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Bourne and Y-D lead Divisional Races

07/07/2003 10:41 AM

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for immediate release: 7 July, 2003
      

Bourne and Yarmouth-Dennis Lead Divisional Races in CCBL 


CAPE COD, Mass. – The pitching-rich Bourne Braves improved their record to a league-best 13-7 following their 2-1 victory over Cotuit Sunday. Led by Kyle Schmidt (1-0, 0.00) and Dennis Bigley (3-1, 0.64 ERA), the Braves boast the Cape League’s best pitching staff with a team ERA of 1.46, while scoring 74 runs. Bourne leads second place Hyannis by three points in the West Division. Buoyed by the league’s most potent offense, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox lead the East Division by two points over Chatham. The Red Sox lead the league with a .252 batting avg. and 82 runs and are paced by slugger Chris Malec, who leads the CCBL in hitting (.375), slugging (.547) and on-base pct. (.449). Y-D has also posted the league’s fifth lowest ERA (2.55). – John Garner, Jr., CCBL Director of Public Relations & Broadcasting


Malec and Schmidt Win Coca Cola Player and Pitcher of the Week

     Yarmouth-Dennis’ Chris Malec is this weeks Coca Cola Player of the week. It was nearly impossible to get any thing by Malec who hit .522 (12-23) for the week. Three of his 12 hits went for extra bases (2B, 3B, HR) and he knocked in four runs. Bourne’s Kyle Schmidt is this weeks Coca Cola Pitcher of the Week. Schmidt baffled opposing hitters in his only start of the week striking out 14 and giving up only three hits in a complete game shutout Tuesday at Hyannis. –Gregory Feeley CCBL PR (508) 432-9786


Memorial Service Set For Former Commissioner Fred Ebbett

     A special memorial service for former CCBL Commissioner Fred Ebbett will be held Sunday, July 13 at 4 p.m. at Whitehouse Field in Harwich. Ebbett, who passed away in May at age 70, served as league commissioner for 13 years from 1984-96 and will be fondly remembered as the person most responsible for re-instituting wood bats to the Cape League in 1985. The memorial service is open to the public.

 
Cape League Sets Attendance Record on July 4

     A record 10,608 fans attended the five Cape League games on July 4: Orleans – 4,386; Falmouth – 2148; Bourne – 1531; Hyannis 1321 and Brewster – 1222; An additional 8,250 fans flocked to CCBL parks on July 5: Chatham – 2,750; Wareham – 1928; Cotuit – 1312; Y-D – 1257 and Harwich – 1003. The two-day total was 18,858. 


CCBL Corporate Nights

     Cape League President Judy Walden Scarafile has announced the remaining league corporate nights: Ocean Spray on July 21 at Wareham; Cape Cod Potato Chips on July 27 at Hyannis; ReMax on August 1 at Harwich.


Rainouts and Make-Ups

     Two of Thursday night’s games were rained out and will be made up on Tuesday, July 15. Falmouth at Bourne is scheduled to start at 4:45 and Hyannis at Harwich is scheduled to start at 7:00. 


Bourne Continues to Set Pace in the West

     Over the last ten games the Braves have been the hottest team in Cape League baseball posting a 8-2 mark and improving to 13-7 overall. The runs came in droves for Bourne this week. In two wins, at Hyannis Tuesday and at Chatham Saturday, the Braves scored a total of 16 runs while in their two losses could only manage four. The Braves belted 11 hits against Hyannis, three of which came off the bat of Justin Maxwell (Maryland), the league’s second best hitter at .349. Maxwell also stole his fifth base of the season. Leadoff hitter Sean Dobson (Toledo) went 2-5 hitting his first triple of the season. Matt Tolbert (Mississippi) also added two hits and an RBI. Kyle Schimdt (Georgia Tech) continued his dominance pitching a complete game shutout allowing only three hits while striking out 14. Through 22 innings pitched, Schimdt has not allowed and earned run and is second in the Cape league in strikeouts with 34. The Braves hung ten runs on Chatham Saturday providing more than an amply cushion for Dennis Bigley (Oral Roberts) who picked up his third win. Bigley allowed one earned run on one hit and struck out five. Tolbert, Maxwell, and Ryan Morgan (Boston College) contributed with two hits apiece. Morgan also knocked in five runs. Eric Beattie (Tampa) picked up his first win in four tries Sunday over Cotuit. He also gave up his first run of the season and struck out six. –Gregory Feeley CCBL PR (508) 432-9786


