't be a defining aspect of the season, but it's certainly something to keep an eye on.

Aside from the Omaha flavor, Harwich has some potential. The starting pitching would get a big lift from Fullerton's Daniel Renken, who's got the Team USA-College World Series double whammy. If he doesn't make it to Harwich, look for big things from guys like Aaron Meade, John Gast, Eric Jokisch, Justin Wright and Chase Reid. Geoff Parker and Glenn Troyanowski have been relievers all spring, and they should play big roles as well.

Five of the nine in Omaha are position players, so the lineup will probably be mixed and matched in the early going. If Bryce Brentz somehow doesn't go with Team USA, Harwich will have perhaps the best sophomore hitter in the country. There's enough depth to fill the hole, though, even if he does stick with Team USA. Twelve of Harwich's 15 position players hit over .300 this year and two who didn't -- Levi Michael and Trent Mummey -- hit double-digit home runs. There's also a veteran flavor to the offense, with four juniors.

As always, we'll have to wait and see how it fits together, but on paper, the Mariners can make a pretty good case to be called the best team in the East.

They just hope it all fits together at the right time.

Roster Rundown
Returning Players: 2
Juniors: 4
Sophomores: 21
Freshmen: 4

Notable

The nine CWS-bound players come from four different teams -- North Carolina, LSU, Cal State Fullerton and Virginia. Off the top of my head, I'd call those teams four of the top six who are in Omaha, so we may not see many early exits.

I should note that, this time last year, Harwich had six players on its roster who were headed to Omaha. I guess that worked out alright.

I'm hoping Daniel Renken will make it to Harwich and not Team USA. He has been one of the nation's best sophomore pitchers, and has been particularly good lately. After a Super Regional loss to him, Louisville coach Dan McDonell called Renken the best pitcher his team had faced all year.

Like a couple of other teams, Harwich doesn't have a ton of weekend starters, but I think one of them, Aaron Meade, could turn into a potential ace, based on what he did this year. He struck out around a batter an inning for Missouri State and had a 3.39 ERA.

I'm sure Vandy's Chase Reid is looking forward to a return to New England. He pitched for the Newport Gulls in the NECBL last year and struck 11 for every batter he walked.

We'll see how things shake out with starters and relievers, but Harwich could have some lights-out guys in the bullpen -- Daniel Bradshaw, Nate Striz, Geoff Parker and Glen Troyanowski.

Harwich continues an '09 league trend that I'll probably touch on soon: really productive catchers. Anthony Sosnoskie had a great season for Virginia Tech, while Jeff Vigurs put up huge numbers for Bryant. Every team seems to have good offensive catchers, and Harwich should be right there.

D.J. LeMahieu is certainly a guy to keep an eye on in the coming days. As I'm writing this at 10:00 on Tuesday, he hasn't been drafted, but he could go in the first few rounds. He's also in Omaha. From everything I've read, he didn't flash as much power as scouts hoped this year and he also got moved off shortstop. As a draft-eligible sophomore, he's a prime candidate to head to the Cape and look for some leverage. UPDATE (6/9 10:21 p.m.): He literally got drafted two minutes after I posted this. He goes to the Cubs in the second round, with the 79th overall pick. That's pretty high. He might not need leverage.

Virginia has a ton of good hitters this season, and Harwich-bound Phil Gosselin and Dan Grovatt are two of the best.

Since I'm sure he'll be with Team USA if he wants to be -- he's not going to get cut -- I'm going to do my best to not get over-excited about Bryce Brentz. But I really hope he somehow ends up in Harwich. If you're not familiar with him, he led the nation in batting average and tied for the lead in home runs.

Team USA updated its invite list today and Ross Wilson was one of two new additions. He's coming off a real good sophomore season at Alabama.

Even without Brentz and Wilson, this offense has the potential to be really good.

