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Cape League Spotlight – 1975-79

Bill Schreoder
08/11/2020 11:11 AM

Article By: Mike Richard


1975
June 30 – Orleans and Wareham play to a 4-4 tie called after 16 innings.
July 21 – The Cape Cod Baseball League All-Stars edge the Atlantic Coast Baseball League All-Stars, 1-0 at Fenway Park. Steve Tipa, a freshman at the University of New Haven is named game MVP.

1976
June 9 – Last season’s Cape League MVP Paul O’Neill of Cotuit is taken in the 4th round of the Major League baseball draft
July 1 – Harwich scores 12 runs in the 8th inning to defeat Falmouth, 14-0
July 10 – Wareham’s Bobby Sprowl strikes out 14 in a 5-1 win over Orleans
July 15 – Cotuit beats Chatham 2-1 to snap Chatham’s 10-game winning streak
July 20 – Bobby Sprowl of Wareham strikes out 18 in a 4-2 win over Harwich
July 25 – Cape Cod Baseball All Stars to play ACBL at Yankee Stadium on July 26
July 26 – At Yankee Stadium, the Cape Cod League All Stars beat the Atlantic Coast squad, 4-1 with Chatham’s Steve Taylor named the game MVP
Aug. 13 – Hyannis’ Nat Showalter is named the Cape League MVP, leading the league with a .434 batting average.
Aug. 14 – Chatham’s Joe Guarascio is presented the Daniel J. Silva Award for Sportsmanship

1977
June 23 – Yarmouth-Dennis beats Falmouth 8-4 in 14 innings
July 3 – Cotuit’ Jim Lauer hits three home runs, including round trippers from both side of the plate in a 13-4 win over Hyannis
July 9 – Hyannis 21 – Falmouth 9
July 15 – With several players injured and unable to compete, Falmouth elects to drop out of the
July 24 – Wareham clubs 21 hits and beats Hyannis, 24-8
July 27 – Joe Rietano of Cotuit hits 14th home run of the season to tie the record of Cotuit’s Joe Zylka set in 1972
Aug. 1 – Steve Balboni of Yarmouth-Dennis hits a pair of three-run homers to lead the Cape Cod Baseball All-Stars to an 8-3 win over the Atlantic Coast All-Stars and is named the game’s MVP
Aug. 10 – Cotuit’s Del Bender gets his 63rd hit to break Nat Showalter’s mark of 62 from 1976, and Joe Rietano’s two-run single gave him 41 RBI to tie him with Ken Huebner (Cotuit, 1964) as Cotuit beats Yarmouth-Dennis, 8-2.

1978
June 24 – Hyannis, with five home runs, and Cotuit (2 HR) combine for 7 circuit blasts in a 19-6 Mets victory.
July 26 – Bill Schroeder of Hyannis hits his 14th home run to tie Joe Rietano (Cotuit, 1077) and Joe Zylka (Cotuit, 1972)
Aug. 1 – The Cape Cod League All-Star game, scheduled at Shea Stadium, is cancelled due to rain
Aug. 8 – Bill Schroeder hits record 15th home run to lead Hyannis to a 7-5 win over Yarmouth-Dennis.
Aug. 11 – Hyannis beats Orleans 8-2 to set record for wins in a season with 31. The old record was 30, set by both Falmouth (1971) and Chatham (1976)

1979
June 20 – In a 13-inning slugfest, Harwich beats Cotuit, 12-11
July 4 – Hyannis defeats Cotuit, 21-6
July 8 – Yarmouth-Dennis ends its 11-game winless streak with an 8-4 win over Cotuit
July 30 – The Cape Cod Baseball All Stars edge the Atlantic Coast squad 6-5 as Hyannis’ Ross Jones is named game MVP
Aug. 8 – Chatham’s Walt Terrell pitches all 15 innings and strikes out 14 in 2-2 tie with Orleans
Aug. 9 – Hyannis sets new single season record with 32 wins with a 14-12 win over Cotuit
Aug. 11- Cotuit’s Tim Teufel sets a new record with his 16th home run of the season as the Kettleers beat Chatham, 4-2.
Aug. 13 – Walt Terrell sets the record for most innings pitched with 123 in 9-3 loss to Cotuit; Tim Teufel scored 3 runs to set league record with 48 and finished with 52 RBI. Hyannis set a new mark for wins in a season with 33.

Cape League Records set (1975-79)    
1975: Complete games, team – 31, Chatham; Walks – 55, Andy Westervelt, Harwich
1976: Earned run average, team – 1.78, Chatham
1977: Ties – 9, Orleans
1978: Runs allowed, team – 458, Harwich; Slugging percentage, team - .498, Hyannis
1979: Batting average, team - .314, Hyannis; Innings pitched, 123 – Walt Terrell, Chatham; Points, team – 67, Hyannis Runs scored, team – 314, Hyannis; Total bases, team – 724, Hyannis; Walks, team – 320, Yarmouth-Dennis; Wins, team – 33, Hyannis;    

Cape League Playoff Champions (1975-79)
1975    Cotuit beats Falmouth, 3-2
1976    Wareham beats Chatham, 3-2
1977    Cotuit beats Yarmouth-Dennis, 3-2
1978    Hyannis beats Harwich, 3-1
1979    Hyannis beats Harwich, 3-1

Cape Leaguers to Major League Baseball (1975-79)
1975 – Chatham: Dewey Robinson; Cotuit: Joe Beckwith, Jeff Reardon; Falmouth: Larry Sorenson, John Tudor; Harwich: Bob Tufts; Orleans: Glenn Gulliver, Roger LaFrancois, Mike Smithson; Wareham: Duane Theiss; Yarmouth: Tony Brizzolara, Bert Roberge
1976 – Chatham: Jim Tracy; Cotuit: Jack Lazorko, Jeff Reardon; Falmouth: Steve Balboni; Hyannis: Ross Baumgarten; Orleans: Roger LaFrancois; Wareham: James Farr, Joe Lefebvre, Bobby Sprowl; Yarmouth: Chris Welsh
1977 – Chatham: Mike Stenhouse; Cotuit: Brian Denman, Gary Redus; Falmouth: Bill Doran, Steve Fireovid, Tom Grant; Hyannis: Pete Filson; Orleans: Bill Laskey, Marc Sullivan; Wareham: James Farr, Joe Lefebvre; Y-D: Steve Balboni
1978 – Chatham: Rick Horton, Mike Stenhouse, Marc Sullivan; Cotuit: Kevin Buckley; Falmouth: Tony Fossas; Harwich: Kevin Cato, Gerry Davis; Hyannis: Pete Filson, Bill Schroeder, Jeff Twitty; Wareham: Tom Grant, Bill Swaggerty
1979 – Chatham: Scott Bradley, Mike Stenhouse, Walt Terrell; Cotuit: Joe Hesketh, Tim Teufel; Falmouth: Steve Lombardozzi; Harwich: Mark Dacko, Barry Lyons, Jim Siwy; Hyannis: Ross Jones, Scott Madison, Ed Olwine; Wareham: Randy Bush, Bob Tewksbury


Mike Richard is the official historian of the Cape Cod Baseball League and can be contacted by email at [email protected].