back and forth: sunday, august 5

Sunday, August 5, 2007

back and forth: sunday, august 5

LAST NIGHT

In a little bit of a statement game, Y-D pounded Chatham 7-1 in what was likely a playoff preview . . . The Red Sox took advantage of five Chatham errors and scored six unearned runs . . . Trevor Holder, who had been a reliever early in the summer, made his third start and struck out five in 6.2 shutout innings . . . Y-D's Sean Ochinko hit his eighth home run to tie teammate Gordon Beckham for the league lead with eight
Brewster kept its playoff hopes alive with an 8-1 victory over Harwich . . . Ryan Cook allowed a run over seven innings for the victory . . . Suddenly, things are looking interesting in the East race. The best Brewster can hope for is a tie, but that's a better possibility than it was a week ago. In its final three games, Brewster plays Chatham twice. If the Whitecaps can win both those games and the season finale, then have Chatham lose its other two, we'll have a tie . . . If all that happens and Orleans wins its last three, I think we'll have a three-way tie
Bourne clinched first place in the West and snapped a two-game skid with a 5-0 victory over Wareham . . . Rick Zagone tossed a complete-game five-hit shutout and struck out 10. That's just the fourth shutout of the summer
Falmouth lost to Orleans, opening the door for Hyannis to get within a game, but the Mets couldn't get all the way through -- they tied Cotuit, which leaves them three points back of Falmouth for second place . . . Both Falmouth and Hyannis have three games left, one against each other in Wednesday's season finale . . . Of note in the Hyannis-Cotuit game, Cotuit's Josh Harrison went 4-for-5 with two RBI, and Hyannis' Matt Daly allowed three runs on eight hits in his first start since throwing a no-hitter

TONIGHT

In the biggest game of the night, Brewster sends Mike Colla to the hill at Chatham, who has Charles Brewer going . . . If the A's win, they'll get second place and make the last few days of the season a little less crucial
In the West, Hyannis visits Cotuit and Falmouth hosts Bourne

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as the fog settles in

The left-field sunset has faded. It is chilly now. You slip a sweatshirt on. The stat sheet you hold in your hands almost feels wet, the air is so damp. But the ink doesn't run. You can read it. That kid from LSU is still leading the league in home runs. That pitcher who they say throws 95 -- he's way up on the list in strikeouts.
The game is close, 3-2 through seven innings. You're staying till the end.
You look out at the field. Some fog has slipped in. It settles like smoke, just off the grass in front of the right fielder, like a cloud. When he runs through it to catch a fly ball, it looks almost magical, maybe even spiritual, like he's playing baseball in heaven.
Maybe he is.
The baseball is pure here. The players eager. The fans, maybe some of them don't know what they're seeing, maybe they just heard it was a fun night out, good for the family and everything -- but they know. They know somehow that this thing, this Cape League, is special.
Really, there's nothing like it.
I'm going to try and keep up.

Stop waxing poetic

The Cape Cod Baseball League is the top college summer league in the nation. Plenty of other leagues have cropped up of late, and some are having success, but the Cape League is still the model -- and the pinnacle. In 2006, 198 Major Leaguers had spent time in the Cape League.
The rosters are like a who's who of the best college baseball players. All the top prospects want to spend their summers on the Cape. The only better opportunity is Team USA. There are 10 teams in the league, divided into two divisions. Over the course of two months, they play 44 games. Scouts will watch many of them. They come because of the combination of talent and wood. Unlike college baseball, the Cape uses only wooden bats, providing an accurate picture of what players might do at the next level.
What else? Players live with host families. Some have part-time jobs (Jeff Bagwell worked at Friendly's). There's no admission charge at games. The level of baseball has been compared to Single A.
That should sum it up. If you have never experienced Cape League Baseball, you have missed out.

Sunday, August 5, 2007