Five Players I'm Excited to See
1. Bryce Brentz
2. Daniel Renken
3. D.J. LeMahieu
4. Levi Michael
5. Trent Mummey

Pitchers

Daniel Bradshaw - RHP - 6'1 208 - LSU - Sophomore
Garrett Davis - RHP - 6'4 215 - North Carolina - RS Freshman
*Brian Dupra - RHP - 6'3 205 - Notre Dame - Sophomore
John Gast - LHP - 6'2 215 - Florida State - Sophomore
Mike Gipson - RHP - 6'1 195 - Florida Atlantic - Sophomore
Eric Jokisch - LHP - 6'2 180 - Northwestern - Sophomore
Aaron Meade - LHP - 6'3 185 - Missouri State - Sophomore
Nate Striz - RHP - 6'2 240 - North Carolina - Sophomore
Geoff Parker - RHP - 6'3 240 - Florida State - Sophomore
Matthew Price - RHP - 6'2 165 - Virginia Tech - Freshman
Justin Wright - LHP - 5'9 170 - Virginia Tech - Sophomore
Chase Reid - RHP - 6'3 205 - Vanderbilt - Sophomore
Daniel Renken - RHP - 6'4 200 - Cal State Fullerton - Sophomore
Glen Troyanowski - RHP - 6'1 165 - Florida Atlantic - Sophomore

Daniel Bradshaw - RHP - 6'1 208
LSU
Sophomore

Bradshaw put up pretty solid numbers as a freshman reliever, and he's been even better this year for the Omaha-bound Tigers. Nineteen of his 23 appearances have come out of the bullpen, and he's been one of the team's best relievers. He's got a 4-0 record, a 3.38 record and 32 strikeouts against 11 walks in 45.1 innings of work.

Garrett Davis - RHP - 6'4 215
North Carolina
RS Freshman

A North Carolina high school star, Davis didn't get much of a chance to make a splash last year in Chapel Hill. After two appearances, he had Tommy John surgery and took a redshirt. This season, Davis has made nine appearances, posting a 4.50 ERA.

Brian Dupra - RHP - 6'3 205
Notre Dame
Sophomore

Dupra was a pretty solid reliever for Harwich last summer, posting a 3.40 ERA while tying for the team lead in appearances. His second year at Notre Dame was a struggle. Dupra pitched in the weekend rotation and put up a 7.13 ERA. He struck out 48 and only walked 16, but opponents hit over .300 against him.

John Gast - LHP - 6'2 215
Florida State
Sophomore

Gast was a fifth-round pick out of high school in 2007, but Tommy John surgery kept him out for much of his freshman season at Florida State. He eventually worked his way back and posted a 2.70 ERA in 14 appearances. This season, Gast made 28 appearances with three starts. He ended up with a 5.82 ERA.

Mike Gipson - RHP - 6'1 195
Florida Atlantic
Sophomore

Gipson hasn't registered great ERA's in his two years at Florida Atlantic -- 6.10 last year and 5.93 this year -- but some of his peripheral numbers have been pretty good. He struck out 58 in 62 innings last year and 64 in 71 innings this season.

Eric Jokisch - LHP - 6'2 180
Northwestern
Sophomore

Jokisch was a 39th-round pick out of high school, and he made an immediate impact last year in Evanston. His 8-2 record and 4.17 ERA earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. His seven wins in conference play were the most-ever by a freshman in Big Ten history. This year, Jokisch went 4-7 with a 5.48 ERA.

Aaron Meade - LHP - 6'3 185
Missouri State
Sophomore

Joining former Brewster Whitecaps Buddy Baumann and Tim Clubb in the Missouri State weekend rotation, Meade delivered a fantastic sophomore season. He went 9-2 with a 3.39 ERA and he struck out 89 in 90.1 innings. All his numbers put him just behind Baumann's pace, and Baumann is projected as a fifth or sixth-round pick this year.

Nate Striz - RHP - 6'2 240
North Carolina
Sophomore

Striz has been one of North Carolina's best relievers this season. He's third on the team in appearances and he boasts a 3.42 ERA. He has struck out 27 in 23.2 innings. Opponents have hit just .216 against him, second-best on the team. Striz played for Falmouth last summer, posting a 5.63 ERA in seven relief appearances. Striz was a fifth-round pick out of high school.

Geoff Parker - RHP - 6'3 240
Florida State
Sophomore

A Freshman All-American last year, Parker was a workhorse for the Seminoles this season, and he had a fair amount of success. He led the team with 31 appearances, going 6-2 with a 4.82 ERA. He struck out 65 in 65.1 innings of work.

Matthew Price - RHP - 6'2 165
Virginia Tech
Freshman

Price was a 34th round pick out of high school last year, and he showed some flashes this season in Blacksburg. Though his ERA climbed to 6.90, he struck out 53 in 58.2 innings.

