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Orleans Wins 2003 CCBL Championship

08/11/2003 9:36 AM

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The Cape League finals will be televised nationally on a tape delay basis on CSTV (channel 610 on DirecTV) with Game 1 scheduled for Wednesday at 8 p.m. and Game 2 Thursday at 8 p.m. 


for immediate release: 11 August, 2003


Orleans wins 2003 CCBL Championship
Orleans 5, Bourne 4 

Bourne – Orleans took advantage of two Bourne miscues and then brought in Ryan Schroyer (Arizona State) to slam the door shut and bring home the 2003 Cape Cod Baseball League title and win the Arnold Mycock Trophy.

     Schroyer, who earned the win in the first game of the finals, came in the eighth inning and struck out five of the six batters he faced to earn the save. He retired the first four batters he faced on K’s, two swinging and two looking, before getting Matt Tolbert (Mississippi) on an infield out and then closing out the 2003 season with another strikeout. In his two postseason appearances Schroyer did not give up a hit in four innings while walking two and striking out nine.

     The title was the third in the modern era (since 1963) for Orleans, adding to the 1986 and 1993 titles. It was the 10th championship since 1946 for the Cardinals.

     The Cardinals struck for four runs in the second with catcher Jason Jaramillo (Oklahoma State) tripling into the right field corner for the first of his three hits. He scored on Clay Harris’ (LSU) sacrifice fly to right and Orleans had scored first, but was just getting started. 

     Rodney Allen (Arizona State) was hit by a pitch by Bourne starter Kyle Schmidt. Billy Lockin (Loyola Marymount) hit a ground ball to third which Tim Bush (Northeastern) tried to turn into a 5-4-3 double play, but threw the ball into center field. Allen moved to third and then came home on centerfielder Justin Maxwell’s (Maryland) throwing error and Lockin ended up on third. A single to center by Brandon Boggs (Georgia Tech) brought in Lockin and Boggs, who took second on a wild pitch and third on an infield single, scored the fourth run on a sacrifice fly by Jon Zeringue (LSU).

     Orleans added a very important fifth run in the third when with one out Cesar Nicolas (Vanderbilt) was hit by a pitch. He went to third on Jaramillo’s single and scored on a wild pitch by Schmidt to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead after three innings.

     Nicolas was named the playoffs MVP winning the Star of Stars Award. He hit .312 with three home runs and four RBI in the four games for Orleans.

     But the Braves would not go quietly.

     Taking advantage of an Orleans error Sean Dobson reached on Myron Leslie’s (South Florida) miscue to start the fourth. Two outs later Maxwell doubled down the leftfield line and the Braves were on the board. Maxwell scored on Mike Butia’s (James Madison) double to right and it was 5-2.

     Chris Shaver (William & Mary) came in to start the fourth for Bourne and quickly shutdown the Cardinals. The southpaw allowed three base runners, one hit and two walks, over the final six innings and struck out four. He had three 1-2-3 innings and retired eight straight over the fifth through eighth innings. In two postseason relief appearances he pitched nine innings, allowed two unearned runs, one hit, four walks and six strikeouts. In the regular season he was 1-3 in five starts (8 games) with a 2.91 ERA in 34 innings. 

     The Braves offense was not finished as they added two more runs in the seventh off Bill Bray (William & Mary). With one out Tolbert hit a ball down the left field line which became a fan-interference single when a young fan ran into foul territory to get the ball. Bush singled to center and each runner moved up a base when Boggs booted the ball away. Sean Dobson (Toledo) singled to drive in Tolbert and Bush scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Palumbo (George Mason) and the Braves were down 5-4.

     For Bourne and its fans, an estimated crowd of 3500 in attendance, it had become a game again and hope was alive.

     Orleans manager Carmen Carcone had seen enough and brought in Schroyer to close out the game. The hard-throwing righty had three saves in the regular season and struck out 24 batters in 19 innings.

     Dobson was Bourne’s leader in postseason play has he topped all players with eight hits, was tied for the lead with four RBI and batted .364. He was involved in almost every Bourne rally and also played outstanding defense in leftfield. Tolbert had six hits and hit .316 while anchoring the infield defense for the Braves. 

     Bourne’s pitching, with a league best 2.10 ERA, continued its excellent summer in the postseason. Tim Grant (Dartmouth) pitched seven shutout innings in two appearances and earned the win in Bourne’s 1-0 13-inning win over Hyannis in the first round. He led the Braves with four saves and had the league’s fourth best ERA at 0.74.

     Eric Beattie (Tampa) also had a big postseason game. He allowed two hits in eight innings against Hyannis while striking out 12, the postseason leader. His 0.39 ERA was second best in league history and a Braves record. 

     Orleans other postseason stars were Harris, who hit .308 with two home runs and four RBI, tied for the postseason lead. Pitcher Brandon Camardese (Miami, FL) threw nine shutout innings in the opener against Brewster, but had no decision as Orleans won in 14, 1-0.

     The Cardinals were the first team to sweep through the playoffs since Wareham in 1997 and were only the 11th team to go through the postseason undefeated. The one-run championship game was the third straight year (Wareham 3-2 over Orleans in 2002 and Wareham 4-3 over Chatham in 2001) that the season ended with a one-run game. Orleans joins Chatham (1995-96), Wareham (1993-94), Chatham (1991-92), Cotuit (1983-84), Chatham (1966-67) as the only teams to lose in the finals and then win the title the next season.

     The 2003 season has come to a close, but it was another highly successful summer. For the first time Cape League games could be seen around the nation as College Sports TV (CSTV) broadcast regular season games, the All-Star game and the finals. Games could also be heard nationwide as every game was broadcast on the internet over Teamline. Of course the play on the field was again outstanding and provided many thrilling moments and highlights for the fans.


Bruce Hack, CCBL Historian
508.801.8613, [email protected]