Y-D Takes First Place Powered by The Highest Team Batting Average 

     The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox hold first place in the Eastern Division after an outstanding hitting week. The Red Sox have 29 hits in their last 5 games, pushing their team batting average up to .252, the highest in the league. The team has 162 hits on the season, with 8 homers. Twenty-four of Y-D’s hits have come from Chris Malec (Cal Santa Barbara). Malec holds a .375 batting average, the highest in the league. In 64 at-bats he has two homeruns, 11 RBI’s, and 8 runs of his own. Hyung Cho (Houston) has also improved Y-D’s batting with 12 RBI’s where he ties for second. Cho’s batting average stands at .275 with 14 hits and 2 doubles. 
Y-D’s pitching staff has also pushed them to the first place spot. Justin Keadle (Wake Forest) is among the league leaders in strikeouts with 33. Y-D has an overall record of 12-9. –Sarah Hinkley CCBL PR (508) 432-7288 


Harrison Rejoins Second Place Hyannis Mets

     Slugging outfielder Ben Harrison (Florida), selected in the fourth round by the Cleveland Indians in last month’s Major League Baseball Draft, has re-joined the Hyannis Mets and is the team’s starting centerfielder. He is currently hitting .300 (3-10) and was a standout for the Mets in 2002. The Mets enjoyed two straight outstanding pitching performances over the weekend in wins at Cotuit, 1-0 and Wareham, 2-0. A.J. Shappe (Cal-Riverside) and Austin Tubb (S. Mississippi) combined on a five-hitter to defeat the Gatemen Sunday. Shappe is now 3-0 with a 0.32 ERA, while Tubb leads the league with eight saves and 12 appearances. Jonathan Tucker (Florida) is seventh in the league in batting (.300) and second in stolen bases (8), while Ryan Baty (Kansas) is fifth in batting (.310) and fourth in RBI (11). Zach Jackson (Louisville) and Shappi are both 3-0, while Tim Sabo (Seton Hall) is 3-1 as a starter. Hyannis is fourth in the league in pitching (2.46 ERA) and fifth in hitting (.211). The Mets host Chatham Wednesday, Bourne Thursday on Cape Cod Times Night and Brewster Friday at McKeon Park. – John Garner, Jr., CCBL Director of Public Relations & Broadcasting 


LaRoche Streak Snapped at Nine

     Wareham’s Andy LaRoche (Grayson County), one of the leagues most prolific hitters thus far, had a nine game hit streaked ended in Sunday’s 2-0 loss at Hyannis. He hit .324 (12-37) over the nine games knocking in seven runs and belting three home runs. LaRoche is among the league leaders in average (.291), home runs (4), RBI (12), hits (23), slugging (.494), extra base hits (8), and runs scored (12). Jeremy Sowers (Vanderbilt) got his third win of the season Wednesday 9-2 over Orleans. Sowers mowed down opposing batters allowing just one earned run and striking out ten. Sowers has pitched more innings (32) than any other pitcher so far and is third in strikeouts with 33. His .084 earned run average seats him at tenth best. LaRoche, Lance Pendleton (Rice), and Josh Ford (Baylor) each had two hits. Ford hit his first home run of the season and knocked in two runs. Though the Wareham currently sits in third place in the West, the Gatemen rank second and third respectively in team pitching and hitting. They lead the league in both home runs (12) and strikeouts (181). –Gregory Feeley CCBL PR (508) 432-9786 