Justin Wright - LHP - 5'9 170
Virginia Tech
Sophomore

As a freshman, Wright worked his way into a starting role and had a great season. This year, he went 7-2 with a 3.95 ERA. He struck out 59 and walked only 17 in 66 innings.

Chase Reid - RHP - 6'3 205
Vanderbilt
Sophomore

Reid posted a 4.30 ERA last year for Vandy then became one of the best pitchers in the NECBL last summer. Pitching for the Newport Gulls, he went 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA, 55 strikeouts in 38.1 innings and just five walks. This spring, he pitched mostly out of the bullpen for the Commodores, finishing with a 4.46 ERA, 38 strikeouts and 10 walks in 34.1 innings.

Daniel Renken - RHP - 6'4 200
Cal State Fullerton
Sophomore

Renken was a 35th-round pick out of high school and he turned in a solid freshman season last year. This year, he's been far better than solid as he has turned into one of the nation's best pitchers. He has gone 11-2 with a 2.36 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 118 innings. Renken has been invited to Team USA.

Glen Troyanowski - RHP - 6'1 165
Florida Atlantic
Sophomore

Troyanowski served as Florida Atlantic's closer this season and though he had an ERA above five, he tallied a team-best six saves. He also struck out 50 in 40.1 innings, which gave him the team's best K/9 ratio. Opponents hit just .234 against him.

Position Players

Anthony Sosnoskie - C - 5'11 193 - Virginia Tech - Junior
Jeff Vigurs - C - 6'0 190 - Bryant - Junior
Stephen Cardullo - IF - 6'0 200 - Florida State - Junior
Phil Gosselin - IF - 6'1 185 - Virginia - Sophomore
Daniel Grovatt - IF - 6'2 187 - Virginia - Sophomore
*D.J. LeMahieu - IF - 6'4 200 - LSU - Sophomore
Levi Michael - IF - 5'10 175 - North Carolina - Freshman
Joe Loftus - IF - 6'4 200 - Vanderbilt - Freshman
Stuart Tapley - IF - 5'10 200 - Florida State - Sophomore
Chris Wade - IF - 6'0 160 - Kentucky - Sophomore
Ross Wilson - IF - 5'11 185 - Alabama - Sophomore
Bryce Brentz - OF - 6'0 187 - Middle Tennessee State - Sophomore
Jacob Goebbert - OF - 6'1 205 - Northwestern - Junior
Leon Landry - OF - 6'0 200 - LSU - Sophomore
Trent Mummey - OF - 5'11 185 - Auburn - Sophomore

Anthony Sosnoskie - C - 5'11 193
Virginia Tech
Junior

Sosnoskie has put up consistent numbers throughout his career at Virginia Tech. After hitting .292 as a freshman and .315 as a sophomore, he hit .314 this year with a career-high seven home runs and 51 RBI. He upped his on-base percentage almost 50 points from last year. BA ranked Sosnoskie as the fourth-best prospect in the Southern Collegiate League last year.

Jeff Vigurs - C - 6'0 190
Bryant
Junior

Bryant is making the transition to Division I, and Vigurs has been one of the program's biggest building blocks. He had a fantastic junior season, finishing with a .389 average, nine home runs, 23 doubles and 70 RBI. He also struck out just 15 times in 203 at-bats. Among players whose teams were reclassifying like Bryant, Vigurs was the nation's leading hitter and RBI man.

Stephen Cardullo - IF - 6'0 200
Florida State
Junior

Cardullo only played in 12 games as a freshman and only made 10 starts as a sophomore. But his patience was rewarded in a big way this season. As the Noles' starting shortstop and No. 2 hitter, Cardullo hit .376 with 10 home runs, 20 doubles and 51 RBI. He also had a .479 on-base percentage and stole 20 bases.

Phil Gosselin - IF - 6'1 185
Virginia
Sophomore

Gosselin has been a key part of Virginia's dynamic offense this season. After hitting .305 as a freshman, he has started every game this season. As the Cavaliers head to Omaha, Gosselin is hitting .314 with six home runs and 63 RBI.

Daniel Grovatt - IF - 6'2 187
Virginia
Sophomore

Along with Gosselin, Grovatt is part of a tremendous sophomore class at Virginia, and among his peers, he has had one of the best seasons. He's currently hitting a team-best .365 with seven home runs, 50 RBI and 14 stolen bases.

D.J. LeMahieu - IF - 6'4 200
LSU
Sophomore

LeMahieu was one of the most intriguing freshman prospects in the nation last year and he lived up to the hype with a great first season in Baton Rouge. After hitting .290 for Harwich last summer, LeMahieu has hit a team-best .340 for the Tigers this season, with four home runs and 19 extra-base hits. He's a draft-eligible sophomore and a potential high pick, so that'll definitely have an impact on his summer plans.

Levi Michael - IF - 5'10 175
North Carolina
Freshman

Six months ago, Michael was in high school. Now he's the starting second baseman for North Carolina as it heads into the College World Series. Michael graduated from high school in January and immediately enrolled at North Carolina. Though that's a pretty huge step without much time in between, Michael didn't miss a beat. He has .298 this season with 13 home runs and 56 RBI.

Joe Loftus - IF - 6'4 200
Vanderbilt
Freshman

Loftus was a 29th-round pick out of high school last year, and he made immediate contributions at Vandy. Emerging as the team's starting left-fielder, Loftus hit .263 with four home runs and 28 RBI.

Stuart Tapley - IF - 5'10 200
Florida State
Sophomore

Tapley had a fantastic freshman season in Tallahassee, hitting .383, which was good for fifth in the ACC. His average went down a bit this year, but he still had a strong season. He finished at .316 with 13 home runs, 18 doubles and 60 RBI.

Chris Wade - IF - 6'0 160
Kentucky
RS 3Sophomore

Wade led the SEC in doubles last year and earned several Freshman All-America nods. After hitting .228 in the Northwoods League, he batted .314 for Kentucky this season, hitting 10 doubles and six home runs. Wade played shortstop and made only six errors.

Ross Wilson - IF - 5'11 185
Alabama
Sophomore

The brother of Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson, Ross has made his mark on the baseball field. After hitting .295 with 15 home runs as a freshman, Wilson headed to Bourne last summer and hit .218. This spring, he was one of Alabama's top hitters, finishing at .353 with nine home runs and 47 RBI. Wilson is a late addition to Team USA's invite list.

Bryce Brentz - OF - 6'0 187
Middle Tennessee State
Sophomore

Based on production this season, it might be safe to call Brentz the nation's best sophomore. He has been invited to Team USA, so we might not get to see him, but if we do: wow. He led the nation with a .465 batting average and tied for the national lead with 28 home runs. He had 73 RBI. He was also a weekend starter for the Blue Raiders, and he went 5-3 with a 4.57 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 88.2 innings. Brentz was a 30th-round pick out of high school.

Jacob Goebbert - OF - 6'1 205
Northwestern
Junior

Goebbert finished his first two years at Northwestern with a career batting average of .343. It dipped a bit this year down to .280, but he didn't have a chance to bring it up. Playing against Minnesota this spring, he crashed into the wall at the Metrodome and lacerated a kidney. He missed the rest of the season, but should be ready for the summer.

Leon Landry - OF - 6'0 200
LSU
Sophomore

A 36th-round pick out of high school, Landry made a big impact as a freshman in Baton Rouge, helping lead the Tigers to last year's College World Series. This season, he's hitting .305 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI. Landry was tabbed by BA as the Cal Ripken Sr. League's top prospect last summer.

Trent Mummey - OF - 5'11 185
Auburn
Sophomore

Mummey was Auburn's leadoff hitter this season, but he put up numbers that could play in the middle of just about any order. He hit .289 with 15 home runs, 12 doubles and 42 RBI. His .409 OBP was second among the team's starters, and he also stole 17 bases.

Best Week Ever?

2009-06-08T23:00:00.001-04:00

I think it might be. I realized this tonight as I was (a) doing research for the Harwich early look, (b) watching a Super Regional, (c) keeping tabs on draft rumors and (d) taking a nap. The nap is beside the point, but the other stuff: a perfect representation of a fantastic time of year.

After Thursday, the Cape League season will speed to August like a runaway train, one night of games blurring into the next. Players whose names I've already forgotten will become stars. Teams will create identities. Stories will be told. And then, in a blink, it'll all be over. But now, now we have endless possibilities. We'll have Omaha soon, too, and that's always fun to watch. Then you've got the draft, where you can look at your buddy who doesn't know know who Grant Green is and laugh.

So, yeah, this is kind of an awesome week.

I'll see what I can do to make it a little better. The draft is set to start tomorrow, so I'll be posting some updates on that. We've got a lot of former Cape Leaguers ticketed for the first round. There are also some names on '09 rosters that could go pretty high.