Falmouth’s Mohl Pitches a Brilliant Battle Against Bourne 

     The Falmouth Commodores are (8-10-1) putting them in fourth place in the west. The Commodores improved this week going ahead of Cotuit in the west standings. Falmouth’s Jeremy Slayden (Georgia Tech) blasted a three-run homer in the fourth inning to help the Commodores beat out the Eastern Division leading Y-D Red sox 6-2 Saturday at Red Wilson Field. Slaydens home run came off of Rice’s Phil Humber in his first start after Owls won the College World Series. Darryl Lawhorn (ECU) got special attention from the Cape Cod Times, as he was the Spot Light Player of the Week. According to the Times Lawhorn was recruited as a pitcher by East Carolina University, however Lawhorn soon proved himself at the plate hitting .416 his freshman year with 19 home runs. Sophomore year Lawhorn again followed last year’s season, hitting .332 with 14 home runs and 49 RBI’s. Billy Mohl (Tulane) pitched brilliantly Wednesday for the Commodores. Two errors in the first inning proved to be the difference as Falmouth came out on top with a 1-0 win over the Bourne Braves. Mohl improved to 3-0, going eight innings allowing just two hits. –Liz Logan CCPL PR (508) 945-9492 


Record Not Telling

     Despite starting the week with three wins, over Wareham 5-0, at Harwich 8-1, and at Hyannis 4-2, the Kettleers’ trail the West Division at 9-12. Cotuit does boast some lofty numbers though, worthy of a league-leading club. The Kettleers rank second in batting (.240) runs (75), hits (75), and stolen bases (33). Eric Nielsen (UNLV) leads the team with a .319 batting average, which ranks third in the league. Nielsen went 11-26 this week with 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3SB. In a win over Wareham Monday Blake Gill (LSU) went 4-4 scoring two runs and driving in another providing enough offense of his own to help pitcher Garry Bakker (North Carolina) to his first win. Bakker, just the third pitcher thus far to throw a complete game shutout, allowed only four hits and struck out a pair. Josh Deel, despite two excellent starts could only pick up one win this week. In his last two outings, an 8-1 win at Harwich and a 1-0 loss to Hyannis, Deel pitched 12 innings allowing only two hits and one earned run. He also struck out 14. –Gregory Feeley CCBL PR (508) 432-9786 


Chatham Rallies Bats to End Three Game Losing Streak 

     Brewster took and early lead on Sunday evening against the A’s of Chatham, but after Zach Dillon (Baylor) reached second on a throwing error, things turned around for the A’s in the bottom of the sixth. Anthony Ragalani (George Washington) was walked to reach first with two outs when Jeff Frazier (Rutgers) hit a crucial single to left field to send Dillon home. Matt Anderson (UC-Irvine) then hit a double to right center to send Frazier and Ragalani home. Brian Pritz (Richmond) then steps up the plate still with one out remaining and hits a 2 run home run over left field to put Chatham up by four. The homer was Pritz’s second on the year. The final score ended 5-2 to end Chatham’s three game losing streak. Chatham now holds second place in the Eastern Division with a record of 11-9. Chris Lambert (Boston College) who opened the season for Chatham is still going strong with a 0.79 ERA in 23 innings pitched. Lambert has only allowed 6 hits and has stuck out 22 batters. Zane Carlson (Baylor) holds the number two spot in the league in saves at six. Carlson is the Cape League’s all-time leader in saves with 31 total. Ryan Klosterman (Vanderbilt) is now leading the league in stolen bases. The speedy infielder has stolen nine bags. Infield teammate, Ben Ingold (Wake Forest) is also among Cape League Leaders with 16 RBI’s on the season. –Sarah Hinkley CCBL PR (508) 432-7288