I will also be trying my hardest to get all the early looks done. I have three left and three days left before the season starts. Perfect timing, if I didn't have to still write them. I'll give it a go, and even if they're not all done by Thursday, they will be very soon. Also, I posted college stats for every player in the league last year, and I am planning on doing that again. That, too, might have to wait a little bit, but it'll be there.

I'm planning on posting some general preview stuff, too, and I can tell you right now what the angle's going to be: we've got some talent coming. I'll go into detail later, but I really feel like the overall depth of talent in the league is going to be up from last year.

For now, I think you should check out the Wareham Gatemen twitter page, if you haven't already. The Gatemen have already played two exhibition games, and that page has some nice updates. If I may make a ridiculously premature proclamation, Alex Dickerson, Ryan LaMarre and George Springer are looking like the best outfield in the league.

Also on the subject of the Gateman, there was a real interesting article on South Coast Today detailing "Life after a legend."

Finally, I stumbled across some good stuff on PG Crosschecker. They posted mid-season All-American picks for each class in April, and from a Cape League perspective, the freshman and sophomore lists are both worth reading. With so much focus on draft-eligibile players, it's sometimes hard to get a pre-summer feel for which Cape Leaguers are getting the most attention. This helps.

Alright. That is all I have. Yahoo for baseball. It's almost here.

Early Look: Brewster

2009-06-08T22:19:00.001-04:00

BREWSTER WHITECAPS
Manager: Tom Myers
2008 Record: 19-21-4

It's a year of fresh starts in Brewster, where the Whitecaps welcome a new manager, and potentially, an entirely new roster. Tom Myers, the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at UC Santa Barbara, takes over as manager for Bob Macaluso, who was at the helm for seven years. Myers inherits a team with one player who played in Brewster last year, and that's Yasmani Grandal, who could end up with Team USA.

But while there's a shortage of Cape League experience, there's no shortage of college experience. With only four freshman -- two of whom are redshirt freshmen -- Brewster appears to have the oldest team in the league.

And a lot of their sophomores will be out to prove something.

Out of all the teams I've previewed so far, Brewster had the most players who went through sub-par 2009 seasons. If you read through the bios, you can see it. There are pitchers who were Freshman All-Americans last year and charted ERA's above five this year. There are hitters who hit over .300 in their first year and dipped well below that this year. If this is really is a year of fresh starts in Brewster, there will be a long list of guys looking for their own. How it turns out for them could say a lot for Brewster's season.

There are several players who won't need fresh starts, but a lot of them might not be making it to Brewster, either. Jarrett Parker and Jedd Gyorko, the hitters who had the best seasons, have both been invited to Team USA, and Grandal isn't far behind those two in terms of '09 success. It also looks like four players will be in Omaha when the Cape season begins.

So a lot will fall to the players in need of big summers, and it'll be interesting to see what they deliver.

The pitching staff is a little light on weekend starters, but that was the case this time last year, too, and Brewster ended up having solid starting pitching. Guys like Sean Hoelscher, Matt Lujan and Danny Sandbrink will need bounce-back summers. Guys who had success out of the pen this spring like David Goforth and Tyler Thornburg will also be key.

As for the offense, it looks like the Whitecaps should be stronger there. Even if Parker, Gyorko and Grandal end up with Team USA, there's a decent nucleus with Mark Canha, Tobias Streich, Tim Ferguson and Harold Martinez.

All in all, I don't think Brewster has the depth of Cotuit, Bourne or Falmouth, and there are certainly a lot of players who struggled this spring.

But I wouldn't be shocked to see Brewster have success this year. You never know how the roster will shake out, and the chance for those fresh starts can't be entirely ignored. If the Cape League is a proving ground, I'll gladly take a bunch of players with a little extra to prove.

Roster Rundown
Returning Players: 1
Juniors: 1
Sophomores: 22
Freshmen: 4

Notable

To get an idea of the how the pitching staff shakes out, take a look at the Five Players I'm Excited to See section, which includes no pitchers. That doesn't mean there's no talent. Just that there aren't many guys who had good numbers this spring. But I'll say this: in the Cape League, I'd rather have a group of pitchers who struggled than a group of hitters who struggled. Wooden bats change everything.

One guy who could give Brewster's staff a big lift is San Diego ace Kyle Blair. People are hearing that he'll be added to the roster, and that's good news for the Whitecaps. Blair was a fifth-round pick out of high school and pitched briefly for Chatham last year. He had a 3.13 ERA this year and struck out 62 in 54.2 innings.

If Blair indeed comes to Brewster, you can bet he won't be the only addition. The Whitecaps haven't updated their roster in quite some time, so it will almost certainly look a little different when the season opens.

Keep an eye on Erik Goeddel this spring. As I wrote below, he has a long track record in the scouting world, but he just hasn't been able to add to it much because of injury. Depending on how he's holding up these days, this could be a prime opportunity for Goeddel to re-establsih himself.

I wouldn't discount the impact of experience on the Brewster roster. Freshmen often struggle on the Cape. Plenty of sophomores do too, of course, but the extra year can be a big one.

The fact that Virginia is heading for Omaha means the Whitecaps will be waiting for the services of Jarrett Parker, John Barr and Neal Davis. In the case of Parker, that might not be a bad thing. If the Cavaliers can make a deep run, Parker is less likely to go with Team USA.

As I wrote the bios, I was getting a little nervous about Brewster's offense. The players with the best numbers were all Team USA invites. But the list saved the best for last. Mark Canha was Cal's best hitter this season, hitting for average and power.

Grandal could potentially be the best catching prospect on the Cape, but even if Team USA takes him, Tobias Streich would be a pretty good consolation prize. He's one of the best catchers in the Big East.

Five Players I'm Excited to See
1. Jarrett Parker
2. Jedd Gyorko
3. Mark Canha
4. Harold Martinez
5. Yasmani Grandal

Pitchers

Scott Alexander - LHP - 6'2 200 - Pepperdine - Sophomore
Sean Bierman - LHP - 6'0 190 - Vanderbilt - Sophomore
Neal Davis - LHP - 6'6 210 - Virginia - Junior
Erik Goeddel - RHP - 6'3 180 - UCLA - RS Freshman
David Goforth - RHP - 5'11 184 - Ole Miss - RS Freshman
Sean Hoelscher - RHP - 6'3 196 - TCU - Sophomore
Matt Lujan - LHP - 6'1 205 - San Francisco - Sophomore
Casey Schmidt - RHP - 6'3 205 - San Diego - RS Sophomore
Danny Sandbrink - RHP - 6'2 200 - Stanford - Sophomore
Sean Tierney - LHP - 6'5 190 - James Madison - Sophomore
Stayton Thomas - RHP - 5'11 175 - Texas - Sophomore
Tyler Thornburg - RHP/OF - 5'11 175 - Charleston Southern - Sophomore

Scott Alexander - LHP - 6'2 200
Pepperdine
Sophomore

A 37th-round pick out of high school, Alexander has a solid career at Pepperdine. This year, he went 4-5 with a 4.11 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 65.2 innings pitched. Opponents hit .230 against him and he didn't allow a home run all year. Pepperdine's web site has a list of summer placements and Alexander isn't on it, so I'm not sure what the deal is there.

Sean Bierman - LHP - 6'0 190
Vanderbilt
Sophomore

Bierman, a late-round pick out of high school, did not have a great first season in Nashville, but his second one was much better. One of the team's most improved pitchers in the fall, Bierman carried it over to the spring by posting a 4.57 ERA while pitching mostly in relief. He struck out 37 and walked 15 in 43.1 innings.

Neal Davis - LHP - 6'6 210
Virginia
Junior

Davis has been a key part of Virginia's bullpen the last two seasons. Last year, he posted a 1.58 ERA, second-best among Cavalier relievers. He also had a streak of 27.2 scoreless innings. This year, Davis hasn't been quite as good, with an ERA of 4.63.

Erik Goeddel - RHP - 6'3 180
UCLA
RS Freshman

Goeddel was on the Y-D roster last summer but didn't make it, just another part of a lost year for the highly-touted Goeddel. He was originally rated as the second-best pitcher in the class of 2007 by Baseball America, but an injury in his senior season kept him from getting drafted. He then missed all of his freshman season. This spring, Goeddel finally saw some time on the mound, posting a 3.38 ERA in nine relief appearances.

David Goforth - RHP - 5'11 184
Ole Miss
RS Freshman

Goforth has been lights out in his first season in Oxford, putting up a 2.80 ERA while making 25 appearances out of the pen, the second-highest total on the team. He has struck out 36 in 35.1 innings.