Orleans Wins last 3 

     Orleans moved up two slots to third place in the Eastern Division by defeating their last three opponents. The Cardinals beat Chatham on the 4th of July with 4,386 fans in attendance by a score of 2-1. Ceasar Nicholas (Vanderbilt) had an impressive performance as he went 2-4 and scored a run. Nicholas has seven extra-base hits on the year, which is tied for second in the league. Orleans went on to beat Harwich on Saturday night and then the Eastern Division leader Yarmouth-Dennis. Orleans now holds a record of 10-11. Rhett James (Florida State) has accounted for four of the 10 wins. James holds the leagues best record (4-0), and also leads in strikeouts (35). Will Startup (Georgia) boasts an impressive 0.45 ERA in 20 innings pitched with only 12 hits and 16 strikeouts. Orleans’s shortstop Billy Lockin (Loyola Marymount) shows his speed on double plays and when stealing bases. Lockin has 8 stolen bags, which is tied for second in the league. –Sarah Hinkley CCBL PR (508) 432-7288


The Mariners up the Whitecaps Placing Them Fourth in the East Division 

     The Harwich Mariners slid past the Brewster Whitecaps this week placing them fourth in the East with a record of (8-11). In last night’s game at Guv Fuller Field, Harwich Mariners beat out the Falmouth Commodores in an 11-inning battle. The Mariners scored two runs in the top of the 11th for the Win. James Happ, (Northeastern) earned the win in seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out seven. Josh Archer (MTSU) led the Mariners going 2-4 including a solo home run in the seventh. Shannon Sprouse (Citadel) is still a standout in league saves. Sprouse currently is fourth in the league with 4 saves. The Mariners make up game on Wednesday night ended with a tough defeat by Brewster as the Whitecaps scored on a ground ball in the eighth inning giving Brewster the 2-1 lead over Harwich. –Liz Logan CCPL PR (508) 945-9492 


Butler Holding On To a 0.00 ERA for Brewster 

     Despite giving up two hits against Chatham on Sunday, Bret Butler (USC) still holds on to a 0.00 ERA due to an early error. The runs scored were unearned. Butler throws a nearly un-hittable change-up to lead the pitchers in the league. Butler is 1-2 on the season, but has only allowed just 14 hits in 30 innings pitched as well as striking out 24 batters. Matt Macri (Notre Dame) remains the home run leader the league with 5 and outfielder J.C. Holt (LSU) has 4 doubles on the season. Brewster moved down to the fifth spot in the Eastern Division this week with a record of 8-12. –Sarah Hinkley CCBL PR (508) 432-7288 


Cycling 

     Yarmouth-Dennis’ Chris Malec (Cal-Santa Barbara) hit for the cycle on 29 June, becoming the first player to do so since Kevin Brown (Hyannis) on 6 July 1998. His five-hit game is the first since Red Sox teammate Wes Whisler did it last year on 4 July. Hitting for the cycle is rarer than a no-hitter and Malec is only the sixth player to accomplish the feat since 1984. Rodney Nye did it for Harwich on 3 July 1998 and also earned the save in the 8-6 win over Brewster. In 1996 Glenn Davis cycled for Cotuit on 28 June in a 6-5 loss to Chatham. Current San Francisco Giants first baseman J.T. Snow hit for the cycle on 17 July 1988 while playing for Orleans. Dave Nash of Falmouth did it on 14 June 1984. Malec is the only player to get five hits while hitting for the cycle. Brown and Snow were 4-for-4 while the other three went 4-for-5. -Bruce Hack, CCBL Historian, 508.563.2522


CCBL License Plate Program

The Committee on Public Safety is holding a Public Hearing this Monday at the State House. Copies of the proposed Cape Cod Baseball League license plate have been distributed to each CCBL franchise. The goal is to reach the first plateau, 1,500 commitments, by the end of July providing the Cape League with an average of $5,000 monthly. 
– John Garner, Jr., CCBL Director of Public Relations & Broadcasting

John Garner, Jr.
CCBL Director of
Public Relations & Broadcasting
(508) 790-0394 [email protected]