Sean Hoelscher - RHP - 6'3 196
TCU
Sophomore

Hoelscher had an ERA over five as a freshman, but his 7-3 record and good strikeout numbers earned him some Freshman All-America nods. This year, Hoelscher has gone 2-2 with a 7.03 ERA. He struck out 22 in 24.1 innings, but walked 20.

Matt Lujan - LHP - 6'1 205
San Francisco
Sophomore

Like Hoelscher, Lujan was a Freshman All-American last year on the strength of a 7-2 record and a 3.17 ERA. His second season with the Dons hasn't been as good. Lujan finished 5-7 with a 5.74 ERA. He struck out 52 in 80 innings.

Casey Schmidt - RHP - 6'3 205
San Diego
RS Sophomore

Schmidt hasn't pitched in a college game since 2007, when he went 6-1 with a 3.12 ERA in his freshman season at Creighton. After that, he missed all of 2008 with an injury and transferred to San Diego, where he sat out this season due to NCAA transfer rules.

Danny Sandbrink - RHP - 6'2 200
Stanford
Sophomore

Sandbrink surged to a strong freshman season in Palo Alto last year, finishing with a 2.81 ERA. This year, he had his share of trouble, going 1-1 with a 7.09 ERA. He struck out 22 and walked 16 in 33 innings.

Sean Tierney - LHP - 6'5 190
James Madison
Sophomore

Tierney, like Schmidt, will be playing this summer after not pitching at all this spring. Tierney transferred from Virginia and sat out this season. At Virginia, Tierney made only two appearances, finishing with a 6.75 ERA. He was a 35th-round pick out of high school.

Stayton Thomas - RHP - 5'11 175
Texas
Sophomore

Thomas was lights-out as a reliever last season, leading the team in appearances and finishing with a 3.82 ERA. He has been even better this year, with a 2.11 ERA and a 4-0 record out of the pen.

Tyler Thornburg - RHP/OF - 5'11 175
Charleston Southern
Sophomore

After making solid contributions in two spots as a freshman, Thornburg became a standout at those spots these season. As a pitcher, he made 16 relief appearances and put up a 3.73 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. As a hitter, he finished with a .292 batting average and a team-high 12 home runs.

Position Players

*Yasmani Grandal - C - 6'2 210 - Miami - Sophomore
Zach Jones - C - 6'0 185 - Stanford - Sophomore
Tobias Streich - C - 6'0 210 - West Virginia - Sophomore
Lyle Allen - OF/1B - 6'3 210 - Georgia - Sophomore
Tim Ferguson - IF - 6'1 184 - Ole Miss - Sophomore
Niko Gallego - IF - 5'11 165 - UCLA - Sophomore
Jedd Gyorko - IF - 5'10 195 - West Virginia - Sophomore
Harold Martinez - IF - 6'3 200 - Miami - Freshman
Tant Shepherd - 3B/OF - 5'11 210 - Texas - Sophomore
Colin Walsh - IF - 6'1 200 - Stanford - Sophomore
Davy Wright - UTIL - 6'1 195 - TCU - Freshman
Stephen Yarrow - IF - 6'4 205 - San Francisco - Sophomore
John Barr - OF - 6'2 190 - Virginia - Sophomore
Mark Canha - OF - 6'2 195 - California - Sophomore
Jarrett Parker - OF - 6'4 205 - Virginia - Sophomore

Yasmani Grandal - C - 6'2 210
Miami
Sophomore

A 27th-round pick out of high school who was projected to go much higher, Grandal split time behind the plate last year but still lived up to much of the hype. Last summer, he played 20 games for Brewster and hit .279. He followed that up with a strong sophomore season, finishing at .299 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI. Grandal has been invited to Team USA.

Zach Jones - C - 6'0 185
Stanford
Sophomore

Jones started every game for Stanford this year but didn't have a great season at the plate. He ended up hitting .239 with three home runs and 26 RBI. Jones was a 45th-round pick out of high school and hit .249 as a freshman.

Tobias Streich - C - 6'0 210
West Virginia
Sophomore

Last year Streich became just the second freshman to serve as West Virginia's everyday catcher and he delivered a solid season. This year, he emerged as one of the top catchers in the Big East, hitting .322 with six home runs and 57 RBI.

Lyle Allen - OF/1B - 6'3 210
Georgia
Sophomore

Allen had a good first season at Georgia and by the end of it, he was the starting left fielder for the Bulldogs in Omaha. This year, Allen hit .255 with five home runs and 23 RBI.

Tim Ferguson - IF - 6'1 184
Ole Miss
Sophomore

Ferguson has had to fight for time in each of his first two years in Oxford but he has made an impression, even without an everyday job. After hitting .289 last year, he led the team with a .358 average this year. He also added 12 extra-base hits, 21 RBI and 18 stolen bases.

Niko Gallego - IF - 5'11 165
UCLA
Sophomore

The son of former Major Leaguer Mike Gallego, Niko has put together two pretty good seasons as UCLA's shortstop. After hitting .317 as a freshman, he hit .279 this season. Though he didn't hit a home run, he knocked in 27, stole six bases and committed just nine errors.

Jedd Gyorko - IF - 5'10 195
West Virginia
Sophomore

Gyorko was a star as a freshman, finishing with a .409 average and eight home runs. He didn't miss a beat this season and even out-did himself. He hit .421 with eight home runs, 28 doubles and 58 RBI, all while dealing with the switch from second base to shortstop. That doubles total was second-best in the country. Gyorko has been invited to Team USA.

Harold Martinez - IF - 6'3 200
Miami
Freshman

Like Grandal last year, Martinez will come to Brewster as a highly-touted Miami freshman. Once thought of as a potential first-round pick, Martinez had some struggles in his senior year of high school and slipped to the 19th round. Miami was happy to welcome him to campus, and he delivered a pretty good freshman season. He hit .270 with nine home runs, 11 doubles and 47 RBI.

Tant Shepherd - 3B/OF - 5'11 210
Texas
Sophomore

Shepherd has been a versatile performer since day one, and he hit .357 as a freshman. This year, his average went down to .264 but he did total 17 extra-base hits.

Colin Walsh - IF - 6'1 200
Stanford
Sophomore

Walsh only got nine starts as a freshman on Stanford's 2008 CWS team, but he was a key player off the bench and he delivered a .323 average. This year, he grabbed a starting job and led the team with a .320 average. He didn't hit a home run but he did have 11 doubles.

Davy Wright - UTIL - 6'1 195
TCU
Freshman

A high-school standout on the hill and at the plate, Wright was rated as one of Texas' top 100 prospects, but he only played in one game this season. Perhaps there was an injury. I haven't been able to find anything.

Stephen Yarrow - IF - 6'4 205
San Francisco
Sophomore

Yarrow didn't see a ton of action as a freshman but was an honorable mention all-league pick last summer in the West Coast Collegiate League. This year, he hit .277 with a team-best 13 home runs and 44 RBI.

John Barr - OF - 6'2 190
Virginia
Sophomore

Barr had a great 2008 season in Charlottesville, leading the Cavaliers in both batting average and on-base percentage. This year, he is hitting .305 for the Omaha-bound Cavaliers.

Jarrett Parker - OF - 6'4 205
Virginia
Sophomore

Parker didn't have as good a freshman season as his teammate Barr, but he has been out-of-this-world this season. A surefire All-Conference and All-America pick, Parker has hit .369 with 16 home runs, 42 extra-base hits, 65 RBI and 19 stolen bases. A potential five-tool talent, Parker has been invited to Team USA.

Mark Canha - OF - 6'2 195
California
Sophomore

After a decent but not spectacular freshman season, Canha burst onto the scene this year in a big way. He ended up leading the Bears in every major offensive category. He hit .366, blasted 12 home runs, totaled 17 doubles and drove in 43. He also led the team with a .444 on-base percentage.

Good news, bad news

2009-06-05T16:48:00.001-04:00

The twitter page for Beesball.com, a Georgia Tech baseball web site, is reporting that sophomore shortstop Derek Dietrich will go directly to Wareham this summer, rather than Team USA. The Gatemen twitter page has confirmed the news. Dietrich was on Wareham's roster last year but played for Team USA. He was again on the invite list this year, but apparently has opted for Wareham.

Team USA has added a few more players to the list with Cape connections: Ohio State's Alex Wimmers (Bourne) and Texas Tech's Chad Bettis (Falmouth). That brings the total of invites up to 36, which I think is the final number. If someone replaces Dietrich, then I guess there would be one more.

By my count, 23 of the 36 are on Cape League rosters.